Designer to Founder

If you're a designer who's ever thought, "One day, I want to build something of my own," this is for you.

I spent years dreaming about launching my own products—sketching ideas between client calls during the day, prototyping side projects in Figma at night.

After years of tinkering, I finally took the leap to launch my own product and become a founder. It turned out to be far more challenging than I'd imagined. Over the following years, I launched several product concepts: a matchmaking app for game devs, a fitness app for trainers, an ecommerce shop for motorcycle enthusiasts, and a few others I'd rather not mention.

None of them became breakout hits, but each one taught me invaluable lessons about building, failing, and what it truly takes to make the leap from designer to founder.

In this week's newsletter, I share what I learned from my multiple attempts at becoming a founder that eventually led to success.

This isn't a step-by-step guide—it's a reflection on my journey, mistakes, and eventual successes. If you're on a similar path, I hope these insights help you move forward with greater speed and clarity.

Here's my advice for those following a similar path.

Learn about business.

I’m a designer. I wasn’t born thinking about CAC, LTV, or conversion funnels. But I learned because I had to.

You don’t need an MBA. You just need enough understanding to make decisions and not get steamrolled.

Start simple:

• Learn how people find and pay for products.

• Understand the basics of pricing, positioning, and distribution.

• Talk to people who’ve done it. Read. Build. Fail. Repeat.

Design is your unfair advantage. Pair it with even basic business knowledge and you’re already ahead.

Build for yourself first.

Don’t overthink your first move. Just look at your own pain points.

That tool you wish existed? The workflow that’s broken? The tedious thing you keep duct-taping together?

Start there. Build a tiny solution. It doesn’t have to be flashy, just useful.

That’s how most great products start.

The best “founder training” is solving your own problem first and seeing if anyone else cares.

Stop thinking like a service provider.

Designers are used to responding to briefs. Founders create them.

Early in my career, I waited for direction, an RFP, a strategy deck, a stakeholder to approve the next move. But building something of your own requires a shift:

You need to ask yourself:

• What real problem am I solving, and for who?

• How can this become a business, not just a project?

• How can this monetize, and who would be willing to pay for it?

• Why am I uniquely positioned to bring this to life?

When you start thinking this way, you stop designing for feedback and start designing for traction, growth, and impact.

This mental shift is half the battle.

Let go of perfect.

This one’s hard. We’re taught to polish. To make it perfect.

But founders? They prioritize motion.

You’ll have to:

• Show rough prototypes.

• Launch before you’re ready.

• Ship without onboarding.

• Make decisions without all the data.

It’s uncomfortable, but it’s necessary.

The sooner you can move from polishing to testing, the faster you’ll learn and win.

Start now.

Seriously.

Not after another course.

Not once you’ve got the “perfect” idea.

Start small. Start scrappy. Just start.

Your first idea might flop, and that’s ok. I’ve had more things fail than succeed.

You’ll learn more from building one thing than from planning five.

The Takeaway

The leap from designer to founder isn’t about having the perfect startup idea, it’s about shifting how you think, act, and build.

You don’t need permission. You don’t need a 50-page business plan.

You just need to start small.

Start with a problem you understand. Use your design skills to craft a simple solution. Share it. Test it. Improve it.

Here’s your next steps:

• Pick one problem you’ve faced recently.

• Sketch out a scrappy solution.

• Share it with 3 people who might need it too.

• Gather their feedback and ship your first version.

• Iterate quickly and often until you find what works.

• Don’t overthink it.

That’s it. That’s how it begins.

You already have the skills. Now it’s time to use them to build something that’s yours.

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🖐️ P.S Join my newsletter The Interface where I share lessons from 20+ years designing across agencies, startups, and solo projects. Get a new email to your inbox every Saturday.

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