Design for Startups by Garry Tan (Part 1)

TL;DR

Garry Tan (former YC partner, founder of Posters, self-taught designer) argues that startup founders must treat design as core to building products people want, emphasizing that design is how it works, not just how it looks.

Key insights

• Design is "creating things for users that work well and delight them"; the most common misconception is that design is merely how it looks — it is also how it works.
• Form should follow function; examples of form-over-function failures include Apple’s notch (worse for video) and beautiful doors that need a "pull" label because users can’t figure them out.
• Empathy is the foundation: putting yourself in the user’s shoes is more important than technical skill. Dale Carnegie’s "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is recommended as required reading for