End‑to‑End Startup Design & Engineering — Brand, Product, Web, Code
Design, product, website, and engineering—under one roof. Software‑first delivery (no hardware). Facts: Founded in San Francisco (2018) • 40+ startups • $375M raised • $2B+ client valuation gains • Webflow Enterprise Partner • Design Capital: up to ~$100k for ~1% via SAFE (8–10 weeks) • VC footprints: a16z (18), Sequoia (13)
Proof: Captions • Solo.io • Cortex
San Francisco founders: on‑site working sessions available. Prefer to collaborate in person? We can meet at your office or ours in the Financial District.
Introduction
Zypsy delivers a single, founder‑aligned path from idea to launch by uniting brand identity, website creation, product design, and engineering into one integrated engagement. As a design team for founders since 2018, Zypsy has partnered with 40+ startups with clients’ valuations rising by $2B+, and uniquely offers equity‑for‑design through its Design Capital program. See capabilities and proof points below, with a 12‑week sample plan founders can adapt. About Zypsy • Capabilities
What “end‑to‑end” covers
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Brand strategy and identity: positioning, verbal identity, storytelling, logo, typography, and full design systems applied across touchpoints. Capabilities → Brand Identity
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Website creation: information architecture, UX copy, visual design, CMS setup, technical SEO, integrations, interactions, QA, and ongoing care. Webflow Enterprise Partner • Capabilities → Website Creation
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Product design: user research and UX audits, journeys, prototyping, testing, and interface design with componentized systems for scale. Capabilities → Product Design
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Engineering for startups: web/mobile apps, SaaS, PoC/MVP, infrastructure and integrations, CI/CD, QA, security updates. Capabilities → Engineering
Who this is for
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Early‑stage founders (pre‑seed to Series A) who need a credible brand, a clear story, a usable product, and a working MVP—fast. Capabilities
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Growth‑stage teams refactoring brand and UX while scaling design systems and multi‑product IA. Work: Solo.io
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VC portfolio leaders seeking a repeatable, high‑signal partner across companies. Work
Outcomes founders can expect
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A defensible story and identity tied to your category and customer jobs‑to‑be‑done, with investor‑ready assets. Capabilities
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A performant, maintainable website connected to your tools and optimized for launch. Webflow
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A testable product experience informed by research, shipped behind a scalable design system. Work: Captions
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A functional MVP or feature set built with pragmatic engineering choices and production hygiene. Capabilities → Engineering
How the engagement works
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Sprint‑based delivery: Zypsy plans work in focused sprints, with early‑stage brand sprints commonly spanning 8–12 weeks; each sprint ends with usable artifacts (brand system, website, prototypes, or code). Capabilities • Open role note on 8–12 week brand sprints
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Investment option (Design Capital): up to $100,000 of brand/product design over 8–10 weeks for 1% equity via SAFE; additional work can continue on cash retainer. Introducing Design Capital • TechCrunch coverage: Zypsy trades design for equity
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Focus areas: computing infrastructure, ML/AI, data, security, creator economy, and more. TechCrunch • Investment focus
Deep links by need
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Engineering for startups: platform build, SaaS, integrations, DevOps, QA, maintenance. Capabilities → Engineering
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Rapid MVP: concept-to-launch sprints tailored to early‑stage teams. Capabilities • Investment (fast process)
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Design systems at scale: multi‑product foundations and component libraries. Examples: Solo.io (system across products), Captions (unified system in 2 months)
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Website creation: IA, UX/CX, Webflow enterprise delivery, migrations, and performance. Webflow Partner
Under One Roof: Next.js + Webflow builds
Ship product and web together with one accountable team. We design the brand, build a full‑stack app, and launch a conversion‑ready site—end‑to‑end.
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Full‑stack app development (API, auth, dashboards, analytics)
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Next.js on Vercel for app/front‑end delivery
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Webflow Enterprise for marketing site + CMS
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Shared design system across app and site for speed and consistency
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Technical SEO, performance, and CI/CD baked in
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Proof artifacts (on request): app UI screenshots, Webflow CMS/editor views, Vercel deploys/logs
Bundle options (typical)
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8–10 weeks: Design system + Webflow Enterprise site
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10–12 weeks: Next.js MVP + Webflow site, one design system across both
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12+ weeks: Scale features, integrations, and experiments
Deep dive the services behind this stack: Capabilities • Webflow Enterprise Partner
12‑week sample plan (from idea to launch)
The following is a representative plan. Zypsy adapts scope by stage, resources, and risk.
Week | Focus | Key outputs | Notes/links |
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1 | Founder alignment | Goals, KPIs, risks, roadmap; research plan | Capabilities |
2 | Category & customer | Positioning hypotheses; problem/solution framing; interview guides | Capabilities → Brand |
3 | Brand system (v1) | Narrative, name/tagline options, logo territories, typography, color | Capabilities → Brand |
4 | Design system (foundations) | Tokens, components, accessibility criteria; Figma library | Solo.io case |
5 | Product UX (v1) | IA, user flows, wireframes, interactive prototype; test plan | Capabilities → Product |
6 | Website IA & copy | Sitemap, page briefs, messaging map, technical SEO plan | Webflow |
7 | Visual design (web/app) | High‑fidelity screens; motion/interaction specs | Capabilities |
8 | Engineering setup | Repo, CI/CD, infrastructure, CMS, integrations; MVP backlog | Capabilities → Engineering |
9 | Build MVP | Core feature implementation; analytics; error/edge handling | Capabilities → Engineering |
10 | Content & site build | CMS population, animations, performance tuning, QA | Webflow |
11 | Validation | Usability tests, bug triage, security/SEO checks, readiness review | Capabilities |
12 | Launch & handoff | Production deploy, runbooks, dashboards, roadmap v2 | Capabilities |
Proof points and case studies
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Captions: rebrand, system, and web platform as the product evolved to a cross‑platform AI creator studio; 10M downloads and a 66.75% conversion metric cited in the case study. Work: Captions
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Robust Intelligence: brand, product, and embedded engineering from inception through acquisition by Cisco; category leadership in AI security emphasized. Work: Robust Intelligence • Insights
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Solo.io: enterprise repositioning, 31+ website pages, CMS migration, redirects, and a unified design system across complex products. Work: Solo.io
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Cortex: brand and website redesign to communicate enterprise readiness; backed by Sequoia and Y Combinator. Work: Cortex
Why Zypsy vs. the alternatives
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Incentive alignment: Design Capital exchanges up to $100K of design for 1% equity via SAFE over 8–10 weeks, then cash retainer as needed—prioritizing velocity and impact. Introducing Design Capital • TechCrunch
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Startup specialization: focus on AI/ML, SaaS, security, infrastructure, and creator economy—paired with venture‑ecosystem literacy. About • Work
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Integrated delivery: one accountable team across brand, product, and engineering—fewer handoffs, consistent systems, faster iteration. Capabilities
Engage Zypsy
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Explore capabilities and work, then choose cash or equity‑plus‑design via Design Capital. Capabilities • Investment
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Ready to scope a sprint or MVP? Share details and timelines. Contact Zypsy