After our Build team has presented startup options to our venture-building partners on a Sprint Week Pitch Day, an investment decision is made, and our Go-to-Market team steps in to bring that business to life.

Specifically, Casey Kelly Pérez, who heads up the Design unit on our GTM team, gets to work refining the brand and visual identity developed for the company in question during Sprint Week. She guides a team of expert designers who ensure the early-stage startup stands out from the crowd to attract customers and investors from day one.

Casey was kind enough to share details about her experience working at High Alpha Innovation, how she came to join the business, and what drives her to build bold visual brands for our portfolio companies.

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Tell us about your career to date and what led you to want to join High Alpha Innovation.

I've worked as a brand and UI designer in many different ways for 15-plus years at both big and small agencies. I’ve gotten to manage projects, work on strategy initiatives that align with business goals, partner with clients and business owners, teach at a university, and run my own design studio.

My curiosity has afforded me a rich array of experiences and broad understanding of how design can impact business.

When one of our portfolio company's co-founders approached me about an opening at High Alpha Innovation, I met with the team and immediately became interested in the dynamic, ambiguous work.

The wide range of problems we work to solve, the opportunity to build impact around the function of design, and the ability to work directly with our PortCo co-founders in the very early stages of their companies and other very smart and passionate people was really compelling.

The biggest reason to join? The people at High Alpha Innovation are truly the best: kind, hardworking, opinionated yet open-minded, and willing to roll up their sleeves in the face of uncertainty or challenge, together.

Walk us through a typical day. What are some core tasks and projects you take on daily?

Each day looks different, but, from a brand design perspective I find myself meeting with co-founders during the first few months of their growth and working to build a visual identity foundation and create collateral that helps share their product and brand with the world.

This includes producing a robust style guide and logo suite, creating support and social assets, website design and implementation, building email templates, merchandise, and crafting initial sales decks.

The goal during our early-stage work with PortCo co-founders is to help them articulate their business in a professional, compelling way through brand, story, consistency, and clarity. This is a critical time for acquiring early customers and investors, so positioning their brands well at the start is essential.

Share one of your favorite projects you’ve worked on so far at High Alpha Innovation.

Helping the Revisto team go to market was fun. The product is really interesting. The brand had a great foundation from our Sprint Week that I could build upon, and the co-founders were a joy to work with.

In addition, as a designer I had a chance to dig into product and brand. Generally, we only work on brand with co-founders, but in the future, we'll potentially be more involved with product design early on as well.

It was really exciting to see these two things align and feel cohesive across different spaces, in addition to seeing the impact that product design can have when working with technical founders.

What inspires and motivates you to thrive in your role?

I love helping others achieve their goals, whether it’s co-founders through my design strategy and execution, or fellow design team members through conversation, mentorship, and feedback.

Also, I really enjoy making the intangible, tangible. It's always been fun to bring things to reality through design, whether it’s visual identity or clarity in a pitch.

And I’m always eager to learn from others — partners, co-founders, and colleagues — about how things work well, what internal problems they're trying to resolve, and where things are unclear in order to translate their insights and provide value by improving our design process and offerings.

What skills do you need to be successful in your role on your team?

The big ones are curiosity, decision-making, a positive attitude, the ability to translate and synthesize ideas, comfort in ambiguity and pressure, and knowing how to organize and prioritize well.

‍How do you collaborate internally and externally in your role to help build new startups?

Internally, I over-communicate. Working async sometimes makes you feel like everyone is on the same page, but that’s not always the case, so you just have to anticipate needs, ask questions, and be an active listener. The devil’s in the details, so getting clarification and confirmation is key.

Externally, I set expectations. It’s really important to relay what the design deliverables and outcomes are, when working with co-founders. There is limited capacity, and it could easily become a full-time job, if expectations and general timelines aren't discussed regularly.

Describe our culture. How does the company live its mission, vision, and values?

We truly build together. We collaborate and work with partners and co-founders throughout the entire venture-building process. There are many different areas and perspectives we all come from and have. Working together helps to tackle bias and uncover compelling solutions that may have not otherwise been found.

We also experiment often. Even if we aren't sure if a solution is 'right,' we learn from it and adjust, which helps us grow in the right direction. We aren't afraid to try new things, change, and live in ambiguity.

And everyone has a seat at the table. If there’s something to be tested or tried, it’s usually welcomed with open arms. Things are approached with a lot of curiosity, which often leads to new avenues to work together and enables us to try new approaches and lead in different ways.

What sets the business apart from others you’ve worked at? What makes you want to grow here?

The way we work isn't set in stone. The opportunity to work with incredibly intelligent people with an array of backgrounds and perspectives while at the same time being part of a business that has so much potential for growth and development doesn't come around all too often.