Quick Coffee

QC#53: Ben Blumenrose, Co-Director & Managing Partner at Designer Fund

Dec 6, 2023

Ben Blumenrose, Co-Director & Managing Partner at Designer Fund, shares his career journey joining Facebook early as a Design Lead, the importance of impact and functionality in design, and the unique support that Designer Fund provides to early-stage startups.

33:46

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Episode guests

Ben Blumenrose

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Design should prioritize impact over aesthetics or awards.

Designer Fund supports founders by providing design talent, mentorship, and fundraising assistance.

Deep dives

Importance of Impact in Design

The speaker emphasizes that the top priority in design is impact, rather than prioritizing aesthetics or awards. This perspective was shaped during their time at Facebook, where the focus was on creating products that work well and have a real impact on users.

Introduction

5min

The Impact of E-commerce and Facebook: Talented People and Powerful Responsibilities

2min

The Importance of Functionality and Problem-Solving over Aesthetics

18min

Reflecting on the Decision to Become an Investor

2min

The Importance of Design Support for Early-Stage Startups

5min

A Unique Book Recommendation

2min

In this week’s Quick Coffee, we speak with Ben Blumenrose, the Co-Director & Managing Partner at Designer Fund. We start out with some storytime and learn about Ben’s career step joining Facebook early as a Design Lead. We speak about how this step shaped him as a designer, how he interprets impact and how he believes founders create a truly product and design driven culture. And we cover the foundation of Designer Fund, his motivation, vision and the way that Designer Fund supports its founders. A amazing conversation we cannot wait for you to listen to, grab a coffee and meet Ben!

Our episode overview

(00:00:00) Opening the episode and welcoming Ben

(00:01:08) Ben’s career game changer joining the early Facebook as a Design Lead

(00:07:00) Understanding “impact” as a designer

(00:12:50) The culture that founders create who are sweating the product details

(00:20:00) Ben’s transition and motivation for founding Designer Fund

(00:27:00) What is special about how Designer Fund works with founders

(00:31:05) Wrapup and thanks to Ben

Ben’s book recommendation: https://shop.specialprojects.jp/products/kissa-by-kissa-4th-ed

Want to connect with us? We look forward to hearing from you on Twitter at @QuickCoffeeVC or at https://quickcoffee.vc.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickhaede/