Activating 50+ Portfolio Companies Through Design Mentorship

Product Strategy
Design thinking training
Workshops
Coaching

The most promising startups in the world get a boost from ADG—thanks to a partnership with San Francisco-based 500 Startups.

Opportunity

500 Startups is a global venture capital firm with a network of startup programs headquartered in Silicon Valley with over $454 million in committed capital. 500 Startups support startups via their Seed Accelerator Programs which teach startups critical skills to succeed and scale.   

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Largely considered one of the top 3 accelerator programs in the world (alongside Y-Combinator and Techstars), 500’s Accelerator program is one of the most competitive and therefore attracts the highest potential startups in the world. Many startups have graduated from the program to be acquired, reach unicorn status or go public such as Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), Credit Karma, SendGrid, Grab, GitLab, Canva, Udemy, TalkDesk, and Intercom – among others.

*Noteh of ADG leading a design strategy workshop for 500 Startup's latest class, teaching core design thinking skills.*

500 Startups is active in 74 countries and, in addition to investments, the company is passionate about helping build viable startup ecosystems around the world through educational programs, events and conferences, and partnerships globally.

Noteh Krauss, Principal, on behalf of ADG, has been the go-to product design mentor for Silicon Valley and international accelerator programs.

Design Training for Growth

At ADG, we believe that digital products that meet users’ needs; that fit into the context of user’s lives, and that achieve a company’s business goals will be the most likely to succeed in the real world. Our mission is perfectly aligned with 500 Startups’ goal to create successful startups that scale and go on to make returns for their investors.

Noteh has regularly been offering one-on-one office hours to support a multitude of startups across industries and in various geographic regions. In these sessions, Noteh helps startups improve their landing page, conversion flow, product design and much more. It’s also been a great opportunity for mutual growth through the exposure to so many different business models, geographies, and design challenges.

*ADG trains and mentors startups through lectures, workshops (above), and one-on-one sessions to help ensure their success as they enter the market.*

Impact

These sessions have consistently received great feedback from founders, and in a short time Noteh was invited to offer further trainings. Noteh has been the featured speaker to focus on design for Startups at 500’s weeklong accelerator kickoff — attended by over 200 people (pictured above).

Noteh has also been asked to lead design workshops and mentor startups at 500 Startups’ international programs in Mexico City, Moscow, and Tbilisi. In these workshops Noteh has taught teams how to build a design persona, map context, conduct user research, and run an iteration cycle according to ADG’s methodology — among other skills.

The startups that have been directly assisted by Noteh have raised over $30 Million.