You've just raised. Now expectations are higher
What changes for product and design after a funding round, and when it makes sense to bring in a senior design partner.
A round buys you time, and it raises the bar. More people are watching the numbers, the team is about to grow, and the product that got you this far now has to work for people who weren’t there at the start.
Building more isn’t always the answer. Often the most useful decision after a raise is what not to ship.
Signs you’re here
- Your roadmap is full and your design seat is empty.
- Every feature works, but they don’t work together.
- Your product has grown, and so has the friction.
What I’d do first
Figure out what matters. I challenge assumptions, look at the real user problems, and focus the work where it can make a difference.
Decide what not to ship. At Carré, getting ready for a seed round meant removing 60% of the product.
Stay through implementation. I work closely with engineering and contribute to the codebase when useful, so decisions survive implementation.
How working together looks
You work directly with me, with no account managers and no senior designer who disappears after kickoff. Pricing is a fixed price per defined result, or monthly with a 3-month minimum.
“Pragmatic, low ego, and always a step ahead of me. He solved problems I hadn’t even spotted. A top pick for any founder who needs a business-savvy designer.”
Holger Seim, Founder, Blinkist