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
RS317: Steal My LinkedIn Growth Strategy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:45
This episode is sponsored by Clearly Design. Francois and his team at Clearly Design are absolute geniuses of UI, UX, and design. If you’re looking to level up your design, UI, and UX give Clearly Design a try If you’re…
RS316: Getting 100k LinkedIn Followers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:16
Optimize your company’s retention, and supercharge growth with Churnkey. In today’s episode, Craig welcomes Sam Browne. They take a deep dive into the ever-evolving landscape of LinkedIn, the premier platform for profess…
RS315: $8 LinkedIn Ad Leads [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:53
Optimize your company’s retention, and supercharge growth with Churnkey. In this episode Craig sits down with Matt Hayman from Linklo to talk through how we as SaaS founders can set up cost effective LinkedIn ads. Matt h…
RS314: The 8 Attributes Of A Perfect SaaS Business [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:04
Optimize your company’s retention, and supercharge growth with Churnkey. Are you looking to build the perfect SaaS business? Discover the key elements for crafting a thriving SaaS venture in the latest Rogue Startups epi…
RS313: Unfair Advantages with Jason Cohen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:40
This episode is sponsored by ChurnKey: Optimize your company’s retention and supercharge growth with Churnkey. Are you looking to fuel your startup’s revenue growth? Jason Cohen, founder of WP Engine, joins Craig behind…
RS312: Hacking LinkedIn [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:19
In today’s episode, Craig is joined by Adam Shaw from Marketing for Founders to talk about precise and overarching marketing strategies. Adam’s expertise lies in navigating Reddit and LinkedIn, two social media platforms…
RS311: Does Your Business Pass The Test? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:30
Join Craig as he chats with Dan Andrews, renowned cohost of the Tropical MBA, a weekly podcast dedicated to bootstrapping businesses and entrepreneurship. Dan is also the founder and brains behind Dynamite Circle and Rem…
RS310: Stealing Customers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:26
In this solo episode Craig talks through a few updates from Castos, how he’s thinking about growth, and where he’s focusing his attention and energy in the business. Craig also gives an update on his personal content: th…
RS309: Growth Fundamentals Most Founders Get Wrong [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:14
Alison French joins Craig behind the mic today to talk about ICP and go-to-market strategy, as well as the challenges that bootstrap founders have. We can all overcome these struggles with the right tools, systems, outlo…