Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Operator VCs must evaluate founders assuming they won't build the product

Ben Blumenfeld · 20VC: Why Venture Is A Service Product? Why There Is No Such Thing As Product Market Fit & Why Startups Need To Be More Design Orientated with Ben Blumenfeld, Co-Founder & General Partner @ Designer Fund · Feb 22, 2017 · at 18:24

Ben Blumenfeld, Co-Founder and General Partner at Designer Fund and former Facebook designer, discusses the mental shift required when transitioning from direct builder to venture investor.

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“And so you really need to make a decision when investing, assuming that, that you're not going to be able to kind of work day in, day out and help them build the product. Do you still believe that they can get there right with you as a mentor coach, not you as a designer.”

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“I think just having a great AI is not going to be enough. You need to actually like also marry that with great research, great product design, make it useful.”
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“What he found was when he would return to those companies three, six, nine months after he'd do these design sprints with them, is that they would no longer practice these great design principles unless they had a designer on the founding team.”
Ben Blumenfeld Feb 22, 2017 ▶ 4:38 20VC: Why Venture Is A Service Product? Why There Is No Such Thing As Product Market Fit & Why Startups Need To Be More Design Orientated with Ben Blumenfeld, Co-Founder & General Partner @ Designer Fund
Assertion Not checkable as stated
VCs passed on Airbnb because they ignored design as a differentiator
“So like Airbnb is a great example, like a ton of investors passed on them because they didn't understand design as a differentiation for them.”
Ben Blumenfeld Feb 22, 2017 ▶ 5:45 20VC: Why Venture Is A Service Product? Why There Is No Such Thing As Product Market Fit & Why Startups Need To Be More Design Orientated with Ben Blumenfeld, Co-Founder & General Partner @ Designer Fund
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Most venture capitalists still treat design as an aesthetic afterthought
“At the same time, I think there is still a vast majority of investors who view design as this thing that you kind of add on after the fact, or that is, you know, kind of a visual layer that is not necessarily available. A necessity in building a company”
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Assertion Partly supported
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“We actually, even the design and tech report was saying that about 86% of design students say they acquire their skills outside of the coursework”
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