Fundraising by Design

Design has been successfully applied to a vast array of problem areas; healthcare, education, entertainment and vacations as well as tonight's dinner, to name a few. Think of all the ways that our lives have been positively changed by some design fueled insights. 

So, why not fundraising? 

Few things are as vital to the success of a new venture than procuring adequate funding to give ideas the time and resources to take shape and prove their value. Of course, many obstacles cannot be overcome no matter how much capital is applied, but sometimes it really is just a little more cash that is needed. 

At Bould Design, we talk to a lot of start-ups, not as many as a typical VC, but quite a few. We also work with a good number to develop products that people love and help build start-ups into substantial companies that provide real value to our society through their products, ideas, technology and jobs. 

Many start-ups have amazing ideas that never get realized because they made design strategy something that gets prioritized after they reach their next technical milestone. They may have hired a small army of engineers to crack the technical challenges but haven’t given any thought to the form and presence their customers will actually experience. 

With almost every Industrial Design program, there comes a time about a third of the way through our process where we commission a cosmetic model. It doesn’t necessarily work (it might though), but it looks and feels like the real thing. For most start-ups, it is a crystallizing and sometimes emotional moment where they look at each other, and say, ‘this is what we’re building!’ The next comment is something along the lines of  ‘why did we only get one made?’ and ‘how quickly can we get more?’

What do they do with these models? They use them to inspire. They inspire talent to join them for the next leg of the journey. They inspire contract manufacturers to think about committing assembly lines and technical support. They inspire retailers to consider reserving shelf space for next November. They show them to their friends and family to justify the late nights and missed get togethers. And last but not least, they show them to investors as early evidence of their ability to execute and connect with their customers.  

A busy investor might see fifty pitch decks in a week. It is unlikely that they see more than one really polished, credible industrial design and or model in even a month. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, a model is worth a thousand pictures. A good investor will factor this into consideration when thinking about whether to fund and what the terms might be. To them, you have reduced their risk by taking this step. Also, you will need to do it eventually and wouldn’t you rather have more visibility into where you are going and a few more dollars to put towards development?

I don’t have statistics to share and some of you are probably thinking ‘well of course he would say that, he’s an industrial designer….’, but we do have over twenty five years of experience and several hardware-centric unicorns (Nest, Gopro and Roku) under our belt. We have seen this scenario play out again and again. Design can be a force multiplier when recruiting, selling, sourcing and fund-raising. I have never had a founder tell me that they wished they had waited to engage on design. I have had many, many tell me that the early design work was instrumental in achieving their goals. On top of that, more than one founder has said that the weekly design meeting is the highlight of their week. Why do you think Steve Jobs spent so much time in the design studio? It’s gratifying, and it’s important. Something to consider.