WHY DESIGN?
byChris Whyte | Kodu
ArtsDesignBusinessCareersTechnology
Why Design is a podcast exploring the stories behind hardware and physical product development. Hosted by Chris Whyte, founder of Kodu, the show dives into the journeys of founders, senior design leaders, and engineers shaping people and planet-friendly products. Formerly "The Design Journeys Podcast", each episode uncovers pivotal career moments, lessons learned, and behind-the-scenes insights from industry experts. Whether you’re a designer, engineer, or simply curious about how great hardware products come to life, Why Design offers real stories, actionable advice, and inspiration for anyone passionate about design and innovation. Join us as we listen, learn, and connect through th...
Episodes(40 episodes)
Season 4 - Episode 13
Raising too much money can be Dangerous: A Why Design Guide to Fundraising and Investment
What does two million pounds actually buy a hardware founder, and what does it cost? This compilation pulls together nine Season 4 guests, founders, owners and senior leaders building physical products, on the money side of the business they don't usually put in the pitch deck: the near miss on running out of cash, the grant that only exists for companies younger than theirs, the licence that handed away creative control, and the acquisition or private ownership that bought speed a round never could. No trailer, no host narration in this cut. Just nine guests, in...
Published: Sep 23, 2026Duration: 37m 46s
Season 4 - Episode 12
Why you are getting rejected even before the Interview - A Why Design Guide on Getting Hired
What if the CV you keep polishing for the fourth time is the reason you're not getting hired?Eight guests: from a Brompton CEO to a first-time founder, all landed their roles a different way than the job board suggests. Not one of them talks about the perfect CV. They talk about the novice's mindset that got them in the door, the adjacent title they applied for anyway, the portfolio habit that decides a candidate's fate before anyone reads a word, and the ten-year-old question that tells you whether you're even chasing the right career....
Published: Sep 16, 2026Duration: 20m 30s
Season 5 - Episode 25
How this Company Is Revolutionising Engineering One Messy Home at a Time - A Special Feature on VAX
What if the hardest engineering problem in the room is also the one nobody wants to admit they'd be proud of?In this episode of Why Design, Chris Whyte shares the belief that sits at the heart of Kodu's work with Vax: that some of the most demanding engineering jobs are hiding inside products nobody dreams of designing.Rather than dress this up as a neutral interview, Chris chose to disclose the commercial relationship upfront and make the case anyway. That decision led to an unusually direct pitch for a very real, very live hiring...
Published: Sep 9, 2026Duration: 4m 58s
Season 4 - Episode 11
Why the Perfect CV Is the Wrong Hire, A Why Design Guide on Hiring (SN 4 Recap)
What if the candidate who looks perfect on paper is exactly the one you shouldn't hire?Eight Season 4 guests, from a bike brand to an industrial giant to three small hardware studios, keep landing on the same answer from completely different directions. The flawless CV, the fixed job spec, and the polished portfolio are the least reliable signal in the room.What actually predicts a good hire is fit, curiosity, and how someone handles a question they weren't ready for, whether that's a new hire asking what to do, a job title that almost puts...
Published: Sep 2, 2026Duration: 20m 0s
Season 5 - Episode 24
The Sign You're Doing the Right Thing | A Why Design: Founders’ Mission and Purpose Journey
What does it actually sound like when someone can tell you, precisely, why their work matters?In this compilation of Why Design, fourteen hardware founders, designers, and engineers answer that question, not with a mission statement, but with the specific moment it became true for them: a phone call, a diaper emergency, a chant they refused to join, a sketch a surgeon recognised overnight, a research grant into safety on public transport, a young designer finally seeing herself represented.This is not a highlight reel of ambition. It is a collection of the moments where...
Published: Aug 26, 2026Duration: 30m 10s
Season 5 - Episode 23
Why Artificial Intelligence Makes You a Little Bit Dumber | A Why Design Guide on AI
What does AI actually do to the people building the physical world around you?In this compilation of Why Design, ten hardware practitioners share the belief that sits at the heart of good AI use: it is a tool for someone who already knows what good looks like, not a replacement for knowing.Rather than accepting AI hype at face value, these guests interrogate it from inside real hardware work: robotics, medical devices, industrial design, investment, and recruitment. That interrogation led to some of the most honest, occasionally contradictory, moments the show has recorded on...
Published: Aug 19, 2026Duration: 25m 50s
Season 5 - Episode 19
Why Women Leave Design, and What Actually Keeps Them | Alba Bayona
What does it take to go from a one-way ticket to London with no job, to a seat on the board of one of the UK's best known bathroom manufacturers?In this episode of Why Design, Alba Bayona shares the belief that sits at the heart of her work: that curiosity is what actually builds a design career, and that leadership only works once you stop pretending you can be good at everything, all the time.Rather than settle into one discipline early, Alba built her own jewellery brand alongside a full time design job...
Published: Aug 12, 2026Duration: 1h 20m 17s
Season 5 - Episode 18
The Biggest Mistake keeping Designers Underpaid | James Wood, Studio Wood
What does it actually cost to get into design if you don't come from money?In this episode of Why Design, James Wood shares the belief that sits at the heart of Studio Wood: that good design should reach a million homes, not one art gallery, and that the studio building it should be just as accessible.Rather than chase investment or fast growth, James chose to grow Studio Wood slowly, freelancing for six years before making his first hire. That decision led to a seven-person studio behind the Chilly's Series 2 bottle and the Joseph...
Published: Aug 5, 2026Duration: 1h 21m 4s
Season 5 - Episode 22
Hardware Money | A Why Design? Investment and Fundraising Guide
What does it actually take to convince someone to write a cheque for a business that has to build something physical before it can sell anything?In this compilation episode of Why Design, nine hardware founders and one investor share the belief that sits underneath every one of their rounds: that raising capital for a physical product is a fundamentally different exercise to raising for software, and treating it like the same game is how good companies lose winnable rounds.Rather than accept the vague, feel-good pitch that dazzles nobody, this group of founders learned...
Published: Jul 29, 2026Duration: 23m 35s
Season 5 - Episode 17
Why Most Founder Exits Fail, and Why This One Took Eight Years to Get Right | Kirsty Dias, PriestmanGoode
What happens to a business the year there's no bonus to hand out? In this episode of Why Design, Kirsty Dias shares the belief that sits at the heart of her work: that a creative business is built by giving people permission to take the slow, unglamorous route on the things that actually matter. Rather than train as a designer, Kirsty studied French, worked in theatre and ran exhibitions at the Barbican. That decision led her into PriestmanGoode as head of comms 25 years ago, and eventually into the Managing Director's seat of one of the...
Published: Jul 22, 2026Duration: 1h 15m 30s
Season 5 - Episode 21
I Thought I Knew How to Hire | Why Design: A Guide to Hiring
What if the candidate who interviews best is exactly the one you should not hire?In this compilation of Why Design, fifteen hardware founders, CTOs and design leaders share the belief that sits underneath every hire they have ever made: the CV gets someone in the room, but it never tells you who you are actually hiring.Rather than trusting the interview process alone, several guests built their own techniques instead, deliberate questions, gut checks, and screens designed to get past a rehearsed answer. That decision led to hiring practices most HR playbooks would not...
Published: Jul 15, 2026Duration: 13m 42s
Season 5 - Episode 20
Nobody Told Me How to Get Here | A Why Design Guide on Being Hired
The hardware and deep tech industry does not do much to tell talented people how to get in, when to make a move, or how to build a career that lasts.Over twelve episodes of Why Design, Chris Whyte has spoken with founders, CTOs, and senior design and engineering leaders who worked all of that out for themselves, often without a roadmap.This compilation is the result.Featured guests- Tess Cosad, CEO, Béa Fertility (Ep 01) on the one thing she looks f...
Published: Jul 9, 2026Duration: 12m 3s
Season 5 - Episode 16
Why He Diversified from Designing Products and Started Asking Why? | Shaun Fynn
What if the most important thing a designer can do has nothing to do with making?In this episode of Why Design, Shaun Fynn shares the belief that sits at the heart of his work: that observation, not making, is the true foundation of design. That culture defines meaning. That before you build anything, you have to understand who will receive it including, eventually, who will receive it when it is done being useful.Rather than staying in the design of products, Fynn chose to follow the question of why. That decision led to a...
Published: Jul 1, 2026Duration: 44m 56s
Season 5 - Episode 15
They Gave Their Own Product Away for Free, Then It Funded in a Day | Pensa
What does twenty years of serious product work actually look like from the inside?In this episode of Why Design, Marco and Mark, co-founders of Pensa, share the belief that sits at the heart of their work: that the best products come from designers and engineers working through the same problems at the same time, not handing work over fences and telling each other what can't be done.Rather than building a conventional consultancy where disciplines operate in sequence, Marco and Mark built Pensa around a model they call finishing, not fixing. That decision led...
Published: Jun 24, 2026Duration: 1h 8m 59s
Season 5 - Episode 14
Why the Best New Design Leaders Change Nothing in Their First 90 Days | Stephan Clambaneva
Are you designing for the middle of the bell curve, or for the people who need it most?In this episode of Why Design, Stephan Clambaneva shares the belief that sits at the heart of his work: that industrial design's greatest contribution is at the front end of product development, where 80% of environmental impact is determined, where material choices get locked in, and where the decisions that actually matter are still open.Rather than taking the conventional path of pure industrial design consultancy, Stephan built a career across mechanical engineering, CAD work, sustainability research, design...
Published: Jun 10, 2026Duration: 1h 6m 35s
Season 5 - Episode 13
The SOSV Partner Who Says the Best Persuaders Are Introverts (And Why He Backs Them First) | Bill Liao
What if the science works, the market is ready, and your company still dies?In this episode of Why Design, Bill Liao shares the belief that sits at the heart of his work: that the stories we co-believe in are our civilisation, and that the words you choose, the values you name, and the futures you speak aloud determine not just what you build, but whether it survives.Rather than following a conventional path from engineer to executive, Bill built a career at the intersection of technology, persuasion, and purpose. From co-founding WeForest to investing...
Published: Jun 3, 2026Duration: 1h 23m 16s
Season 5 - Episode 12
Why Design Is Still a Polite Cost Centre With Good PR | Lisa Gralnek
What does it take to build brand presence for one of the world's most rigorous design institutions in a market that barely knows it exists?In this episode of Why Design, Lisa Gralnek shares the belief that sits at the heart of her work: that design is not just products and packaging, but platforms, places, and policies and that if designers cannot speak the language of business, they will always be treated as a cost centre.Rather than staying in a thriving solo consultancy, Lisa chose to take the first role she had ever been...
Published: May 27, 2026Duration: 1h 15m 43s
Season 5 - Episode 11
How He Built a Sports Car Company Without an Engineering Team | Mark Tapscott
When was the last time a car company asked you what you actually wanted in the car before they built it?In this episode of Why Design, Mark Tapscott shares the belief that sits at the heart of his work: that lightness is not a compromise. It is the design. That an electric sports car under 900 kilograms, built in Britain, engaging to drive and priced within reach of ambitious buyers, is not just possible but necessary. And that the automotive industry has spent decades walking in the wrong direction.Rather than building a vertically integrated...
Published: May 20, 2026Duration: 1h 22m 1s
Season 5 - Episode 10
Why Bob Schwartz Walked Into GE Healthcare Carrying 50 Dream Catchers
How do you spend thirty five years inside hardware giants, take 22 IDEA medals out the door, and still end up best known as the guy who refused to chant “I am GE”?In this episode of Why Design, Bob Schwartz shares the belief that sits at the heart of his work: design without a strategy is just decoration, and strategy without trust and respect is just paperwork.Rather than waving his hands above his head about how great design is, Bob spent decades being subversive with goodness in his heart. That decision led to a $50,000 Busi...
Published: May 13, 2026Duration: 1h 26m 21s
Season 5 - Episode 9
No Engineering Degree. No Prototype. He Signed Up for CES Anyway | Floyd Freeman
What does it take to solve a problem that everyone experiences and nobody has fixed?In this episode of Why Design, Floyd Freeman shares the belief that sits at the heart of his work: that the most obvious problems are sometimes the hardest to solve not because the technology does not exist, but because no one has connected the pieces. FlushLocks a smart lock and unattended tap payment system for commercial restrooms is the result of one afternoon in Boulder, Colorado, a nappy emergency and a door with a code that said customers only.Rather...
Published: May 6, 2026Duration: 1h 3m 1s