From content-led community to value-generating platform.
I helped Builda pivot from a “Product Hunt for DeFi” into a fundraising ecosystem connecting founders, investors and contributors.
RoleLead Product Designer
ScopeStrategy to high-fidelity
PartnersCEO, CPTO, Engineering
Outcome+80% revenue
01 · Context
Engagement without enough business value
Builda’s first product helped DeFi makers showcase new products and gave investors a place to discover them. It attracted attention, submissions and sponsors, but the model captured little of the value it created.
The strategic question was no longer “How do we increase content engagement?” It was “What high-intent action can Builda uniquely enable between projects, investors and the wider contributor network?”
The pivot started when we stopped treating attention as the outcome.
Signal 01
Founders needed more than visibility
Open-source projects needed early funding, credible advocates and skilled contributors to move forward.
Signal 02
Investors needed trust
Discovery was useful, but investment required clearer risk signals, project information and understandable mechanics.
Signal 03
The business needed conversion
Sponsorship could not support the ambition. Builda needed to participate directly in the value exchange.
Signal 04
The community held latent value
Developers, designers, security experts and finance specialists could help promising projects compound.
Builda V1: product discovery and promotionEngagement-led model
02 · Discovery
Reframing the product around intent
During the 2024 fundraising process, I worked directly with the CEO and CPTO to turn investor and founder conversations into a testable product thesis.
We mapped motivation, trust barriers and decision moments on both sides of the marketplace. The emerging opportunity combined two forms of capital: financial support for projects ready to grow, and skilled contribution for teams that needed execution power.
Product principle
Explain before asking
DeFi mechanics, reward structures and risk signals needed to be understandable before any investment action.
Product principle
Show credible signals
Project traction, context and contribution history had to reduce uncertainty without pretending risk disappeared.
Business principle
Tie value to conversion
The model shifted from monetizing attention through sponsorship to participating in successful funding activity.
System principle
Design for expansion
A scalable visual system let the team prototype new financial and community mechanics without fragmenting the product.
03 · Solution
Two products, one growth loop
01 · Yieldfunding
Turn project interest into a fundable action
Yieldfunding let supporters fund selected projects through an interest-based model rather than giving up equity. The experience brought project storytelling, credibility signals, financial information and the transaction into one coherent decision flow.
Project detail, funding data and transaction flowWeb product
02 · Skill Capital
Let expertise compound alongside funding
Skill Capital extended the platform beyond money. Projects could define their needs, discover relevant talent and create contribution pathways for developers, security experts, designers and financial specialists.
This created a complementary loop: high-potential projects attracted contributors, contributor activity strengthened project credibility, and a stronger network improved both engagement and referral.
Talent discovery and contribution managementProduct concept
04 · Website
Give an unfamiliar model a clear form
Alongside the product, I designed Builda’s website to make its new positioning immediately understandable and establish a coherent visual identity.
The main challenge was presenting a hybrid model (DeFi funding, rewards, governance and skilled contribution) without turning the site into technical documentation. The narrative starts with the promise, then progressively introduces the mechanics that bring the ecosystem to life.
HomepageA simple promise opening up the Builda ecosystem
My role spanned the product thesis, user journeys, prototyping, visual direction and the design system required to keep a small team moving quickly.
I used Claude and Codex deliberately to structure research material, synthesize test findings, explore interface directions and document design-system decisions through DESIGN.md. The goal was not to automate judgment. It was to shorten the distance between evidence, decision and shared understanding.
Frame
Clarify the bet
Turn leadership hypotheses into explicit user and business assumptions.
Prototype
Make it tangible
Use realistic flows to discuss trust, risk and conversion with the team.
Test
Learn quickly
Identify confusion in language and mechanics before increasing fidelity.
Systematize
Keep alignment
Encode recurring decisions in components, patterns and documentation.
06 · Impact
A clearer proposition and a stronger business
The pivot moved Builda from a nice-to-have discovery experience toward a platform built around measurable value exchange.
+80%Revenue following the product transformation
Success was redefined
The conversation shifted from content engagement alone toward conversion, investment intent, qualified connections and the value generated for both projects and Builda.
Design can reposition a product, change what a team measures and make business value visible.
