MaxDesigner

3x Founding Product Designer, Founder | ex Design Lead @

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

@DanielSmidstrup https://t.co/oORzZBkvBx

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

DM if you need to move fast without cutting corners.

📅 https://t.co/ozgNjOAAD0
📧 [email protected]

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

2 weeks. Full product MVP. $5K.

Here's what that includes:

→ Week 1: Exploration
Problem definition, user flows, wireframes, direction lock-in

→ Week 2: Design delivery
Polished production-ready screens + fully functioning prototype in code

#ProductDesign #MVP #Startup #B2B

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

I've shipped 50+ products over 14 years. This process is compressed, not rushed.

$5K is the entry ticket. Complex products scope separately.

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Not AI-generated templates. Custom design. Built for your product.

No revision hell. Daily syncs keep us aligned so nothing gets thrown away.

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

@FlippedRay https://t.co/oORzZBkvBx
https://t.co/NAXNzdUFVX

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Realized that I miss product design work in Figma. Never thought I will have that nostalgic effect.

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

@ionleu https://t.co/oORzZBkvBx

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

AI generated websites and content lowered the quality bar across the entire industry. When It became OK? Behind rivers of token expanses people don’t want to invest anymore in unique polished experience. But why that product website “from Aliexpress” is new reality?

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Waitlist opens next week.

Early readers get:
— Free chapter on signup
— 30% off at launch
— First access to the AI guide bonus

Reply "in" if you want me to ping you when it opens.

#FoundingDesigner #StartupDesign

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Three years ago, I opened an empty Figma file in a 5-person startup and realized: I had no idea what I was doing.

No design system.
No PM.
No senior review.
Just me and a founder with 100 ideas.

So I wrote the book I needed.
#FoundingDesigner #StartupDesign

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

The Founding Designer Survival Guide.

20 chapters. 0 theory. 100% practice.

How to:
— Turn vague founder requests into briefs
— Build design systems without slowing down
— Say "no" without getting fired
— Use AI to work like a team of 5

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

@ionleu https://t.co/5h10FdL1jH

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Honestly I don't care about what's dead and what's not, shifting and moving from one tool to another. Just found my workflow and happy to see that I'm shipping with a ferrari speed using all those tools. Speed and problem solution is the gold nowadays.

[Alvaro Cintas @dr_cintas]

This is the most complete Claude Code setup that exists right now.
27 agents. 64 skills. 33 commands. All open source.

The Anthropic hackathon winner open-sourced his entire system, refined over 10 months of building real products.

What's inside:
→ 27 agents (plan, review, fix builds, security audits)
→ 64 skills (TDD, token optimization, memory persistence)
→ 33 commands (/plan, /tdd, /security-scan, /refactor-clean)
→ AgentShield: 1,282 security tests, 98% coverage

60% documented cost reduction.

Works on Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, Codex CLI. 100% open source.

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

7 psychological traps of being a founding designer:

1️⃣ "I'm irreplaceable."
You work nights because "without me, everything stops." That's not value. That's a single point of failure.

2️⃣ "This product is my baby."
You take every critique personally. Redesign feels like betrayal. But a product is a tool, not a child. Tools change.

3️⃣"If I say no, I'll get fired."
You agree with everything. Stop proposing bold ideas. Become a cursor. Ironically — that's what gets you fired.

4️⃣"I should know everything."
You compare yourself (one person) to entire design teams (15 people). Of course you feel inadequate. That's math, not incompetence.

5️⃣ "I'm just temporary until they hire a real team."
You stop investing in long-term solutions. Work like a contractor. Miss the chance to become the design leader the company actually needs.

6️⃣ "The founder is my friend."
Boundaries blur. Professional honesty feels like personal betrayal. You can't negotiate salary because "I know we're tight on money."

7️⃣ "I'll burn out, but I'll rest later."
"Later" never comes. The startup always has one more thing. Rest is not a reward. It's part of the job.

Which one got you? Be honest.

#psychology #foundingdesigner #designlife #startuplife #mentalhealth

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

I burned out as a founding designer.

Not the "I'm tired" kind. The kind where you open Figma in the morning and feel weight instead of excitement.

It crept in slowly.

First I was "just busy."
Then "a little tired, but it'll get easier soon."

Then I caught myself choosing the first option instead of the best option — because I didn't have the energy to think.

The worst part? I didn't realize it was happening.

I didn't notice because I was "listening to my body" (useless advice when you're in the flow). I noticed because my work got worse. Decisions became sloppy. Solutions became obvious. I was shipping, but I wasn't thinking.

What caused it:
Working weekends. Not because anyone asked — because it felt like everything would collapse if I stopped. (It wouldn't.)

Saying yes to everything. Every request. Every call. Every "quick favor." My calendar was full. My brain was empty.

Treating rest as a reward, not a tool. "I'll rest after launch." Launch came. Then iterations. Then the next thing. "After" never arrived.

What I changed:
No weekends. Non-negotiable. The world didn't end.
Blocked "thinking time" in my calendar. Not meetings. Not execution. Just thinking.
Learned to say "this can wait until Monday."

Burnout doesn't heal with a vacation. It heals with a system change.

If you're reading this and thinking "I'm fine, just busy" — that's exactly what I thought too.

Have you been there?

#burnout #mentalhealth #foundingdesigner #startuplife #designlife

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Before every design decision, I ask one question:

One-way door or two-way door?

One-way doors: hard or expensive to reverse.
→ Navigation model
→ Data architecture
→ Platform choice
→ Permission structure

Think long. Get it right. These decisions define the next 2 years.

Two-way doors: easily reversible.
→ Button color
→ Copy wording
→ Element placement
→ Icon choice

Decide fast. Ship. Change based on feedback. Don't agonize.

Here's the thing:
80% of decisions that founding designers agonize over for days are two-way doors.

That perfect shade of blue? Two-way door. Ship it.
That navigation model that determines your entire information architecture? One-way door. Sleep on it.

Knowing the difference is the single most impactful skill for speed without sacrificing quality.

What framework do you use for prioritizing decisions?

#decisionmaking #productdesign #foundingdesigner #uxdesign #startuplife

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

@KairosKreator @UiSavior Followed you mate

[MaxDesigner @BMaximall]

Your design system at seed stage is 15 components. Not 150.

Month 1:
Don't build a system. Build a product.

Months 2-3:
Notice what repeats. Extract components from real screens.

Months 4-6:
Separate library. Naming. Descriptions.
If a component appeared 3 times → make it reusable. If once → leave it alone.

Stop building for the future. Build from the present.

#designsystem #foundingdesigner #figma #productdesign #startupdesign