Calling Operator with Laura Nicol Ep 33. George Hatzis on Product Design: Journey from Startups to Scale-Ups and Fractional Impact for Early-Stage Teams
I'm connecting with George Hatzis, a fractional product designer for early-stage startup teams. From his early curiosity about design and product at Ignition to redesigning a personal loan application admin at Wisr and building and scaling a multi-brand design system for healthcare products at Eucalyptus, he's no stranger to the twists and turns of startups and scale-ups. In this episode, we cover practical design and MVP design systems—what they are and how to apply them in fast-moving, scrappy environments; taking the independent product design route and his “Mary Poppins-style” approach to fractional work; his journey (so far) building a migration tech product alongside Niamh and Damian at Matilda; leading design teams and making a conscious transition from an individual contributor to a manager; AI as a “companion piece” for designers; the right time for startups to bring in their first product designer; and advice for product designers pitching themselves to early-stage startups. Plus, slowing everything down for life's simple moments, watching 100 movies a year (and reviewing them on Letterboxd), and the magic of acknowledging trade-offs.
Find George Hatzis:
- Portfolio
- Letterboxd: film reviews by George Hatzis
- Checklist Design: a side project by George Hatzis
George’s Northstar People and Principles :
- James Nau (VP of Product at Airtasker)
- Olivia King (Independent Creative Director)
- [Op-ed] AI as a trend and how designers can work with it (written by Sebastiaan de With)
ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch:
- Kayla Medica (Fractional Product Marketer/CMO)
- Mehdeeka by Kayla Medica (a weekly Substack newsletter covering various areas of B2B and SaaS marketing aimed at small teams)
- Nick Hough (Director of Product at Jasper)
Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode:
- Guy Pearson (CEO at Ignition)
- Dane Thomas (Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Ignition)
- Niamh Mooney (Co-founder at Matilda)
- Damian Png (Co-founder at Matilda)
Guest ideas?
Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.
A note from your host, Laura:
My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.
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