quique

First off as a rule of thumb, I generally avoid talking about people. In the rare case I do, it's only if I've had significant experience with them.

As an operating partner with Khosla Ventures for the past two years, below are a couple things that I respect about Vinod that entrepreneurs may misinterpret in all the tech gossip.

1) Bold leadership Rather than be in the business of doing "deals," putting money in, getting money out - Vinod is truly in the business of building companies with meaningful impact on the world.

Research KV's portfolio and you'll see how Vinod is contributing to fundamental human needs in food, agriculture, clean energy, healthcare and education among many other areas. He even setup an impact fund where others aren't investing. His leadership pushes me to focus on making a bigger and positive difference in people's lives.

Also read his perspective on Silicon Valley: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/khosla-the-silicon-... To me, it was a healthy reminder not to be so small minded and uphold our larger purpose for innovation.

2) Honest feedback I highly recommend you read Vinod's point of view on venture assistance and the role of board members before commenting on this thread: http://www.khoslaventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ven...

I admit, I've been in meetings where's he's given me candid, no BS feedback. Although sometimes it was uncomfortable to hear, ultimately I'm thankful because it made be a better entrepreneur and designer. I prefer honesty from someone who challenges me to be great rather than hypocritical politeness.

Think about all the great founders of our time, from Steve Jobs to Mark Zuckerberg - they all have strong points of view that not everyone can get along with but don't confuse this with being a jerk: http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/09/do-you-need-to-be-a-jerk-to...

Wrote a brief response here: http://enriqueallen.tumblr.com/post/14480645124/design-both-... Here's a couple excerpts: “Focus on value creation. Design enhances value, it does not create it.” This statement represents the core contradiction and flaw in his argument which barely makes this discussion worth having. Let’s look at the word “creation” which is a fascinating word generally associated with “the action or process of bringing something into existence.” So if you re-write the sentence with this definition, it becomes, “focus on the action or process of bringing value into existence.” But what comes before an action or process whether conscious or subconscious in your DNA? Design. Borrowing from a Google definition, design means, “purpose, planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact, or material object.” Therefore to create value one must design how to do it, thus making the rest his post null.

If you agree with the flawed logic of Jon then you must substitute the word “Design” with any discipline concerning the action or behavior of creating value. Thus making a series of useless posts like “Engineering is Horseshit” and so on. You don’t see the design community getting mad at engineers who spend weeks designing an optimal database sharding strategy for building things like a daily-deal aggregator which has 0 users and a growth rate of “Divide by Zero Error” and no viable user acquisition strategy. Of course entrepreneurs should focus on value creation and finding product market fit before spending an inappropriate amount of energy on other activities whether that be visual design or backend infrastructure. Any entrepreneur I invest in should know that elementary lesson from experience or reading the Lean Startup etc.

Wrote a brief response here: http://enriqueallen.tumblr.com/post/14480645124/design-both-... Here's a couple excerpts: “Focus on value creation. Design enhances value, it does not create it.” This statement represents the core contradiction and flaw in his argument which barely makes this discussion worth having. Let’s look at the word “creation” which is a fascinating word generally associated with “the action or process of bringing something into existence.” So if you re-write the sentence with this definition, it becomes, “focus on the action or process of bringing value into existence.” But what comes before an action or process whether conscious or subconscious in your DNA? Design. Borrowing from a Google definition, design means, “purpose, planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact, or material object.” Therefore to create value one must design how to do it, thus making the rest his post null.

If you agree with the flawed logic of Jon then you must substitute the word “Design” with any discipline concerning the action or behavior of creating value. Thus making a series of useless posts like “Engineering is Horseshit” and so on. You don’t see the design community getting mad at engineers who spend weeks designing an optimal database sharding strategy for building things like a daily-deal aggregator which has 0 users and a growth rate of “Divide by Zero Error” and no viable user acquisition strategy. Of course entrepreneurs should focus on value creation and finding product market fit before spending an inappropriate amount of energy on other activities whether that be visual design or backend infrastructure. Any entrepreneur I invest in should know that elementary lesson from experience or reading the Lean Startup etc.

I used the word "with" and didn't say they created it by themselves, obviously it takes a lot of people... Part of the gist is encouraging designers to believe they can and therefore try, hopefully in collaboration, especially since talent is getting stretched in our bubble here

We've been repeatedly explicit about NOT being divisive... you see Larry or Mark or other folks getting celebrated and you don't see the design community getting mad...how many design students even know about Mitch or Chad let alone the general public... Per previous comment http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3358720 we posed a question and again are promoting collaboration and co-creation...

Yes I agree with your first sentence, that's the point we need more to designers to step up to the challenge...We didn't say what you quoted, we specifically say in order "billions worth of value created by tech startups with designer co-founders" and also say, "Nearly every designer founder has a technical co-founder and some have technical backgrounds which furthers the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration"... also see previous comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3359176 hopefully this is also a challenge to the next generation of designers to step up and ship something of consequence in collaboration with other brilliant folks from different background like great engineers who have been doing it for decades in deep tech... design+tech entrepreneurship is still in it's infancy... I do know that we need to be proactively driving new ideas and not be so reactive. “They have checkins, and group coupons, and native apps, and just got a valuation of thirty billion; WE need to have checkins! We need group coupons! Bring on the native apps!” I hope future designer-entrepreneurs can be more proactive and present a state that doesn’t yet exist. Addressing latent needs ESPECIALLY in emerging markets and coming up re-framed business models for the other 99% of the population.

Having a technical co-founder is nearly prerequisite at YC, AngelPad and with most later stage funds...so there's already been enough funds championing engineering and there's been countless essays written celebrating hackers and specific grant programs etc...so we can also celebrate designers too and start creating a positive feedback loop, it's not either or... and I definitely agree with you about focusing on creating value, Eric Ries is also a venture advisor, so I subscribe to lean startup methods too... and yes forget about engineering and design titles too, what matters is a critical mass of skills and resources to execute...

Agree see previous comment http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3359246

Goes back to our goal to raise awareness about the existence of designer founders and their diverse backgrounds with data in a fun way that has never been done before (not draw causal claims)

He's also Stanford HCI and when I talked to him last at WarmGun seems to be doing a lot of front end work too

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-designer-fund/designer-fo...

Will add a meatier FAQ

Went to go play soccer with engineers, designers and business folks as a team and come back to this...alas I guess you put out positive energy into the universe and it's natural to get negative too...why would you even say 'design is horseshit,' that's totally unproductive, polarizes people, and disrespects a LOT of people... who would post something saying 'engineering is horseshit'? Just doesn't make sense, and I'm an engineer too...why not collaborate and work together? Our disciplines and skills regardless of general titles are just means to hopefully create meaningful impact, drop the ego...of course I agree with you that a product/service that's useful is better than something that just looks like art, duh, so stop firing up an age-old tired conflict, I think we've evolved past bickering and being bullies by now...instead of welcoming peers who can create value with you... you're comments are what keep designers out of working with startups...

Also, we specifically use the word co-founder in the title and say: "Nearly every designer founder has a technical co-founder and some have technical backgrounds which furthers the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration" and we're encouraging more hyper productive designer-hacker dyads...I think the reality is that most of brilliant people here in Silicon Valley are scared to get out of their comfort zone and work on really hard unglamorous problems, especially those of the other %99, because the feedback loops we've created promote the beautiful novelties and vanity consumerism versus sustainable businesses with positive social impact, so again I agree with you...

"Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works." Did you read previous comment citing Jesse Schell? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3359218 and specific skills we modern designers in tech need http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3358880

Have you read the software design manifesto by Mitch Kapor http://hci.stanford.edu/publications/bds/1-kapor.html

Highly recommend exploring design ethnography and user research methods that focus on value discovery and value creation eg that's why places like IDEO thrive...

Also do you know we're related through Cookpad? I'm disappointed and surprised by our statements which seem at odds with your company values...

we haven't been able to get a hold of Chris yet...google designer wrote him handwritten note though

Re: I dont think the value of start-ups with a design co-founder gives us much more value than saying, designers are very beneficial for a product-oriented startup.

That's the simple point, you got it, we're saying yes they can be very beneficial for a product-oriented startup just like more engineering and business focused people are (you'd be surprised by how many people don't act like that)...then exploring stories about the value these people deliver... there's no conclusions, we put '?s'

We were also pretty intentional about not really using the word 'success' too

"Anyone who makes a decision about how the product should be is a designer. Designer is a role, not a person. Almost every developer on a team makes some decision about how the product will be, just through the act of creating the product. These decisions are design decisions, and when you make them, you're a designer. For this reason, no matter what role on a development team, an understanding of the principles of design will make you better at what you do."...While I agree with Jesse Schell, what we are highlighting, the potential for designer founders, is not mutually exclusive with your concern...there are many ways to get design done eg Jared Spool lays out some types (I am by no means advocating for one size fits all), but I am saying that having a strong design leader may help your team (the best ones don't have to control every little detail, they empower others), it's like having an editor eg http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/technology/what-apple-has-.... my major issue with design thinking and make everyone a "designer" so easily is you lose a bar of quality, craft, and professionalism that you want everyone to aspire to be...just like you'd want your CTO to inspire other developers to work with him/her, you want a designer founder to do the same...great talent attracts other great talent... It makes sense that a prerequisite for a tech company is to have a founder with technical skills. The same heuristic should hold true if you want to consistently ship well designed products like Pinterest, AirBnB and Path. Why not have a co-founder with design skills who champions the user experience?

generally not users fault, so our bad in type still

I hear you...this is only our first visualization (will probably do next one on a timeline etc, so you're point about league isn't really an issue)...this first piece is more about highlighting case studies we're examining (mega success and dud failures- I like all types of data)...hopefully this is also a challenge to the next generation of designers to step up and ship something of consequence in collaboration with other brilliant folks from different background like great engineers who have been doing it for decades in deep tech... design+tech entrepreneurship is still in it's infancy... I do know that we need to be proactively driving new ideas and not be so reactive. “They have checkins, and group coupons, and native apps, and just got a valuation of thirty billion; WE need to have checkins! We need group coupons! Bring on the native apps!” I hope future designer-entrepreneurs can be more proactive and present a state that doesn’t yet exist. Addressing latent needs ESPECIALLY in emerging markets and coming up re-framed business models for the other 99% of the population.

Of course they're on there! think you prob missed them...

doh! our bad will fix

Re #1 got it, agree all founders should but great designers should be amazing at understanding human needs that's what they should be trained in and one of their primary jobs to focus on, hear a lot about empathy, so hopefully a designer co-founder will increase your probability of that critical mass of skill in house among other tangible skills...but why don't you agree with this one: "First, as the the consumer tech market becomes more crowded, differentiated brand and experience design is becoming critical to both short-term and long-term success."?...I didn't really write it as an "argument" but more as a research statement, hence why we're interviewing a lot of http://designerfounders.com not for profit- I'm passionate about intersection of design, tech entrepreneurship and education....and how we can better collaborate radically to create positive social impact, part of that is bringing folks together with seats at the table...

Great point, that's a whole other discussion about what makes a 'great product person', that's almost more of a opaque term...

You can go to school or be self taught... definitely, 'designer' is more like a mindset and skillset that you have to have the confidence/respect to own(you can be a developer, designer, business person all in one but very rare you can be great at all of them)... intentional behavior changed and impact definitely help qualify like real artists ship...not all are equal and we're talking about a very rare breed... if you read below the infographic we layout some unique characteristics:

-Clearly every designer isn’t meant to be a founder and probably shouldn’t be, (especially as some believe we’re spreading talent thin across too many little “me too” startups but that’s a whole other discussion). To be clear, we don’t mean “designer as the prima donna pixel-pusher” that you might be picturing. We also don’t mean “designer as the I Took One Class Called UX Fundamentals In Business School.” We mean an honest-to-goodness, experienced, craft-driven, product-focused, reflective practitioner who has learned to design by designing, who views design as a way of thinking about solving hard problems and is capable of building usable products with more than just beautiful aesthetics.[3] The word ‘design’ is so loaded nowadays and hope that our Designer Founders info cards will begin to clarify the impact of designers with various backgrounds in the context of early stage tech startups.

-Designer founders we’ve observed are consistently multidisciplinary and have cross functional skills necessary to make product decisions. They are fluent in the full design stack ranging from user research, product design, interaction design, information architecture, graphic design, to communication design. They may not be experts in all sub-disciplines of design but can get by on their own in the early days of their startup and attract specialists when needed. In addition, they have a thorough enough working understanding of technology and business stacks including agile programing and data-based marketing methods. Designer founders can move up and down the design stack and horizontally to technology and business stacks to do what it takes to ship and use data to justify their decisions when needed. Thus they are capable of leading both their product and organization through the design cycles needed to innovate. There’s a difference between a designer who can design a dashboard in a car and a designer who can design a whole car and how to drive it. Designer founders need to be able to do both.

1) We acknowledge the outliers like Lotus and YouTube, at least others have been life changing even if it wasn't billion dollar exits

2) Did you read previous comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3358703 Public data that was available to use as 'proxies'/indicators of value: User base, company size, funding, and acquisition amount...of course we'd like to show profit...a couple companies like Blurb submitted profit eg revenue 58M in 2010

3) It's not an us vs them comparison, again it's all about collaboration and multidisciplinary skills

4) Did you read previous comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3358727 -Of course the designers featured here can’t possibly take all the credit for any success, and they shouldn't, it's all about team work and we're celebrating design together no matter what background you come from

-The goal is to raise awareness about the existence of designer founders and their diverse backgrounds with data in a fun way that has never been done before (not draw causal claims)

Yeah sorry the article layout is actually sloppy, bad design, poor readability...will work on making more persuasive, data full examples in future and appreciate your candid feedback...but here were a couple assertions: -First, as the the consumer tech market becomes more crowded, differentiated brand and experience design is becoming critical to both short-term and long-term success.

-Second, successful designer founders will attract the remaining distribution of aspiring entrepreneurial designers, theoretically shifting the supply of designers innovating rather than advertising sugar water.

-The third assertion is that designer founders have unique skills (not just visual) to understand human needs, make products that people actually want by driving new ideas and connecting things that aren’t obviously connected, and to communicate persuasively by visualizing a narrative of the future state of things.

-Furthermore, a startup with a designer founder who can lead and model design practices has a competitive advantage [2], especially when the designer is accompanied by technical and business co-founders. The critical mass of combined design, technical, and business skills enables product iteration to happen faster and at a higher resolution.

-Finally, later-stage companies have an appetite for designer founders who are capable of leading product innovation within their organization and are willing to acquire designer founded startups, which creates a virtuous cycle of wealth.

Of course, stats 101...We put caveats below the infographic: -we're not making the claim that tech startups with designer founders are statistically better in some way, instead we are highlighting interesting case studies to explore further

-Of course the designers featured here can’t possibly take all the credit for any success, it's all about team work and we're celebrating design together no matter what background you come from

-The goal is to raise awareness about the existence of designer founders and their diverse backgrounds with data in a fun way that has never been done before (not draw causal claims)

We posed a "?"...our goal is to increasingly focus on impact: would love to show profit and positive social externalities... I hear you that it's frothy and too many me-too things going on that are targeting the tip of Maslow's hiearchy for the top <.5% of people

Public data that was available to use as 'proxies'/indicators of value: User base, company size, funding, and acquisition amount...of course we'd like to show profit...a couple companies like Blurb submitted profit eg revenue 58M in 2010

For sure, it's about a critical mass of engineering, design and business skill...it's a constant re-balancing act as you iterate

Did you read below the infographic? We laid out some reasoning...long story short it's about collaboration and multi-disciplinary skills necessary to ship, titles are actually not that important... Have you read the software design manifesto?... agree got to show with data and prove value of course, like the recent FAB funding round with strong emphasis on design

Yeah lot of data private but working on surfacing as much as possible...wish we could do profit filter of course... main point is to showcase case studies for further exploration