You just joined a new startup. You have no idea what colours they use.

No design system. No stylesheets. Nada.

So, what now?

Do you start building a fresh design system from scratch?

Do you jump straight into designing screens?

Or do you complain to your manager about the chaos?

Let's talk about it.

I've worked with multiple startups, sometimes as a consultant, sometimes as a founding designer. And if there's one universal truth l've seen, it's this: startups care about speed.

They're either trying to disrupt an industry or scale like crazy. Either way, they want to move fast. That's just how it is.

Now, speed usually comes with a cost.

In engineering, you call it technical debt.

In design, it's design debt.

(We'll talk about this in another post, I swear.)

Let's get back to where we started.

No styles. No system. No structure.

What do you do?

The truth is, it depends. But there's one mindset that's saved me every single time:

Before doing anything, ask yourself (or your manager):

"Will this actually move the needle?"

In startups, cashflow is oxygen.

Every single day, you're burning money just to figure out if the product even deserves to exist.

So whatever you spend your time on better be worth it.

Now, take the design system for example.

Do you really think your investors care whether your components are auto-layout or not or if you even have a component library?

In a B2B startup, has any client ever asked,

"Hey, before we sign this deal... do you have a design system?"

Didn't think so.

And in B2C?

Things are changing every week anyway.

I've seen buttons, cards, even whole pages get redesigned 4 times in a month.

So when the product is still evolving, when pivots are expected, when the brand direction isn't even locked yet...

Does it make sense to spend a week building a design system?

Or should you focus on shipping that new feature everyone's waiting on?

That one question - "Will this move the needle?" - is what should drive almost everything you do in a startup.

Because at the end of the day, your job isn't just about clean files or fancy layouts.

It's about momentum.

Think it through.