[quique]

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.

[dustingetz]

#1 "designer founders have unique skills (not just visual) to understand human needs" I disagree; I think the general case of all founders (technical, business, design) need this insight.

#2 "The critical mass of combined design, technical, and business skills enables product iteration to happen faster and at a higher resolution" i guess this is the crux -- nothing that I've seen stands out as supporting this argument, especially since I can't yet grant #1.

the remainder of your argument doesn't really make much sense to me.

[quique]

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...