RS358: Your Design Sucks

RS358: Your Design Sucks

Author: RogueStartups March 18, 2026 Duration: 54:07
In this episode, Craig sits down with Francois Brill, Head of Product at Castos and longtime design collaborator, for an honest and entertaining conversation about what it really takes to build great-looking products in the age of AI. Using Outlier as a live case study, Francois walks through the marketing site and product UX in real time, calling out the small but costly design mistakes that make AI-built tools look generic. From embarrassing mismatched button styles to cognitive overload on ideation pages, this episode is a must-listen for anyone vibe-coding their next SaaS app and wondering why it just does not feel polished. Highlights from Craig and Francois’ conversation: AI-generated design is the new "tell" that your product was built without a designer Picking one mode, light or dark, is almost always better than trying to do both Rounded inputs paired with square buttons is one of the most common and fixable design mistakes Color should guide user action, not decorate the interface UX is how something works; UI is what it looks like, and they require different thinking Cognitive overload kills conversion, especially on feature-rich pages like ideation tools A Design MD file can teach AI your brand system so every output stays consistent Code is cheap now, so the value has shifted to vision, taste, and design thinking Building fast and iterating beats trying to get it perfect the first time If everyone can prompt the same thing, standing out requires taste and a real system Resources and Links from This Episode: Clearly Design: https://www.clearly.design/  Francois on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fbrill/  Outlier: https://outlier.so/  Castos Free Tools: castos.com/tools Email me: podcast@roguestartups.com  Find me on Twitter: @TheCraigHewitt If you feel like Rogue Startups has benefited you, and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give Rogue Startups a review on iTunes.  Do you have any comments, questions, or topic ideas for future episodes? Feel free to reach out to me: Twitter: @TheCraigHewitt LinkedIn: Craig Hewitt Email: podcast@roguestartups.com 

Behind every new company is a story, and Rogue Startups digs into the real ones-the messy, uncertain, and exhilarating paths founders actually walk. This isn't about polished success tales; it's a candid look at the day-to-day grind of building a business from the ground up. You'll hear directly from entrepreneurs in the thick of it, along with seasoned experts who specialize in the crucial engines of growth: sales, marketing, and product development. Conversations focus on practical tactics, particularly around scaling productized services and SaaS offerings, exploring the real "how" behind their growth hacking strategies. The value of this podcast lies in that shared experience-hearing how others navigate the very obstacles you might be staring down, and learning what moves actually led to a win. It’s for anyone who prefers the unvarnished truth of entrepreneurship over theory, offering a sense of camaraderie and a toolbox of ideas drawn from the front lines. Tune in for authentic dialogue that skips the fluff and gets straight to the challenges and victories of building something new.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Rogue Startups
Podcast Episodes
RS327: 3 Traits Of Successful Founders w/ Rob Walling [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:07
Craig has TinySeed’s Rob Walling in the hot seat today. They’re chatting about defining, attaining, and maintaining success. What does success mean to you? How do focus, clarity, and execution fit into it? Rob, a leading…
RS326: 5 Things Most Founders Struggle With [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:12
Today’s a solo episode with Craig where he’s talking through the 5 common topics and themes that he helps most of his coaching clients through. Whether it’s through his 1:1 coaching with private clients or in serving as…
RS325: Stuck? Ask Yourself These 3 Questions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:00
Are you a SaaS founder feeling stuck, unmotivated, or unsure about your next move? In this video, I dive into three powerful questions that can help you break through mental barriers and gain clarity on your business’s d…
RS324: $100 Million Bootstrapped SaaS with Adam Robinson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:34
In this episode of the Rogue Startups podcast, Craig sits down with Adam Robinson to explore key topics such as founder psychology, overcoming self-limiting beliefs, and avoiding self-sabotage. They delve into how to ide…
RS323: Breaking Through Plateaus with Josh Ho [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:33
Today on the Rogue Startups Podcast, Craig chats with Josh Ho from Referral Rock about the peaks and valleys of being a founder. When is the right time to sell? Is there ever a right time? How do you break through a plat…
RS322: Marketing, in 2 hours a week [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:17
In this episode Craig descirbes his current SaaS marketing approach. Balancing Active and Passive marketing, he’s got his marketing time down to just a few hours a week. Using a video-first, AI-assisted workflow he’s rea…
RS321: B2B Lead Gen on LinkedIn [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:30
If there’s one thing Craig loves more than podcasting, it’s sales. In this episode, he shares his enthusiasm with tech sales coach Peter Ahn. They discuss everything from bridging the gap between creating content and dri…
RS320: The Psychology of Sales [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:26
Clearly Design works in every aspect from branding to marketing, from product to promotion. Go to Clearly.Design for a discount on his monthly design subscription service. Tell him that Rogue Startups sent you. What gets…
RS319: Mastering LinkedIn Video Content [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:21
Clearly Design works in every aspect from branding to marketing, from product to promotion. Go to Clearly.Design for a discount on his monthly design subscription service. Tell him that Rogue Startups sent you. Danny Del…
RS318: LinkedIn Content That Converts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:17
Clearly Design works in every aspect from branding to marketing, from product to promotion. Go to Clearly.Design for a discount on his monthly design subscription service. Today Craig is chatting with Nemanja Zivkovic ab…