Most startups don’t fail because the idea is bad.
They fail because founders misunderstand people.
In the rush to build, scale, and launch, many founders skip the most critical work, understanding human behaviour, context, and meaning. They optimise features before clarity, chase speed before insight, and follow formulas that were never designed for the complexity of real-world ecosystems.
The Design-Led Startup offers a different path.
Grounded in human-centered design, behavioural insight, and systems thinking, this book introduces a practical, deeply human approach to building startups—one that prioritises understanding before execution.
Drawing from years of work across design, entrepreneurship, and innovation ecosystems, the book presents a clear nine-step design-led blueprint that guides readers from problem framing and user insight to experimentation, co-creation, iteration, and sustainable growth. Along the way, it explores the emotional and contextual realities founders must navigate—uncertainty, ambiguity, trust, and meaning.
This is not a book about copying startup playbooks but about building with intention, empathy, and clarity.
Whether you are launching your first venture, working inside an innovation team, or teaching entrepreneurship, The Design-Led Startup offers practical framework for creating products that truly matter.
Build less. Understand more. Design wisely.
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Harshit P. Desai
Harshit P. Desai is an innovation educator, design strategist, and ecosystem builder working at the intersection of design, entrepreneurship, and human-centered innovation. He currently serves as Director – MIT ID Innovation and Head of Industry Relations at MIT Institute of Design, Pune, where he works closely with startups, founders, educators, and industry partners.
With over 15 years of experience across design, innovation, and entrepreneurship, Harshit has mentored hundreds of founders and contributed to building startup ecosystems through education, research, and practice. His work focuses on design-led innovation, behavioural insight, and the role of design in early-stage ventures.
Through teaching, mentoring, and research, he helps founders build meaningful, human-centered solutions grounded in real-world contexts.
