First of Kind Koen & Jorn: Framer Reloaded
Mar 4, 2026
Jorn van Dijk, co-founder of Framer and product designer with a knack for creative direction. Koen Bok, co-founder and designer-entrepreneur who led Framer’s strategic shift. They recall Framer’s near-death pivot from prototyping to a web design platform. They discuss choosing problems you love, the pivotal lunch that changed course, design-to-dev handoff pain, and how AI shapes future workflows.
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Publish Solved The Prototype Handoff Problem
- Framer moved from prototyping to full-site publishing to close the feedback loop designers lost during handoff.
- After shipping publish-to-web, users found the instant feedback addictive and refused to return to two-week handoffs.
VC Gave Them Pressure And A Decision Window
- VC funding acted as a forcing function that pushed Framer to pursue significant scale rather than comfortable steady revenue.
- The funding also bought time to decide between pivot, sell, or shut down.
The Three Options Lunch That Triggered The Pivot
- Faced with stagnating growth, Koen and Jorn listed three options: quit, sell, or pivot toward websites using existing tech.
- They chose pivot after weighing investor returns, their boredom with another acquisition, and available cash.