I've worked with 10+ startups at this point. And one thing is almost always true: UX comes up late. Too late. 😅

Rebecca Hathaway and I kept finding ourselves in the same conversation: founders juggling product, funding, hiring, growth, and somewhere at the bottom of the list: design. So we decided to do something about it. We're co-hosting a talk during SF Climate Week specifically for climate tech founders, and I genuinely can't wait.

The question we hear most? "Do we actually need a UX designer yet?" The answer is almost always yes: it's just a matter of knowing what kind, when, and how to set them up to succeed.

"You don't hire UX after you've built the product. You hire UX so you build the right product."

My background is admittedly a little unconventional. I started in finance and then after eight years doing everything from sales to running operations for an investment firm, I pivoted fully into UX because life is too short. I think about design through a business and strategy lens. I'm not just asking "does this look good?" I'm asking "does this move the needle?" Moreover, I'm asking "how will this look in a pitch deck, and will it appeal to your core audience and investors alike?"

That's the energy I bring to early-stage teams. I like to say I'm a fractional employee #1:I wear a lot of hats and I get into the details. Operations, strategy, design, and everything in between. And what I've seen over and over is that the teams who bring in UX early move faster, make better product decisions, and build something people actually want to use.

Climate tech raises the stakes even higher. You're not just building software, you're trying to shift behavior, earn trust, and make complex systems feel approachable. Every confusing interface, every onboarding that doesn't land, every dashboard nobody opens, that's time and money and mission you can't get back.

What we're covering

• →How to know when you're actually ready for your first UX hire
• →Common misconceptions about how much to invest (and when)
• →Research vs. design: and why you almost always need both
• →How UX saves time, money, and a whole lot of headaches
• →The mistakes early teams make when they skip it
• →How to work with and support your first designer or researcher

One of my favorite things about this talk is that it's interactive. If you bring a case study, a prototype, or even just a screenshot you've been staring at too long, Rebecca and I will give you live, honest feedback. I'm not attached to any particular answer, I just want to help you get to the right one. 🙌

I love talking business, strategy, and design together. This is exactly that kind of conversation. If you're building in climate tech and want a straight answer on the UX question, come find out. See you in SF. ✨

Sign up here: https://luma.com/f3gtmmgi