Designer Founders | Substack

Paper’s playbook: Stephen Haney on building a design tool for the agent era

Stephen Haney on founder-market fit as a compass, hiring people into their dream job, and why now is the moment for designer founders.

Jul 23 • Designer Fund

Most Popular

A Historic Moment for Designer Founders

Apr 9, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

Making of a Founder: Julie Zhuo’s Second Act

Nov 19, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

The Anti-Silicon Valley Playbook: Evan Sharp on Following Love Over Logic

Sep 10, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

Brian Lovin on why designers need to be less “nice” as founders

Jun 26, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

Recent posts

Building the Intelligent Web: Jonathan Arena on Design at the AI Frontier

New Generation's Jonathan Arena on the design leader to founder transition, why e-commerce is the most valuable internet real estate, and what it means…

Mar 3 • Ben Blumenrose

Building for Believers: Leif Abraham on Public's Long Game

A conversation with Leif Abraham on building Public, avoiding the next feature trap, and designing financial products people trust.

Feb 4 • Designer Fund

Making of a Founder: Julie Zhuo’s Second Act

Julie Zhuo on chasing discomfort, building Sundial, the fear that stops designers from becoming founders, and her practical advice on how to start…

Nov 19, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

Six Months of Designer Founder Wisdom: What We’ve Learned

Trust your instincts, stop being so nice, talk pricing early, and other hard-won lessons from designer founders

Nov 5, 2025 • Designer Fund

Ambrook's Blueprint for Design-First Company Building

Jeff Anders, co-founder and head of design at Ambrook, on bringing design fluency to agriculture and beyond—and why overlooked industries offer big…

Sep 29, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

The Anti-Silicon Valley Playbook: Evan Sharp on Following Love Over Logic

Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp on his new company West Co. and trading conventional tech wisdom for a new blueprint for meaningful work.

Sep 10, 2025 • Ben Blumenrose

Lettering artist to software founder: Jessica Hische on founding Studioworks

"The most successful people are people who just made the thing they wish that they had."

Aug 21, 2025 • Designer Fund and Ben Blumenrose

Creating personal software: Plaid’s founding designer Al Hertz on designing for hospitality

“Building a startup is exactly as hard as people say—and 10x more fun.”

Aug 14, 2025 • Designer Fund and Ben Blumenrose