Studio Twentyone: A Bitcoin Design Show

Studio Twentyone Show is the podcast for real conversations with innovators, designers, and builders shaping Bitcoin products. Hosted by Sahil, each episode dives into Bitcoin UX, product development, and design thinking through walk-and-talk interviews with industry leaders. From developers and designers to product managers, listeners gain insights into creating user-friendly, secure Bitcoin products. Hear how experts balance simplicity with security, iterate groundbreaking tech, and drive the Bitcoin ecosystem. Ideal for those passionate about cryptocurrency, UX/UI, and digital finance.

Studio Twentyone: A Bitcoin Design Show is a business podcast hosted by Sahil Chaturvedi, with 10 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Sahil Chaturvedi hosts Studio Twentyone: A Bitcoin Design Show, a business show with 10 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #10

  10. Joshua Philippe – Fold: Foundational design thinking, cross-functional leadership, and bitcoin company evolution

  Mar 20, 202655 min

  In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks through the hills of San Francisco with Joshua Philippe, Head of Design at Fold. Joshua shares his remarkable journey from aspiring oil painter to leading design at major Bitcoin companies like BitMEX, Strike, and now Fold. They discuss his unconventional path through poverty, agency life, the wild days at BitMEX, and how he's orchestrating complete rebuilds of both Strike and Fold's brands and products. 🔍 What you'll learn in this episode: Joshua's journey from art school dropout to head of design at major Bitcoin companies How financial crisis and government seizure led him to Bitcoin sovereignty The wild stories from BitMEX's money-printing heyday in Hong Kong Building design systems and leading rebrands at Strike and Fold The art of "orchestrating" cross-functional teams as a design leader Why networking with VCs and business people beats networking with designers How to rebuild entire products and brands from the ground up The importance of taste development and exposure to great work 🔗 Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show ! Connect with Joshua: Twitter: https://x.com/shualippa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaphilippe/ Connect with Me: Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0 Nostr: sahil@primal.net/sahil Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio/ Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show 01:00 Joshua's pivot from law to studio art 02:13 Early design struggles and Craigslist jobs 07:16 Agency life and brand strategy fundamentals 09:15 Eight Inc experience on Apple and Tiffany projects 11:18 Eames host-guest design philosophy 13:04 Government bank seizure and Bitcoin discovery 16:02 Transition from agency to crypto/tech 18:35 Learning React Native as a designer 25:26 Moving from BitMEX to Strike 27:21 Stepping into head of design role 29:31 Working with superior talent and team orchestration 32:09 Strike's turnaround and design efficiency 35:08 Joining Fold and complete product rebuild 39:52 Organizing 200+ scattered Figma files 41:37 Brand summit and strategic foundation work 43:06 Agency selection for Fold rebrand 45:35 Information architecture and product strategy 47:53 Brand as competitive differentiator 48:10 Networking advice for designers 50:30 Taste development and exposure to great work 53:22 Advice on patience with rebrands

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  Studio Twentyone: A Bitcoin Design Show

  09. Skyler: Foundational brands for bitcoin startups, research > intuition, and more

  Jun 19, 202546 min

  In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks with Skyler, founder of Finite Supply, a Bitcoin design agency. Skyler shares his journey from graphic design student to optimization specialist at companies like Walmart Labs, Kraken, and Fedi, before launching his own agency. They discuss the importance of research-driven design, the art of branding, and Skyler's philosophy of "Socratic design." 🔍 What you'll learn in this episode: Skyler's journey from graphic design school to Bitcoin design agency founder How early exposure to A/B testing shaped his scientific approach to design The philosophy of "Socratic design" and seeking truth in product development Why research and user observation matter more than designer opinions The process of creating foundational brand identities for Bitcoin companies How to develop taste and craftsmanship as a designer Building scalable brand systems for early-stage companies The future of human-computer interaction and AI delegation 🔗 Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show ! Connect with Skyler: Twitter: https://x.com/skyler_fs?lang=en Website: https://finitesupply.co/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skylerwestby Connect with Me: Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0 Nostr: sahil@primal.net/sahil Web: https://sahilc.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show 01:20 Skyler's early design journey and education 02:36 Learning HTML and web development in design school 03:24 The important internship requirement project 04:12 Discovery of A/B testing and quantifiable design 05:16 The philosophy of "Socratic design" 06:22 Research vs opinion in Bitcoin design decisions 07:30 Walking through Vegas and design conversations 09:01 The mortuary rebranding project from college 09:28 Transition from optimization to product design 10:02 Working at Aspiration and discovering Bitcoin 11:22 The fulfillment of measurable design impact 12:23 Newsletter break 12:34 Applying optimization thinking to Bitcoin companies 14:20 The easy sell of value-based design improvements 15:17 What Skyler loves about running Finite Supply 16:22 No boss, fewer meetings, and creative freedom 17:07 22+ clients and foundational brand work 17:32 Dealing with quality concerns and imposter syndrome 19:25 Product work and cleaning up "vibe coded" UIs 21:04 Managing growth and saying yes to too much 22:12 The Bitcoin network effect for designers 23:15 Brand project process and client discovery 24:47 Using AI for word definition exploration 25:09 The Bitcoin Bond Company branding story 27:03 How clients become friends through collaboration 28:08 Making brands scalable for non-designers 30:23 Living out brand principles beyond visuals 31:16 Whether taste can be learned or is innate 33:05 Developing taste through physical craftsmanship 34:09 The command-Z impulse in leather work 35:09 Newsletter break 35:27 How Skyler discovers design inspiration 37:38 Limiting Twitter consumption with ARC browser 38:16 Sahil's disciplined social media workflow 39:48 Looking ahead: building for American workers 41:21 Solutions in search of problems vs real pain points 43:15 The vision for reducing human-computer interaction 44:30 Delegating robot tasks to actual robots 45:00 Closing thoughts and future conversations Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio/

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  Episode #8

  08. Courtny Cotten: Leading design teams through the AI revolution

  May 24, 202539 min

  In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks with Courtny Cotten, a design leader who has worked at major tech companies including Microsoft and Stack Overflow. With a strong background in visual design and leadership, Courtny shares insights from his career journey, discusses the evolution of design tools, and explores how AI is transforming the design industry. 🔍 What you'll learn in this episode: Courtny's journey from art student to design leader at major tech companies How gaming inspired his passion for digital experience design The evolution from traditional graphic design to modern UX/UI practices How AI tools are transforming the design industry and empowering designers Practical tips for becoming a more effective design leader The convergence of product design and front-end engineering roles How to use AI as a designer's superpower rather than a threat 🔗 Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show ! Resources & Tools Mentioned in the Episode: Figma (including Figma Beta AI features): https://www.figma.com/ Adobe Illustrator: https://www.adobe.com/in/products/illustrator.html v0 (by Vercel): https://v0.dev/ ChatGPT: https://openai.com/ Grok: https://grok.com/ Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/ Blue Cyclops Design Agency: https://bluecyclops.com/ Design Break Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-design-break/id1451267703 Connect with Courtny: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtnycotten/ Twitter: https://x.com/courtnycotten Connect with Me: Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0 Nostr: sahil@primal.net/sahil Web: https://sahilc.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show 01:09 Courtny's career journey and background 02:17 Early apprenticeship in graphic design 05:19 Transition from print to digital and mobile design 0 7:05 Experience at Stack Overflow and developer tooling 09:08 AI design tools discussion begins 10:24 Sahil's recent AI workflow transformation 13:26 AI for divergent thinking in design 15:54 The convergence of product design and engineering roles 20:15 Ethical questions about AI copying creative styles 24:04 New Figma Beta AI features 28:13 Using AI for better employee feedback and reviews 30:17 Effective leadership principles 33:35 Excitement about AI comparable to discovering Bitcoin 36:39 "Reflexive AI use" concept 38:40 Closing and request for feedback Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio/

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  Episode #7

  07. John Magill from Zaprite: Building a design-first bitcoin startup

  Apr 18, 202555 min

  In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks with John Magill, founder and CEO of Zaprite, to explore his journey from traditional graphic design to building a Bitcoin payment platform. John shares insights from his background in art, his transition to digital design, and how he built Zaprite from the ground up. 🔍 What you'll learn in this episode: John's path from art school to Bitcoin entrepreneurship How freelance design led to creating a Bitcoin payment solution Building an MVP as a non-developer and raising funding Balancing the roles of CEO and designer at a growing startup Managing feature requests while maintaining product vision 🔗 Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show ! Connect with John: Twitter: https://twitter.com/john_zaprite Website: https://zaprite.com/ Connect with Me: Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0 Nostr: sahil@primal.net/sahil Web: https://sahilc.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show 00:34 Meeting John Magill from Zaprite 01:03 Bitcoin Community in Austin 01:36 John's Approach to Digital Privacy 02:11 The Economics of Social Media 03:36 Early Freelance Design Career 04:47 Artistic Background and Education 09:03 Transitioning from Industrial Design to Graphic Design 12:14 Design Nature vs. Nurture Debate 14:00 The Origin Story of Zaprite 17:16 Building the MVP with Nate's Help 20:27 Design Consistency Through Growth 21:39 Balancing CEO and Designer Roles 24:23 Starting with Code as a Designer 27:45 Working with Parker and Will 31:08 AI Tools for Design 34:16 Managing Customer Feature Requests 40:52 QA Process and Feature Rollout 44:16 The Linear Approach to Features 48:38 Hot Takes on Collaborative Design 51:18 Future Design Plans for Zaprite 54:05 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio

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  Episode #6

  06. Stephen DeLorme from Voltage: Designing for lightning and open source bitcoin

  Mar 28, 202552 min

  In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks with Stephen DeLorme from Voltage to explore the intersection of design, development, and Bitcoin. Stephen shares his journey from comic book artist to graphic designer to Bitcoin builder, and insights from his work on Lightning Network infrastructure. 🔍 What you'll learn in this episode: The evolution from traditional design to Bitcoin engineering Approaches to building open source Bitcoin products Using AI tools to accelerate design and development Lightning Network's unique challenges and opportunities How designers can start coding with modern tools 🔗 Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show ! Connect with Stephen: Website: https://d.elor.me/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephenDeLorme Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephendelorme Contact: steven@vtdo.ge Connect with Me: Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0 Nostr: sahil@primal.net/sahil Web: https://sahilc.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show00:40 Meeting Stephen DeLorme01:19 Stephen's Hackathon Success02:09 UX for the Streets Workshop06:35 Stephen's Background and Journey10:11 From Comic Books to Graphic Design13:23 Discovering Bitcoin and Spiral Grant15:10 B2B Experience and Bitcoin Design19:42 Working on the Bitcoin Design Guide24:27 Approaches to Open Source Design30:08 Lightning versus Other Layer 2 Solutions32:37 Voltage's Approach to Lightning Infrastructure36:30 Starting with Code for Designers40:57 Using AI Tools for Development44:47 AI's Impact on Design and Development Jobs49:05 Current Projects and Future Plans51:34 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio/

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