Why Artists and Designers Are the Next Wave of Tech Pioneers
From Vision to Reality: Why Tech Needs More Outlandish, Boundless Thinking
The Chronically Overlooked
Most people think that successful tech founders emerge from prestigious universities like Stanford, Harvard, or MIT. And it's true—these institutions have consistently produced some of the most well-known founders. Stanford leads the way with 3,710 graduate founders raising approximately $166 billion. Harvard follows with 3,222 founders who raised $173.5 billion, and MIT with 2,459 founders raising $45.9 billion. Despite these impressive numbers, only about 12% of startup founders actually attended Ivy League schools. This means countless others come from non-traditional backgrounds and find incredible success in tech.
There are artists and designers who have no interest in entering this arena, which I completely respect. Not every creative wants to build a company or dive into venture capital, and that's as it should be. But for those who are curious, I'm here to talk about what is up.
My Life from Design to Tech
When I began working on the concept for Lex, I was a photo director at Metropolis, producing architecture and design photoshoots worldwide. Portraits, buildings, and materials were my passion. I loved collaborating with photographers and creating visuals that told stories. At the time, tech felt like an intimidating, adjacent world beyond my expertise. But I noticed a gap—an opportunity to bring people together through shared creative interests—and I couldn’t ignore it. That’s when Lex began to take shape.
To bring Lex to life, I collaborated with a friend who had left the architecture magazine to start their own design studio. Together, we created a prototype. I cared as much about the look, brand, and energy of Lex as I did about its utility in connecting people. Transitioning from the NYC design scene into the tech and investor space was a leap into the unknown, but it showed me the power of unconventional thinking. You can build anything—it’s like making art—creating something from nothing, with the potential to change culture and transform how we live.
Tech isn’t an exclusive club; it’s a platform for your vision. All you need is a willingness to dive in and a community to support you.
Reimagining Tech: Why Artists and Designers Matter
While many successful tech founders come from prestigious universities or have the privilege of dropping out of them, there are countless examples of visionary minds from unconventional backgrounds making significant contributions to tech. Artists and designers bring a unique perspective—they think beyond trends, challenge the status quo, and push boundaries in ways that traditional business or engineering mindsets often do not.
In my conversations with friends from the NYC art world, I’ve often heard the same sentiment: tech feels closed off—a space that seems unattainable for someone from a creative field. I remember talking to a friend who is a well-respected musician and artist. Frustrated with limited opportunities, they took a teaching job, but the pay was poor, and the politics of higher education felt stifling. When I first raised funding for Lex, I went back to this friend and said, "You have to get into tech. There’s money here. We can build our ideas." She felt like the tech world was completely out of reach—but the truth is, creatives like her are exactly what tech needs.
Creativity Driving Tech Success
Artists and designers envision new possibilities, bringing beauty, meaning, and emotion to what they create—qualities invaluable in building human-centered, visually inspiring, culture-shaping products. It’s time to bridge the gap between creative and tech communities, embracing the untapped potential that can bring a much-needed cultural shift to the tech world—one that prioritizes connection, creativity, and visionary thinking.
Take, for example, Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, who studied at an art school before helping to reimagine the hospitality industry. His design background allowed him to approach travel with a fresh perspective, resulting in an entirely new way for people to experience staying in homes around the world. Or consider my own journey—I went from studying graphic design to founding Lex, a social app, and realized how much creativity can elevate a product when working on something you truly care about.
Another inspiring story is that of a friend who transitioned from the NYC art world into tech and is now building a startup focused on mental health. They studied fine arts and was a fellow at a prestigious MacDowell Colony residency but later pursued social work and entered the tech world. They’re building a platform for the next generation of wellness workers, and her artistic background remains central to her approach—using methods like moodboards, image research, and free-writing sessions to inform her startup.
These stories prove that creatives are more than capable of leading tech beyond its current limits. Their unconventional approaches and passion-driven ideas can be the driving force behind world-changing innovations.
Real-World Examples: Creativity Driving Tech Success
The tech industry already has numerous examples of successful founders with creative backgrounds:
Flickr Co-founder: Caterina Fake – She worked as an artist and designer before building one of the first major photo-sharing platforms.
Airbnb Co-founder: Brian Chesky – He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) before co-founding Airbnb.
Pinterest Co-founder: Evan Sharp – He studied architecture before co-founding Pinterest.
Paperless Post Co-founder: James Hirschfeld – He co-founded Paperless Post, drawing from a background in visual arts.
Are.na Founder: Charles Broskoski – He founded Are.na, a platform for creative collaboration, and has a background in art and design.
Kickstarter Co-founder: Perry Chen – He has a background in music and art, which influenced the creation of Kickstarter.
These founders prove that a creative background can be an asset in building tech products that are innovative, impactful, and culturally resonant.
The Challenges: Breaking In as an Outsider
When I started pitching, I was inexperienced—green. I remember an early conversation with an angel investor who was also a coach and creative. They pointed out that I needed to learn some of the language and helped me revise my early deck with key phrases I wouldn’t have known otherwise: “Early traction in month one” and “We entered the market as a dating app, but now we see our users on Lex finding so much more: roommates, book clubs, forming bands, and organizing brunches.” There was definitely a learning curve, but most of the key insights came after just a bit of focused learning. It wasn’t that hard—I just needed the information to make changes and move forward.
Breaking into the tech industry as an artist or designer is not without challenges. From my experience and conversations with others, here are some of the biggest barriers creatives face:
Access: Tech often feels like a closed-off community. It was a huge barrier to entry for me. I remember scraping, googling, and trying to figure it out. I’d have conversations with people in tech but didn’t get very far. Finally, when I found the free NYC small business program SCORE, I met someone who helped me understand some of the basics. Even successful artists and designers view tech as unattainable because they don’t have the typical “in” that others do.
Storytelling and Language: Learning the language of tech—how to pitch, how to talk about metrics, how to present an idea in a way that investors understand—can be daunting for creatives who have spent their careers working in different mediums. Early on, when pitching Lex, I had no idea the metrics were “good.” Investors wanted to know all about the numbers, and I felt like I was falling into an abyss. I leaned on my CTO, who helped me understand and present the basic metrics.
Skill Gaps: Skills like setting goals, hiring, building company culture, and managing growth are not typically taught in art school or cultivated in creative careers. These are the skills needed to grow a company, but they can be learned through experience, mentoring, and education.
While many of these challenges are universal to any founder, the cultural divide between the creative and tech worlds creates additional barriers. Despite this, artists and designers are uniquely equipped to tackle some of the most pressing problems in tech today.
Bridging the Gap: Empowering Creative Founders
I learned that my superpower is building something from nothing. This is what artists do. We have an idea and will it into existence. We have a vision and we execute. I want to see a tech world that includes way more outlandish, boundless thinking. Start with people who don’t care about numbers, metrics, etc. Let them run free and see what it brings. You can always add all the numbers later. Consumer tech is in a rut, and I’d love to see what artists could make of it. Let’s move beyond the corporate tech giants.
The ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between creatives and tech by getting more artists and designers involved—and ensuring that their unconventional ideas are funded. Unconventional thinking is the future, and creatives have the power to redefine what innovation looks like in tech.
There are some promising initiatives that have started paving the way for artists and designers in tech:
NEW INC: An incubator at the New Museum in NYC that supports creative practitioners—artists, designers, technologists—to turn their ideas into impactful businesses. NEW INC alumni have launched projects like Grouphug, which designs fun solar panels, and Project Inkblot, which reimagines diversity as a strategic growth opportunity.
MIT Arts Startup Incubator: Supports arts-focused ventures through mentorship, workshops, and funding, helping creatives develop their ideas into scalable startups.
Some venture capital funds are also recognizing the value of creative founders:
Lowercase Capital: Founded by Chris Sacca, this fund has invested in creative, culture-driven companies that push beyond the typical tech mold.
The Design Fund: Supports design-led startups, recognizing the potential of creativity to drive innovation.
Building a startup is an artistic process: it involves creating something from nothing, but instead of relying on grants or residencies, founders need the backing of investors. Artists and designers have a unique capacity to shape culture at scale through technology, and we need to nurture their potential.
A New Path for Creative Innovation
I recognize that this path isn't for every artist or designer, and that’s okay. Not everyone wants to create a tech company, and that’s as it should be. But for those who do—those who have ideas that could change industries, enhance our daily lives, or reshape culture—the opportunity needs to be there.
To founders, investors, and tech insiders: Let’s get excited about the potential of bringing more artists and designers into the tech space. Let’s create incubators for creatives, let’s mentor them, let’s learn from them. Let’s make sure their ideas get the funding and support they need to flourish. I can help.
To artists and designers: You can build anything. Think of it like creating art—something from nothing, with the power to change culture and how people live their lives. Tech isn’t inaccessible; it’s a platform for your vision. All you need is a willingness to dive in and a community to support you.
Yes!! I really feel like there's a major imagination drought going on lately and we need to fund - and trust in - creatives again. Like we need to allow more creative risk taking and failures. In my experience, it feels like only tech bros are 'allowed' to fail fast and break things but creative must convert.