Design Founder Community

Make money confidently as a Design Founder

An actionable community for design founders building studios, freelance businesses, and SaaS products

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Upskilling teams in 150+ countries

Design skills don’t stop sleepless nights

Pricing too low, taking the wrong clients, or building the wrong thing often feels fine in the moment until it compounds. The Design Founder Community brings experienced perspective so you can catch those decisions early, before they cost you time, sleep, energy, or income.

Unlock a trusted room of experienced design founders to pressure test decisions before they compound.

4.8 (25k+)

Trusted by 25k+ Designers

4.8 (25k+)

Trusted by 25k+ Designers

Live Design Founder sessions

Two live founder sessions a month hosted by Zander

Likeminded Design Founders

A private community of design founders navigating the same decisions as you

Design founder accountability

Ask questions, get perspective, and avoid costly missteps as they happen

In-person connection

Once a year, we bring the community together for an in person Design Founder meetup.

Our Solution

Live, honest founder sessions. Twice a month.

Our live sessions are built around action, debate, and honest discussion, not decks and lectures. Each month, we anchor the sessions around a single real problem founders are facing. The value comes from working problems together, not being talked at. Sessions run on a fixed cadence, taking place on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month

Live Founder Design Sessions

Thu · 16:00 - 17:00 GMT

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Founder wellbeing discussions

Stress Management

Burnout & Recovery

Boundaries & Saying No

Founder growth discussions

Market Positioning

Inbound Funnels

Personal vs Brand

Founder money discussions

Revenue Models

Cash Flow Management

Pricing & Value

Founder build discussions

Starting from nothing

Freelance vs studio vs SaaS

Hiring?

Founder Problem

Design skills don’t stop sleepless nights

When Zander started building Memorisely, the challenge was not design, it was everything that came after. Overnight, the work shifted from craft to decisions about pricing, marketing, positioning, and survival. Sleepless nights, tough calls, and constant uncertainty became part of the founder role job as he bootstrapped the business from the ground up. No funding. No safety net. Just real decisions with real consequences.

Design skills don’t prepare you for the stress of ownership. Cash flow anxiety, sleepless nights, and decisions with real consequences become the job.

When Zander started building Memorisely, there was no playbook. He bootstrapped the business from the ground up, learning how to sell, price, market, and grow a fully remote team the hard way. No funding. No shortcuts. Just real decisions with real consequences.

Despite being educated at Oxford and NYU, the business of design and scaling a business as a designer wasn’t taught anywhere. It came from trial and error, mistakes, and figuring things out while the stakes were high. That experience shaped a simple belief: designers need better support when they step into ownership

Founder Solution

The Business of Design is never taught

The Design Founder Community exists to share those lessons openly, so designers don’t have to learn everything the hard way. It’s about reducing uncertainty, taking control of your career, and building income on your own terms with clarity and confidence.

FOUNDER

Zander Whitehurst

Zander Whitehurst is the Founder of Memorisely and a founding Figma education advisory member

Membership

Application led for balance and value

Membership is application based to ensure a balanced, thoughtful mix of founders. We review your business, business type, stage, and monthly revenue to create a community where conversations are relevant, valuable, and grounded in real experience.

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Design teams are shrinking and roles are consolidating. Security no longer comes from a title, but from building something you own

Zander Whitehurst

Design Founder, Memorisely

Design isn’t just how something looks. It’s how a business works

Brian Chesky

Design Founder, Airbnb

Annual Community Meetup

In person connection matters more than ever

Once a year, we bring the community together to strengthen founder relationships

What this Design Founder community includes

2x live founder sessions a month

Real conversations led by Zander, focused on business decisions that matter

Private design founder community

Learn alongside designers building studios, freelance businesses, and products

Design founder accountability

Stay honest about what you’re building and follow through on decisions.

Pricing and positioning support

Get clarity and confidence around how you charge and communicate your value

Annual in person meetup

Build real relationships with founders you already trust.

Design Founder Members

Where Design Founders stop guessing

This isn’t a community for learning design, it’s for designers building, running, and scaling design businesses.

Design Studio Founders

Build with clearer positioning and stronger pricing

Design Freelancers

Earn independently with confidence and stability

SaaS Design Founders

Build the right product without wasting time or money

A curated community of design founders

Membership is application based to ensure a balanced and valuable mix of founders, and you will hear back within 7 days.

Annual membership

$495

$325/month

SAVE $2,000

Billed annually

Membership includes

Two live founder sessions a month

Design founder community

Peer accountability

Pricing & positioning support

Monthly Founder focus

Stress management

Annual in person meetup

Apply now

Quarterly Membership

$495/month

Billed quarterly

Membership includes

Two live founder sessions a month

Design founder community

Peer accountability

Pricing & positioning support

Monthly Founder focus

Stress management

Annual in person meetup

Apply now

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