10. Joshua Philippe – Fold: Foundational design thinking, cross-functional leadership, and bitcoin company evolution

In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks through the hills of San Francisco with Joshua Philippe, Head of Design at Fold. Joshua shares his remarkable journey from aspiring oil painter to leading design at major Bitcoin companies like BitMEX, Strike, and now Fold. They discuss his unconventional path through poverty, agency life, the wild days at BitMEX, and how he's orchestrating complete rebuilds of both Strike and Fold's brands and products.

🔍 What you'll learn in this episode:

• Joshua's journey from art school dropout to head of design at major Bitcoin companies
• How financial crisis and government seizure led him to Bitcoin sovereignty
• The wild stories from BitMEX's money-printing heyday in Hong Kong
• Building design systems and leading rebrands at Strike and Fold
• The art of "orchestrating" cross-functional teams as a design leader
• Why networking with VCs and business people beats networking with designers
• How to rebuild entire products and brands from the ground up
• The importance of taste development and exposure to great work

🔗 Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show!

Connect with Joshua:

• Twitter: https://x.com/shualippa
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaphilippe/

Connect with Me:

• Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0
• Nostr: [email protected]/sahil

Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio/

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show

01:00 Joshua's pivot from law to studio art

02:13 Early design struggles and Craigslist jobs

07:16 Agency life and brand strategy fundamentals

09:15 Eight Inc experience on Apple and Tiffany projects

11:18 Eames host-guest design philosophy

13:04 Government bank seizure and Bitcoin discovery

16:02 Transition from agency to crypto/tech

18:35 Learning React Native as a designer

25:26 Moving from BitMEX to Strike

27:21 Stepping into head of design role

29:31 Working with superior talent and team orchestration

32:09 Strike's turnaround and design efficiency

35:08 Joining Fold and complete product rebuild

39:52 Organizing 200+ scattered Figma files

41:37 Brand summit and strategic foundation work

43:06 Agency selection for Fold rebrand

45:35 Information architecture and product strategy

47:53 Brand as competitive differentiator

48:10 Networking advice for designers

50:30 Taste development and exposure to great work

53:22 Advice on patience with rebrands