Available for new opportunities

John
Rubino

Product designer driven by impact. I specialize in solving 0-to-1 problems — the messy, ambiguous challenges that come with creating something from nothing.

8+
Years Experience
3
Enterprise Platforms
$1T+
AUM Context
0→1
Venture Design

Building at the edge of
enterprise and ambition.

By day, I'm at BNY Pershing, where I was on the ground floor of Wove — a complete rebuild of the bank's financial platform. I've spent years bridging legacy software with modern UX, making complex financial workflows accessible while maintaining the technical rigor advisors and firms require. This taught me how to design systems that scale.

But my real passion is working with founders building AI-native products that create meaningful impact. I bring enterprise-level systems thinking to early-stage startups, helping them navigate the chaos of product-market fit while building foundations that won't break as they scale.

I don't just design around AI —
I build with it.

I'm hands-on with AI tools, exploring how they can fundamentally change how we think about product development. This isn't about adding chatbots to existing interfaces. It's about rethinking products from the ground up when AI is a core assumption.

Design Thinker · Substack

On my Substack, I share what I'm learning about AI tools, design systems, and UX. I write about building with AI, not just theorizing about it — working through ideas in public and exploring where design is heading.

Read the newsletter

I completed "Designing and Building AI Products and Services" through Emeritus (2024) to formalize what I was already doing: experimenting, building, and pushing the boundaries of what's possible when AI is native to the product experience.

I'm not just designing for startups —
I'm investing in them.

As a member of Angel Squad and an affiliate of Hustle Fund, I'm actively angel investing and working toward accreditation to expand into private equity. This gives me a unique perspective: I understand the founder journey from both sides of the table.

Why This Matters for Founders

I speak your language. I know what metrics matter, what investors look for, and how to build products that scale. I'm not just a designer-for-hire — I'm a partner who gets the full picture of what you're trying to build.

Whether you're pre-seed, raising your Series A, or somewhere in between, I've seen enough cap tables and pitch decks to understand the constraints you're operating under. Let's build something that moves the needle.

Impact. That's what
gets me out of bed.

I'm energized by 0-to-1 problems — the kind where there's no playbook, no template, no obvious answer. These are the problems that require you to think from first principles and create something genuinely new.

I'm drawn to projects with social impact. Technology that makes healthcare more accessible, education more equitable, climate action more achievable. If your product exists to make the world measurably better, we should talk.

Enterprise-grade systems thinking
for early-stage problems.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

AI-Native Product Design 0-to-1 Product Strategy Design Systems Enterprise UX Complex Workflows Legacy System Modernization Startup Product-Market Fit Figma & AI Tools

Selective about who I work with —
because I want it to matter.

I'm open to working with founders on their next big idea — especially if you're building AI-native products with real social impact.

Ideal Projects

You're a founder building an AI-native product. You're solving a 0-to-1 problem. Your product creates meaningful impact — healthcare, education, climate, accessibility, equity. You need a design partner who gets both the startup journey and how to build systems that scale.

If that sounds like you, let's talk. I bring enterprise rigor without enterprise bureaucracy. I understand the constraints of early-stage startups because I'm in that world as an investor. And I'm genuinely excited about pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI.

Let's build something that matters.

Open to senior design roles, fractional leadership, and AI-native engagements through Colllective.