Jake Knapp

Designer and author; co-founder of Character Capital (character.vc) alongside John Zeratsky and Eli Blee-Goldman. Formerly at Google (2007–2012, Gmail and Google Meet prototype), then Google Ventures (2012–2017, running Design Sprints with portfolio companies), and then author/independent before founding Character Capital.

Creator of the Design Sprint (map–sketch–decide–prototype–test), which he first developed at Google and refined at Google Ventures across hundreds of company engagements. Co-author of Sprint (with JZ and Braden Kowitz) and Click (with JZ), which introduces the Foundation Sprint methodology. The Design Sprint has been run at companies including Google, YouTube, Slack, Uber, Microsoft, and many others.

Known for: the Design Sprint 5-day process; the Foundation Sprint and Founding Hypothesis; the work-alone-together / note-and-vote facilitation method; the Loserville 2x2 differentiation chart; magic lenses for approach selection; the observation that AI-generated prototypes are generic without prior differentiation thinking.

Episodes in this wiki

• Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky on the Foundation Sprint, Differentiation, and Finding What Clicks — Lenny’s Podcast (second appearance)
• Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky on Make Time, the Highlight Framework, and Defeating Distraction — Lenny’s Podcast (first appearance)