Design Founder Summer School

Designers bring an intuitive understanding of user needs, a relentless focus on experience, and an ability to prototype and ship fast—all critical when chasing product-market fit.

But while design founders have the right instincts for building products people actually want, many struggle when it comes to:

• Fundraising and understanding the VC landscape
• Sales, marketing, and go-to-market strategy
• Assembling the right team beyond product and design
• Knowing what makes a startup investible

That’s where this course comes in.

In this live, cohort-based course, Andy Budd—former design founder, startup advisor, and now a VC—will guide a small group of designers through everything you need to know before launching your business.

Whether you're still validating your idea, prototyping your MVP, or considering raising money, this course will help you avoid the classic design-founder pitfalls and get investor-ready.

Over 6 weeks, we’ll cover the core areas most design founders never get taught*:

Week 1: Rethinking the Designer Mindset
What makes designers great founders—and where they often get stuck. Learn to balance craft with speed and shift from "making" to "leading."

Week 2: Finding and Validating the Right Problem
Discover how to quickly test if your idea solves a real need—without over-researching or over-polishing.

Week 3: MVPs and First Builds
Learn how to build lightweight, high-signal MVPs that get you early data and traction.

Week 4: Go-to-Market, Sales & Early Growth
Sales and marketing for people who’ve never done sales and marketing. How to find your first 10, 100, or 1,000 users.

Week 5: Fundraising Demystified
Bootstrapping, angels, accelerators, VCs—understand your options, what makes you fundable, and how to play the game without losing your soul.

Week 6: Pitching with Confidence
Craft your deck, tell a compelling story, and pitch your startup to the group with live feedback from peers (and a few surprise guests).

*NOTE: This course is a work in progress so the exact schedule and content it likely to change.

This is a hands-on course. You’ll be expected to bring an idea you’re working on—or come with a sample idea to use for the course. You’ll create a pitch deck over the 6 weeks, and present it in our final session.

🗓 Starts: Mid-July
🕔 Live sessions: Fridays at 5pm (UK time)
📍 Format: 6 weekly live sessions via Zoom + community group
👥 Cohort size: Small, focused, plenty of discussion
💸 Price: Just £750 + VAT for this first run (normally £1,750 + VAT)

This is a pilot version of the course, and I’m offering a significant discount in return for feedback and a little grace as I test the format.