You hired great Design. So why isn’t it working?

We help founders and design leaders fix the broken relationship between Design and the business — by transforming how teams work together while shipping real product, fast.

One Problem, Two Sides

Founders

Design Leaders

I thought hiring a Head of Design would bring clarity. Instead, I’ve got more questions, more process, and no increase in velocity. I’m still the one making the tough calls on UX.

I thought this role was about strategy, but I’m stuck fixing font sizes and debating shadows. Meanwhile, no one’s asking what the user actually needs.

They said they could build the team. Now they say they need more headcount, better PMs, better engineers. Where’s the leverage?

They asked me to lead, but every decision goes through Product or Eng. If I advocate for design, I’m told I’m not “collaborative.”

I know Design should have a seat at the table, but when they get it, they talk like consultants or complain about influence. I’m paying them to lead, not lobby.

Honestly, I’m wondering if I even needed a design leader, or just a couple of really good ICs.

I want to build a team that delivers, but I inherited a group with burnout, broken trust, and no voice in planning. I need time to repair the system, not just add headcount.

Some days I wonder if they really wanted a leader or just someone to clean up the UI.

They say they want outcomes, but all the metrics we track are about output. No one’s measuring whether users are succeeding, just whether we shipped something.

I keep hearing about “strategic design,” but what I need is traction. Customers are churning. I don’t care how beautiful the dashboard is if no one sticks around to use it.

Every time we try to bring Design into the room earlier, they slow things down or challenge things we already decided. It feels like friction, not flow.

I show up to roadmap meetings and the decisions are already made. When I push back, I’m labeled difficult. When I say nothing, I watch bad UX go live.

Every $1 invested in UX brings a return of $100 — a ROI of 9,900%.

Companies that prioritize UX have lower customer acquisition costs, lower support costs, and higher customer retention.

Forrester Research

More than an agency, recruiter or coach.
We’re a Force Multiplier

We’re a top-to-bottom transformation service that rewires how your team collaborates, makes decisions, and ships while delivering a real product outcomes along the way.

We’re easy to try out and hard to give up.

We work in the real product.

This isn’t theory or a Figma file that dies in a deck. We pick a high-impact product slice and coach your team while building it together — live.

We fix the org through the work.

While the team ships, we coach, observe, and realign how design, product, and engineering operate. The output? A real collaboration protocol that sticks.

We collapse timelines with AI

AI isn’t a sideshow, it’s central. We use it to collapse strategy, iteration, and feedback into one continuous flow. Less rework, more signal.

See How It Works

🚀

“We needed a third party to get us unstuck. We could have never fixed this within our existing org dynamics.”

Founder/CEO
Unicorn Cap Table Management Startup

Who is it for?

For Founders

What it is:
A 2–4 week engagement to assess your current design team, product culture, and readiness for scale. Includes interviews, process audits, and a founder debrief with clear recommendations.
Who it’s for:
Startups with an underperforming design function, or founders wondering if they’ve hired the right design leader.
Deliverables:
- Org and leadership health check
- Design team assessment (skills, trust, execution)
- Product org alignment analysis
- Tactical plan: keep, change, or rebuild
Pricing: $12,000–$18,000 flat fee (based on team size and urgency)
What it is:
I help you define the right design role, vet candidates, and even join your hiring panel to ensure you don’t make the mistake of hiring for polish over performance.
Who it’s for:
Startups making their first Head/VP of Design hire—or trying to course-correct after a misfire.
Deliverables:
- Role definition & level calibration
- Interview rubric + candidate evaluation
- Offer consultation and onboarding plan
- Optional: shortlisting or review of final candidates
Pricing: $6,500–$9,000 flat fee
(Add-on support for onboarding or post-hire coaching available)
What it is:
Hands-on, high-trust design leadership without the full-time cost. I join your exec team part-time to stabilize, coach, hire, and scale your design function.
Who it’s for:
Founders who need senior product/design leadership but aren’t ready (or able) to hire a full-time VP.
Scope:
- 1–2 days/week commitment (on retainer)
- Includes team 1:1s, roadmap participation, hiring guidance
- Strategic partner to Product, CEO, or CTO
- Optional: interim leadership coverage during VP search
Pricing: $8,500–$12,000/month (3-month minimum) text goes here

The Sprint (Everyone)

You, Executive Stakeholders, Product, Engineering, Customers, and of course, Design
The sprint is designed to do two things at once with an exponentially beneficial outcome, to model how the functions can work together to produce an a uniquely successful product solution in a rapid amount of time
What You Get
- A customer-validated prototype ready for roadmap or funding pitch
- A redefined design operating model for your org (roles, rituals, review)
- Clear design metrics that align with business outcomes
- A documented collaboration framework between PM, Design, and Eng
- Live coaching and facilitation from a design leader who’s seen it all
Duration: 6 Weeks
Focus: One real product initiative, shaped and shipped
Team: Product, Design, Engineering + executive stakeholders
Tooling: AI-assisted prototyping, feedback synthesis, and decision support
Led by: Me and my team — live coaching, strategic modeling, hands-on collaboration

For Design Leaders

What it is:
One-on-one coaching for VPs, Heads of Design, or Staff Designers navigating org friction, unclear expectations, or personal burnout.
Who it’s for:
Design leaders in high-pressure roles who need a sounding board and a strategic reset.
Includes:
- Weekly 60-min sessions
- Crisis navigation, influence coaching, and role clarity mapping
- Slack async support between sessions
Pricing: $3,000/month or $850/session (sliding scale for individual pay)
You’re not just being interviewed. You’re interviewing them.
Before you accept that shiny VP title or Head of Design offer, ask the questions that reveal whether this company is actually ready for design — or just hopes you’ll fix everything they won’t confront.
We’ll give you the exact questions to ask — in your interviews with founders, product, and eng — to assess:
- Whether design is a strategic partner or a service desk
- How decisions actually get made (vs. how they say they do)
- If you’ll have the support, authority, and context to lead — or just decorate someone else’s roadmap
- Whether the org knows how to use design to go faster, especially in an AI-enabled product org
Because the worst design job isn’t the one without a seat.
It’s the one where you’re given a seat — and no influence.
[Download the checklist] or
[Talk to us before you sign]
Let me help you find the company that will leverage your skills and experience and avoid the companies that will squeeze you into a corner and drain the life out of you

Book a Call

Not sure yet?

Ask yourself:

Are we solving real customer problems or just shipping features to stay busy?

Are my engineers building with confidence or just waiting for specs to drop from the sky?
Are we using AI to move faster or stuck in the same old loops with shinier tools?
Does our design team feel essential or just… there?
How much of our time is spent redoing things we thought were already done?

If you’re even a little unsure about the answers, you’re not alone. But you’re also not stuck.

We help teams like yours move from swirl to momentum and ship smarter, together.