Our Narrative

It's wild out there.

Scaling a business is seriously hard. Scaling a business using technology made by humans is damn near impossible. You need a plan to scale that doesn’t kill your business, your team, or your soul.

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This shit is hard.

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Product design is a catch-all term for solving complicated business problems. Product design consultants all do different stuff…most people don’t really know what they do. Relationships, intimacy, trust, transparency, are integral to good processes and solving big product problems.

  • Agencies
    Teams of strategists, coders, designers, and account executives. They are high-yield chameleons and can sort of make whatever happen. Their business model doesn't serve the client. You never get the talent you are promised, it's a revolving door that after time dilutes talent. Clients leave with a product that looks and acts the same.
  • Management Consultants
    They please investors offering analysis on existing teams. They aren't makers and often shoehorn systems on companies that don't need them. Normally, they do not provide any creative or branding services.
  • UX Consultants
    Hired to achieve thing on list of deliverables they can do. The high demand for experienced talent with low supply allows many poor practionairs to survive. Fewer have proper consulting experience and most don't design or develop.
  • Freelancers
    One person who, independently of team, works on product design project. They execute one thing and hand it back to the team. They're not traditionally integrated into any team with unclear dynamics and limited bandwidth.
  • Thought Merchants
    Intimate relationship with experience you can't hire. A hands on agile approach with a collaborator that is your peer.

Thought Merchants could technically be considered product consultants.
Except for one key thing…

Steve Berry — Product designer. Which really means a person who's a: maker, designer, founder, thinker, coach, artist, strategist.

Founder — Understands — Empathizes — Earns Trust

Maker — Designs — Builds — Ships — Learns — Designs

Peer — Listens — Builds Intimacy — Champions the Team — Is Invested

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People are the core of tech and design.

This means: coaching, training, teamwork, advocacy, efficient processes, shipping, and a healthy work environment.

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I fucking love this.

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I'm there to build a team and create a process that builds the product.

Not a faceless organization looking to change the company. A face that is going to change your company.

Berry at the whiteboard

Thought Merchants
People. Process. Product.

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Serving emerging and high-growth companies.

  • Casper: Made a high performance check out experience.
  • Harry's: Designed the first men's shave plan.
  • STX: Designed an ice hockey stick! So fun.
  • Chainlink: Branding for the 12th most valuable blockchain in the world.
  • Code Climate: Helped found and reinvented the product several times over 6 years.
  • Riot Games: Ooo we did some work for League of Legends, one of the most popular games in the world.

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My favorite email:

Steve, what's up?

Hope you're doing well, been to long, need to catch up soon. In the meantime, meet Philip Krim, really good guy, just recently started a company called Casper. Had an amazing launch looking for some help in continuing to build out web product. Of course, thought of you.
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Philip, as mentioned Steve's awesome.
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Jeff Raider
HARRY'S

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