"[Silicon Valley] didn't think a designer could build and run a company. They were straight up about it. We weren't MBAs, we weren't two PhD students from Stanford. being designers they thought we were people who worked for people that ran companies." - BRIAN CHESKY, Co-Founder of AirBNB / via Dezeen

According to a recent report by KPCD, 10 design agencies and 27 startups that were co-founded by designers have been acquired since 2010 by companies like Google, Facebook, Adobe, LinkedIn, Dropbox, and Yahoo. More impressive numbers follow - twenty percent (20%) of the top cumulative-funded VC-backed ventures that have raised additional capital since 2013 have designers as co-founders. Five startups co-founded by designers have raised more than $2.75 billion, and six VC firms have invited designers onto their teams - for the first time - in the last year.

It's clear that as tech matures, the role of design (not just the aesthetic, but the mindset) will continue to be necessary for value creation.

See the full report by @KPCB and @johnmaeda here.

*Though why is the report slide deck poorly designed?