83 / Design’s True Purpose: Answer The How

What is the role of design in product development for startups? And what characteristics do the great designers share? In this episode of the Product Momentum Podcast, John Zeratsky joins host Paul Gebel to explain – interestingly, using David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers biography as a backdrop.

The book “provided this interesting illustration of the difference between craft and invention. Designers,” John says, “obsess about craft. When the Wright brothers were building bikes, they were craftsmen – detail-oriented, patient, and introspective. And they made super high-quality bikes.… But when they invented the airplane,” he continues, “they leveraged those skills to do something very, very different. And that is much more akin to the role of design at startups that are trying to do something new.”

John Zeratsky ought to know. With a career journey that includes both craftsman and inventor roles, John is now co-founder and General Partner at Character, where he supports startups with capital and sprints. He and partner Jake Knapp noticed that in the world of venture capital, product was often neglected. Yet product is the foundation of every business; a business cannot be successful without a successful product.

“If you’re starting a company, the hardest thing about it – the core thing – is the product,” John says. “If there’s no product, none of the rest matters.” Design’s role is not to answer the what, John adds. It’s the how. “How are we going to figure out this tricky problem? How are we going to figure out what our customers want and describe it in a way that makes sense for them?”

Tune in to hear John’s insights about how to improve your team’s design sprint process. And be sure to catch his breakdown of the three levels of the facilitation pyramid, and learn why OATS matters if you’re a startup interested in partnering with Character.

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