Everything Ben Blumenfeld said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Product-market fit is a continuous spectrum, not a binary state
“This idea of like product market fit as a thing that you either have or don't have, it's not really true. That's not really the way it works. You can get closer to product market fit and product market fit is this thing you should be continuously striving to a…”
Powerful AI technology is insufficient without user research and product design
“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.”
Startups abandon design principles without a designer co-founder
“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.”
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.”
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”
86% of design students acquire their skills outside formal coursework
“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”
Designer Fund's Bridge program has a lower acceptance rate than Stanford
“We have about 90 designers that have gone through that program, 4500 designers have applied for it, so it kind of has a tougher acceptance, right, than Stanford or Harvard.”
More designers will seek to become venture capital investment partners
“There's a lot more designers being angel investors, and I think we'll see more designers wanting to be actual investment partners.”
Operator VCs must evaluate founders assuming they won't build the product
“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…”
Designer Fund seeks products that are 3,000% better, not just 20%
“So one of the things that we look for when we're investing is, is something not just 20% better, 30% better, but it's something 3000% better.”
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