It was 2011 and the company I had just spent the last 7 years of my life building had collapsed. I was out of the job and so was my co-founder, Ryan, a talented graphic designer.
Instead of making resumes and going our separate ways, somehow I convinced him we should make a pitch deck. I had a new business idea and I needed his help.
Fast forward two months later, that pitch deck landed us a $100k investment and (after a few pivots) resulted in the 7-figure company we run today, UniTel Voice.
The same reason our startup did: good design.
If Ryan hadn’t made our deck look professional with graphics and a logo, we won’t have closed the deal. And if he wasn’t on our founding team, we would never have been able to grow from 0-20,000+ customers in such a competitive space.
The lesson learned was if you want your startup to succeed, you need a designer on your founding team.
Here are five vital reasons why:
1. Credibility
When you’re a brand-new business you don’t have any testimonials, online reviews, or social proof to showcase. So, how do you get customers to trust you?
The same way you would convince someone you’ve never met to trust you. You look and sound professional. Your business can do that through design.
Good design makes every part of your business look, feel, and function professionally. That’s why having a designer on our team, from seed funding pitch to product launch and beyond, has been so key to our credibility.
In the early days, investors, customers, and partners took us seriously because our marketing collateral, website, product, and branding all looked legit. Our credibility came from having a well-designed presentation, not because we had an established reputation.
You might be thinking you could outsource your design needs and hire a designer down the road. But that would be a mistake. It would end up being more expensive and too time-consuming to outsource everything that needs to be done.
Startups are constantly growing, changing, and pivoting as they learn what works and what doesn’t. In that environment especially, there are just too many things that need a designer’s touch.
Having a designer on your founding team keeps your business from looking cobbled together.