Smash Notes
Why Does Koen Bok Say Design Tools Will Look Like Notion? · First of Kind

First of Kind

Koen & Jorn: Framer Reloaded

When do you know to pivot or surrender? Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk co-founded Framer, the web design platform that helps designers ship beautiful sites fast. 55% of YC companies run on it. Designers love it. But Framer almost didn't make it. What began as a high-fidelity prototyping tool born inside Facebook's design culture became—after a near-death pivot…

People

Notes

  1. How Do Designers Run Sites on Framer? at 1:44

    Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk call Framer a web design platform that design-forward companies use to produce their entire marketing sites. Full answer

  2. Why Did Phones Break Desktop Design Tools? at 7:17

    Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk say Sofa joined Facebook while Chris Cox and others were still choosing companies to acquire so Facebook could lead on design. Full answer

  3. Why Did Framer's Revenue Stall at Five Million? at 10:01

    Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk say early Framer revenue reached a million, then three, four, and five million, and then growth slowed, the opposite of what had to… Full answer

  4. Why Does Koen Bok Say Design Tools Will Look Like Notion? at 13:39

    Koen Bok says he and Jorn van Dijk were wrong about high-fidelity tools. They started Framer convinced that design needed more of them. Full answer

  5. Why Did Framer Pivot Instead of Selling? at 16:26

    Jorn van Dijk says the lunch came down to three options: quit and give the money back, try to sell what was left after expenses, or pivot. Full answer

  6. Why Do Startup Websites Look Better Than Seven Years Ago? at 20:48

    Soleio credits Framer with a handprint on the aesthetic, the language, and the medium of the web. Full answer

  7. Why Can't AI Make a Website Button Blue? at 23:46

    Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk say a chat tool can make a landing page fast, and speed is the main advantage, but the page looks generic. Full answer

Related notes

Related episodes

Plays from this note through the rest of the episode.

Note

Weekly highlights

One letter a week.

The notes worth hearing, with the minute they were said.