Why VC firms are snapping up designers

Irene Au, former head of Google’s User Interaction Team, is the latest designer to make her way to a venture capital firm. Here’s why VCs are so hot for designers and how consumers could ultimately benefit from the trend.

“It’s a common misconception that VCs are just check writers who buy a piece of young companies, disappear for a few years, then come to collect when those small companies grow into big companies. In reality, modern VC firms not only carefully invest money, they offer any and all resources at their disposal to ensure their investments pay off. VC firms work closely with their companies to refine business and marketing plans, recruit talented staff, and even work side-by-side to turn products into hits. Designers, of course, can do at least two of these three tasks well. Recruiting new design talent was a responsibility of every design partner we talked to.”