3 areas where startups can benefit from agency help

Hey there. Happy Saturday! Today, I want to share some insights on how startups can enhance their design efforts by working with external agencies.

I recently spoke with a VP of design at a Series C startup. Despite having a 12-person design team, they still partner with agencies for various projects. This got me thinking: even as startups grow and build internal teams, there are key areas where external agencies can still provide immense value.

Typically, when a startup secures seed funding, one of the first hires is a product designer. At this stage, branding and marketing design often lack dedicated owners. While design agencies could fill these gaps, startups usually don’t have the budget for external help.

By the time a startup reaches Series A, there's more funding to hire multiple designers. This is when founders may consider bringing on a Head of Design to lead hiring efforts or a Principal Designer to oversee different design initiatives. With a Head of Design in place, the company enters a hyper-growth phase, working on exciting projects, often with a larger budget for agencies or freelancers.

Fast-growing companies thrive with a balance of in-house talent and external support. Below are three key areas where agencies can act as valuable extensions of an internal design team:

1. Design systems & front-end libraries

Mature companies often have entire teams dedicated to their design systems, including UI/visual designers, UX engineers, front-end developers, and even a head of design systems. However, startups beyond Series A often have design teams stretched thin, focusing on product changes and daily execution. Building and maintaining a design system requires additional time and resources that in-house teams may not have.

While some in-house designers can manage the Figma side—building components and maintaining design standards—the challenge comes with updating, approving, and evolving the system as the company's needs grow. Even if the Figma design system functions well for the design team, it doesn’t always benefit developers. A fully realized design system should also include a front-end library that’s easy for engineering teams to implement.

This is where agencies come in. Setting up a design system and front-end library is often a one-time project that can be outsourced, creating efficiency for both design and engineering teams.

2. Conceptual design & fast prototyping

In-house product designers are typically assigned to specific product areas, collaborating with product managers, engineers, and data scientists. Their day-to-day tasks often involve meetings, presentations, and alignment with stakeholders. Many product designers report spending 80% of their time in meetings, leaving only 20% for actual design work.

The downside? This limits their ability to engage in divergent thinking. With so little time to explore creative directions, a designer may only produce 1–3 solutions for a problem instead of the 40–50 ideas needed to truly innovate.

An external agency can bridge this gap. Agencies can dedicate 3–4 weeks of highly focused time, bringing in a team of specialists to develop dozens of creative directions and prototypes. In this case, the agency provides the extra skills and bandwidth that in-house designers simply don’t have time for.

3. Marketing campaigns & event design

By the time a startup reaches Series A or beyond, they may have a marketing lead or even a CMO, but it’s rare for them to have a full marketing design team. However, the demand for marketing assets—social posts, newsletters, ads, and event collateral—continues to grow.

In the early stages, product designers might assist with marketing, but as the product evolves, their time becomes increasingly limited. When marketing needs outweigh internal capacity, startups have two options: founders can manage the marketing efforts themselves, or they can outsource the work to agencies.

Event design is one area where outsourcing is particularly valuable. Organizing an event involves more than just planning the agenda. It requires:

• Event planning

• Securing sponsorships

• Engaging speakers

• Branding and marketing the event

• Event-day coordination

• Technical and AV support

• Video production

For startups, these are often one-time or periodic needs, making it inefficient to hire full-time roles. Agencies can fill these gaps, ensuring that marketing and event design run smoothly without overwhelming the internal team.

In conclusion

Even as startups grow their in-house design teams, agencies can still provide valuable support, especially in areas that require specialized skills or dedicated time. By leveraging external help for design systems, conceptual design, and marketing needs, startups can stay agile and continue to innovate at scale.

P.S. I've been reflecting on the frequency of my newsletter. Rather than sticking to a strict weekly schedule, I believe that the quality of the content is more important than how often it’s sent. Moving forward, I want to prioritize delivering valuable insights, so if I don’t have a standout topic for a given week, I may shift to a bi-monthly schedule. My goal is to ensure that every edition is worth your time.

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