Nishant • Design Partner for Startups

I build websites that make startups look fundable.
Prev: launch & explainer videos for SaaS startups.
Building in public → web design & brand for founders 🔨

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

Most early-stage founders think this at some point:

“We can’t get a video like Lovable, Vercel, or Claude.”

Only big agencies can pull that off.

Wrong.

The real gap isn’t budget.
It’s clarity and execution.

So we tested it.

We started recreating videos at that level
to prove a simple point:

You don’t need a massive team to hit a high production standard. You need the right concept.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@olegglmn If its alright, would really appreciate that. Thanks!

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@miraz_motions SFX

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

A client asked me why I don't have an office.

I almost lied.

Instead I told him: small team, none of the overhead most agencies quietly bill you for.

He said, "That's exactly why I want to work with you."

The thing you apologize for is often why the right clients choose you.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

I said no to a full-time job most people would have taken in a heartbeat.

Creative lead.

Equity.

A real salary.

I turned it down to keep a smaller thing I actually own.

Safety is often just someone else's control with better branding.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@jay__vax SFX

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

2 AM.

Rendering the same six seconds for the ninth time.

The transition was technically perfect.

It still felt dead.

The fix wasn't a better technique.

It was half a second of timing and going back to listen to how the founder talked when no one was filming.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@IamMiaChase 💯 @IamMiaChase. This is exactly what I’ve learned the hard way.

Curious, have you always been like this or did an incident or experience change your perspective?

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

Lost a client last year. Not to a competitor.

To my own silence.

Good video. Zero check-ins between drafts.

They felt like a transaction, not a partner.

One habit fixed it, "update them before they have to ask."

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

A founder once told us our video brief was better than his pitch deck.

We thought we were a video studio that thinks about strategy.

We're a strategy studio that delivers in video.

That reframe changed everything.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

Charging less didn't make clients value me more.

It just attracted clients who valued me less.

Raised my rates. Everything changed.
The work was always worth it.

I just had to believe it first.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@nicgirard_ Wowww....this looks incredible, Man! 🔥 Respect!

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

One thing surprises almost every founder I work with:

I ask a lot of questions.

Not because I don't understand.

Because I know the audience won't.

The best lines in my scripts rarely come from me...they come from founders answering the right questions.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@darel023 @LottielabHQ Incredible! This looks Dope 🔥

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@tilljanek Congrats, Man. Keep believing & Keep Creating!

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

@jay__vax Looks Incredible, Man! 🔥

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

Founders think they’re hiring us for a launch video.

Half the time, we’re also helping define their brand.

The typography.
The visual language.
The consistency rules.

Early-stage startups rarely have formal brand guidelines.

Someone has to make those decisions.

[max @maxkolysh]

i polled a bunch of YC founders on how they got their first 10 customers.

i was so surprised by the results that i made a video about it.

enjoy!

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

Whoa! What an announcement.

So inspiring to see a HARDCORE Indian startup founder take on an even bigger challenge and lead an organization that directly impacts billion plus users globally.

Kudos, Man! @kunalb11. Learning from your journey and nurturing curiosity.

[Kunal Shah @kunalb11]

It’s been a minute.

2015–2018
- Exited FreeCharge. Spent time learning and investing.
- Pondered about: Why can't trust be rewarded? Started with $1M of personal capital.
- Launched CRED to reward people for paying credit card bills on time.

2019–2025
- Built a system run by a team that values ownership, judgment, and craft.
- Grew from 0 to 17M members by aligning incentives with behaviour.
- Built several products during COVID lockdowns.
- Raised $900M+ from global investors. Did 4 ESOP buybacks.
- Made Indiranagar and IPL ads slightly more interesting.
- Received a full stack of regulatory licences.
- Lost 35 kilos.
- Scaled from 0 to ~$325M ( ~₹3,200 crore) in annual revenue across payments, lending, insurance, commerce, wealth, and credit cards.
2026
- First profitable quarter (yet occasionally asked what our business model is)
- Raised another $900M from Meta in primary and secondary capital.
- Announcing our 5th ESOP buyback.

Today

CRED is ready for its next phase. I am stepping back and @miten steps in as interim CEO, partnered with an incredibly talented team. He has been heading strategy and finance and suffering me since 2020. I’m stepping away from the operating role and will continue as a shareholder. My commitment doesn’t change. Just the role.

Extremely grateful to our members, partners, regulators, and investors who made this possible. And to our board, Shailendra, Micky, Saurabh for their extraordinary conviction.

Team CRED, I’ll still expect you to be a 10x version of yourselves.

As for me, I’ll be joining Meta to lead WhatsApp globally.

Meta comes in as a minority investor in CRED. No access to member data.

While it’s come very far, the delta between WhatsApp today and its full potential is massive. I look forward to working with Mark, Chris, and the leadership across Meta for the next step in WhatsApp’s journey. Will, thank you for scaling something the world relies on quietly, and for making this transition smooth.

Onwards.

[Nishant • Design Partner for Startups @NishantLabs]

A few sec sequence took way longer than you’d think.

A great 60-90 second launch video can take days:
Concept. Script. Storyboarding. Motion. Sound.
Most people won’t notice the details.

But they’ll feel them.

And that’s what makes it worth it.

WIP 👇