Gabriel Valdivia

Fractional Design Partner for Early-Stage Teams

Gabe (Light)Gabe (Dark)

I help founders make the right product decisions sooner.

I've spent 15 years designing for the world's top tech companies as well as building my own products. I apply that experience to help early-stage teams skip past attractive wrong turns and make the right calls sooner.

In a world where AI can generate almost anything, I will:

  • Turn loose ideas into a sharp product strategy without drowning in docs.
  • Prototype the right paths fast, with enough fidelity to validate decisions.
  • Work directly with your team so momentum turns into shipped product.
  • Build the habits, systems, and team structure that raise the bar.
Learn more

Capabilities

Product DesignBrandingWeb DesignStrategyPitch DecksDesign SystemsTeam BuildingCoaching

Approach

01

Shared ownership. Whether I work independently or integrate with your team, everyone comes along.

02

I work fast. Quick iteration allows us to zoom through explorations until something feels right.

03

Show and tell. I frequently share work in progress via screen recordings with voice over.

04

Bias for action. I prefer tangible artifacts over lengthy documents that go ignored.

05

I work in systems. I create reusable components whether it's a feature or a design system.

06

Design is thinking. I explore divergent solutions. The more the merrier!

Clients

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National Design Studio logoFacebook logoPatreon logoDaylight Computer logoGoogle Ventures logoSlingshot logoSuperMe logoWorld Playground logoWorkmate logoNational Design Studio logoFacebook logoPatreon logoDaylight Computer logoGoogle Ventures logoSlingshot logoSuperMe logoWorld Playground logoWorkmate logo

In their words

Gabe is a master at taming the chaos of the 0 → 1 process. He has the rare ability to jump into the early stages of open-ended projects and rapidly develop structure and systems. He is proactive, works with little to no direction — and he is also very fast!

Daylight Computer logo
Tanuj Lalwani
Tanuj Lalwani

I cannot recommend Gabe enough. Truly world-class in every sense of the word. From helping to visualize an ambitious product story & vision, to playing an active role in bringing on senior full-time talent, and everything in between — Gabe can seemingly do it all. Our product, team, culture, and customers are in a stronger position thanks to our time together.

Gather logo
Jinen Kamdar
Jinen Kamdar

Gabe zipped in to our team seamlessly, brought well researched insights and strategic thinking to every concept, and polished the details to a high-shine. We are extremely pleased with the work — not only the output but the process to get there.

Bindery Books logo
Meghan Harvey
Meghan Harvey

Gabe is a superb designer. He grasps what we are seeking to build and is lightning fast at turning our thoughts into designs. This facilitates a quick feedback cycle leading to designs we are all happy with in an impressively short period of time.

Google Ventures logo
Greg Dooley
Greg Dooley

Gabe is an exceptional 0 → 1 design thinker and partner to early-stage founders. He made major contributions to our brand identity and key features. Highly recommend!

Grandstand logo
Sandeep Rajan
Sandeep Rajan

I was blown away by Gabe's ability to quickly synthesize complexity and simplify it for different audiences. Working with Gabe was both fun and productive. Delivery of high quality at high velocity is his superpower.

Ritual Dental logo
Natasha Awasthi
Natasha Awasthi

One of the reasons Gabe is a 10x designer is that he does a great job at driving a UX project forward by discussing with the team, being strongly opinionated on UX decisions, identify clear next steps and executing fast.

Twinsi

Franck
Franck Chastagnol

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