Oliver Meakings

Senja.io

Co-founder of Senja.io. Collect more, better video testimonials, manage them, and share them everywhere. My boostrapped indie SaaS with over 15,000 users.

Cofounder

Roast My Landing Page

What have you missed on your landing page? Let me show you: https://www.roastmylandingpage.com

Founder

Olly Meakings Marketing

Currently and recently working with London-based bootstrapped and seed-funded startups Corona Test Centre, SeatPlan, NailBuff, Clayton, Ferly, Noodle, Mindful Team, Lifetise, User Replay, The SaaaSy Co, Canopius and CharlieHR.

Freelance Marketing Consultancy

Lifetise

* Ongoing early-stage startup consultancy
* Advising on product and marketing strategy

Freelance: Senior Marketing & Product Consultant

Mindful Team

CharlieHR

* Content strategy and distribution
* Building an audience for The Workplace: https://blog.charliehr.com

Freelance: Content at Charlie HR

Canopius Group

Freelance: Senior Marketing Consultant

Rank

* Oversaw brand refinement for Bonkers Bingo
* Creation of strategy and wireframes for microsite build
* Creation of content strategy proposal

Freelance: Senior Product & Marketing Strategy Consultant [via BIGGER.]

Adventure Film Festival

* Communications and Marketing Director
* Planned and delivered complete marketing and digital strategy
* Partner engagement: Google, Meridian Line, Outside TV, Zeal Optics, Black Diamond
* Managed distributed team of 4: Designer, Videographer, Web Dev and Content Executive
* Introduced Early Bird messaging, selling $1000s of extra tickets

Freelance: Marketing Director

Maximum Pop!

* Managed distributed team of 12: content development, design and sales
* Delivered market-leading digital Gen Z product
* Created, delivered and measured product and marketing strategy
* Grew monthly unique visitors from 200,000 to 1,000,000
* Added 500,000 Facebook likes in 6 months
* Delivered 125,000 quiz plays each month
* Product managed the launch of a suite of products:
- 3 new web builds
- 4 Messenger Bot builds
- 2 new social profiles
* Clients included: Capital FM, Keds, HarperCollins, Egmont, Simon & Schuster, Nickelodeon, River Island

Founder &  Publisher

I'm the cofounder of Senja.io

Senja  helps founders, freelancers, creators and sales people collect and share video testimonials.

🔥 I've roasted over 900 landing pages: https://www.roastmylandingpage.com
Yep, the original and the best landing page roasting service. Nobody does it better.

Co-Founder

Co-founder of Senja.io. Collect, manage and share your testimonials.

Olly Meakings

✨ It's official ✨

Senja just hit $1,000,000 ARR

3 years 9 months
3,000 paying customers
100% bootstrapped and #buildinpublic
2-person team

Building a bootstrapped SaaS in public, without the BS

I don't think I'm going to hire an engineer

I think I am going to hire 2

The advice I've received is that 2 good engineers working together is better than one 'superstar'

More output, more accountability, review each other's code, no SPOF

What do you think?

Juro

Juro’s intelligent contract automation platform empowers legal and business teams to agree and manage contracts end-to-end in one AI-native workspace.

Juro powers over 2m contracts for companies in 85+ countries globally, including Trustpilot, Deliveroo, AJ Bell and WeWork. Juro is backed with $38m in funding from the investors and founders behind Twitter, Coinbase, Indeed, Wise and Gumtree.

Staff Product Designer

Senior Product Designer

Open Doors

Matching junior designers with their dream roles through actionable insights, curated job listings, and community support.

Heygo

Stepped up as the sole designer, driving all design-related initiatives and ensuring the highest level of product excellence across all platforms.

Leveraged data-driven insights and trend analysis to inform design decisions, optimizing the core product to better align with market demands and user preferences.

Conducted ongoing user research, staying attuned to user needs and expectations, fostering a user-centric design approach and continuously enhancing the overall user experience.

Facilitated multiple product pivots, including a B2B-focused approach, and developed products partially from scratch, adapting an innovative approach for product excellence across platforms.

Product Design Lead

Demonstrated adaptability by designing across multiple platforms, including web and React Native apps for iOS and Android, while meticulously adhering to each operating system's unique design patterns and guidelines.

Spearheaded end-to-end design solutions, from discovery to hand-off, while diligently overseeing implementation to ensure exceptional product quality.

Proactively initiated and led user research initiatives, uncovering user needs and pain points, and translating insights into actionable design improvements for a more seamless and satisfying user experience.

Collaborated effectively within cross-functional teams, fostering clear communication and seamless integration among team members to optimize project efficiency.

Articulated project goals and progress to stakeholders, conducting workshops and maintaining open channels for feedback and alignment.

Partnered with engineers to develop and maintain a design system providing consistency and efficiency in the design process.

Contributed to and participated in roadmap and strategy discussions to align vision and ensure cohesive product development.

Worked closely with various teams, such as marketing, to develop impactful landing pages that effectively supported the objectives of those departments.

Actively participated in the talent acquisition process, identifying and attracting top talent for both Product Design and Visual Design roles, thereby fostering a strong and creative team dynamic.

Product Designer

tred

Conceptualized and executed the investment feature for the native mobile app, enhancing its functionality and user engagement.

Conducted a comprehensive UX audit of the existing website, identifying opportunities for optimization and improved user experience.

Harmonized and established design components, ensuring full compliance with brand guidelines and fostering a consistent visual identity.

Redesigned the existing website experience, elevating its aesthetics and usability.

UX/UI Designer

Isp-insoft GmbH

Oversaw the management of feature requirements and coordination, ensuring seamless execution and alignment with product objectives.

Developed and managed brand assets, including websites, to maintain a consistent and cohesive brand identity.

Crafted wireframes for efficient handoff to the development team, facilitating a smooth transition from design to implementation.

Conceptualized and redesigned icons, enhancing visual appeal and usability across digital touchpoints.

Authored user documentation, providing clear guidance and support for end-users to maximize product adoption.

Monitored marketing activities using Google Analytics, tracking performance metrics to inform data-driven strategies and optimizations.

Produktmanager

ibidem-Verlag

- Developed and established a full workflow for digital publications (PDF, EPUB & MOBI)  
- Trained & managed colleagues with the digital publications workflow

Author Supervisor

Helping Junior Designers Secure Their First Job | Staff Product Designer at Juro

I'm an experienced Product Designer with a passion for creating design solutions that harmonize user, business, and stakeholder needs. My work is geared towards fostering innovation and delivering measurable results. 

Beyond my role, I'm deeply committed to helping the next generation of designers break into the industry. That's why I founded Open Doors, an initiative dedicated to equipping junior designers with the tools and insights they need to land their first job and make a meaningful impact. 

Let's build better products and careers together.

Florian Boelter

A mini-macOS as a portfolio surface?
Sounds risky — but Inika pulled it off in a way that actually works.

Most concept-driven portfolios collapse under their own ambition. They’re fun for five seconds, then you hit broken links, confusing navigation, or a surface that completely overshadows the actual work.

Inika’s portfolio is the opposite.

It’s playful, expressive, unmistakably hers — and still grounded in solid interaction thinking.

Draggable folders, micro-interactions, small easter eggs, a consistent metaphor… it all comes together into a surface that feels alive without drifting into gimmick territory.

But here’s the real reason this portfolio stuck with me:
Once you look past the macOS theme, the foundation is strong.

The thinking is there.
The structure is there.
The craft is there.

It reminded me a lot of Ryo Lu's RyOS (check that if you haven't) but keep in mind that Inika's portfolio is built in Framer!

Where the next big leap will come from is in how she presents the work itself. Right now, the case studies live in external Figma prototypes — which breaks the magic and makes the strongest part of the experience do all the heavy lifting.

If she brings her case studies into her system — native windows, a custom “Pages” app, or even a lightweight browser-style viewer — this becomes a polished diamond of a portfolio.

The spark is absolutely there. The next iteration will turn it into fire.

Read the full showcase to find out what else I think was well done and what could use improvement.

Links to the full showcase and her portfolio in the comments.

Showing early-career designers the way | Staff Product Designer at Juro

Startups can feel overwhelming and you’ll wear many hats — but they’re also the place where juniors get chances they won’t find anywhere else.

I’ve spent my entire design career inside startups, from pre-seed chaos to lean, fast-moving Series B teams. And every time I talk to early-career designers, I notice the same thing: people are drawn in by the idea of startup life… but unprepared for what it actually feels like day to day.

No roadmap.
No safety net.
No one telling you what to do.
And an environment where your success depends almost entirely on how you handle ambiguity.

It’s thrilling — and terrifying.
It’s the fastest way to grow — and the fastest way to burn out.
It will teach you five years of skills in one — and expose the limits of your comfort zone immediately.

This week’s newsletter is a candid, unfiltered look at what startup life really gives you (and what it doesn’t): equity pitfalls, wearing every hat, learning under pressure, dealing with founders directly, navigating constant change, and managing speed without setting yourself on fire.

If you’re considering startups — especially early in your career — this will help you decide whether you’re built for it, excited by it, or better off in a more structured environment.

Subscribe for free here: https://lnkd.in/eWPDw_wj

You don’t always have to wait for a company to open a role — you can make yourself impossible to ignore first.

Most designers only apply when a job post appears.
But by the time you send your portfolio, dozens of people have already done the same.
And many of the most interesting roles never make it onto a job board anyway.

There’s a different approach — one that works especially well in startups, early-stage teams, and companies that hire based on opportunity rather than headcount cycles.

It’s simple:
pick a company you genuinely want to work with, study their product, identify one meaningful opportunity, and build a tiny, focused micro–case study around it.
Not a redesign.
Not a concept for Dribbble.
A short pitch that shows how you think and how you solve problems.

When you do it right, it takes 60 minutes and it doesn’t end up being free work.
It’s a high-signal demonstration of value.
And you keep full ownership of the piece — meaning it becomes a strong addition to your portfolio, regardless of how the company responds.

I’ve seen this method open doors for early-career designers, mid-level designers, and experienced folks targeting specific startups.
It works because you’re not asking for consideration — you’re showing what consideration looks like.

Next week, I’m running a live 90-minute workshop with Uxcel where I’ll walk through the entire process in real time: choosing a company, analysing the product, finding leverage points, building a micro–case study, and shaping it into a pitch — all in roughly an hour of actual work.

If you’re an Open Doors reader, I have a discount waiting for you too! Just shoot me a DM.

If you want to learn a method that actually helps you stand out in this market, RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eZpKxMG6

The difference between a forgettable portfolio and a compelling one is almost always project selection, not project volume.

And yet, this is where most designers — especially early-career designers — get stuck.

They either show everything they’ve ever touched, or they show the wrong things entirely.

But here’s the truth: your portfolio isn’t a record of your past.
It’s a signal about your future.

The projects you choose are telling hiring managers:
- what problems you understand
- what environments you’d thrive in
- how you think
- what level you’re operating at
- and where you want to be considered

And in a market where everyone has access to better tools, nicer prototypes, smarter AI workflows, and shinier surfaces, clarity is the differentiator — not noise.

This week’s Open Doors newsletter breaks down how to choose case studies intentionally, whether you already have professional projects, are working with student work, or you’re creating something new from scratch.

I walk through:
- how to prune your portfolio without losing range
- how to pick projects that travel across industries
- how to avoid over-nicheing or under-nicheing
- how to use modern tools without letting them overshadow the thinking
- what to do when you’re unsure what belongs
- and how to align your project choices with the roles you actually want

If you’re in the middle of building or rebuilding your portfolio, this one will save you a lot of wasted effort — and it’ll make your work read more intentionally than 90% of the portfolios hiring managers see.

Subscribe for free here: https://lnkd.in/eWPDw_wj

Some portfolios try to impress you with motion, noise, and effects.
Anurag Bhavsar’s impresses you with clarity.

At first glance, his portfolio feels simple — no theatrics, no overdesigned hero, no tricks.
But the simplicity is intentional.

Underneath it is one of the most thoughtful and strategically structured narratives I’ve seen from an early-career designer.

His positioning is crisp.
His case studies read like editorial spreads — visually rich but grounded in real product thinking.
And the way he merges infographic-style storytelling with the structure of a well-built website is rare.
Most designers pick one or the other.
He manages to do both without losing coherence.

The CNN project in particular shows how far curated visuals and tight narrative control can go.
It’s dense but never overwhelming.
Engaging but never decorative.
It makes complexity feel digestible — which is exactly what strong product designers do.

In this week’s portfolio showcase, I unpack what makes his portfolio so effective, why this hybrid storytelling approach works so well, and where a few small refinements could make it even more memorable.

If you want to see what intentional visual storytelling looks like in a portfolio, this is one worth studying.

Link to the full showcase and his portfolio in the comments.

We’ve all been that designer on the bike. Ship a feature fast, skip testing “just this once,” and then wonder why users don’t adopt it.

It’s funny because it’s true — and it happens all the time. We test the big stuff, the high-stakes redesigns, but skip the small things that shape the day-to-day experience. We trust our instincts when we’re busy, tell ourselves we’ll run a test later, and then move straight on to the next sprint.

The problem is: later rarely happens. And every untested assumption compounds over time — until you’re designing for the product in your head, not the one your users actually use.

Testing isn’t a phase. It’s a rhythm. It’s what keeps your intuition honest.

And the good news is: doing it doesn’t have to slow you down.

With the right tooling — a built-in tester panel, high-quality participants, and fast turnaround — it’s easier than ever to keep your feedback loop alive.

For me, that’s Lyssna.

Let this be your reminder to test early, test small, and test often — even when you think you already know the answer.

Shipping untested things

Designing as the only designer — or one of very few — is becoming the norm.
In early-stage startups.
In teams that used to have larger design orgs.
And in companies where roles have become increasingly hybrid.

It can be energizing, but it can also be isolating.
You’re expected to switch disciplines, make decisions quickly, and often act as the only design voice in the room.

Early next month, I’ll be joining Femke van Schoonhoven for a live session to talk about what this actually looks like in practice — and how to make it sustainable.

I’ll walk through practical ways to:
- scale yourself when you’re juggling multiple disciplines
- build support systems when you don’t have a design team
- turn ambiguity and constraints into momentum
- find clarity and confidence even when no one is handing you direction

This session is especially relevant if you’re in a startup, a lean product team, or in a company where design resources have shrunk but expectations haven’t.

Wednesday, December 3
08:00–09:00am PST / 11:00–12:00 EST / 16:00–17:00 GMT / 17:00–18:00 CET
Price: $10

If you’re currently navigating the realities of being a solo or near-solo designer, I’d love to have you there.

RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eRzcHMHv

Designers (and PMs) don’t need to wait for engineers anymore —
I’ll show you how to build your own app from scratch with Lovable.

Next week I’m running the final vibe-coding workshop of the year together with Uxcel.
The last two sold out quickly, and it’s built specifically for beginners — no coding, no prior Lovable experience, no prep needed.

In 90 minutes, I’ll walk you through building a complete small app live.
Not a mockup.
Not a concept.
A real app you can use, extend, or turn into something personal.

You can follow along as I build mine, or create your own app next to me.
I’ll share my screen the entire time, explain each step, answer questions, and show the latest Lovable capabilities as we go.

What you get with the workshop:
- the full 90-minute build-together flow
- a practical method for vibecoding apps quickly
- one month of Lovable Pro + 100 credits included
- enough time over the holidays to build something actually useful

If you’ve ever had a small app idea you wished existed — something personal, something for your workflow, or something you’d otherwise pay for — this is a great chance to finally make it real.

The workshop is in eight days, and there are still seats available.

RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eU36sdWw

Design systems aren’t becoming less relevant —
they’re becoming easier to build, faster to maintain, and more valuable to know.

A lot has changed in the past few years.

AI sped up component creation, token management, audits, documentation — all the repetitive parts that previously made design systems feel heavy.

But instead of making design systems “obsolete,” it made the core skill behind them even more important:
understanding how to create structure, consistency, and velocity inside a team.

And that’s exactly why this area is still one of the smartest bets for early-career designers.

If you join a startup or a lean team, you won’t have a dedicated design system designer or a team even.

You will be the person who needs to build clarity out of chaos, make consistent decisions, define patterns, and keep the product scalable as it grows.

That’s design system work — whether it has the job title or not.
In this week’s newsletter, I’m breaking down the fundamentals of design systems, what’s changed because of AI, and why this is still one of the most valuable skill sets to learn early in your career.

If you’re curious about where to start or how this actually looks in practice, the full walkthrough is in the newsletter tomorrow.

Subscribe here to not miss it: https://lnkd.in/eWPDw_wj

Most designers wait for roles to appear.
Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to get on a company’s radar before that happens.

If you’ve been sending applications into the void, this workshop will give you a completely different playbook:
a 60-minute method to analyze a product, spot a real opportunity, and turn it into a high-signal micro–case study you can use to pitch yourself directly — even when there’s no job posted.

It’s the fastest way to stand out in a crowded market, especially for startups and early-stage teams that hire quietly.
I’ll walk through the full process live, from picking a company to shaping the final pitch — and you’ll leave with a replicable framework you can use anytime you want to get noticed.

The workshop is tomorrow, and there are still spots open.
Tuesday, November 25
08:30–10:00 PST / 11:30–13:00 EST / 16:30–18:00 GMT / 17:30–19:00 CET

If you’re an Open Doors subscriber, ping me in the comments — there’s a 20% discount waiting for you.

RSVP here and save your spot: https://lnkd.in/eZpKxMG6

Going into 2026, the designers who can build will have a massive advantage.
Tomorrow I’m running a workshop showing you how — so you can start building your own apps.

Lovable has changed what’s possible for designers.
You no longer have to wait for engineering support or rely on someone else’s bandwidth to bring an idea to life. With the right workflow, you can build a working tool yourself — fast, clean, and tailored to exactly what you need.

In this workshop, we’ll build an app together from scratch.
I’ll walk you through the approach I use to ship small internal tools, prototypes, and standalone apps — the same approach past participants have used to build things they still rely on today. One of my own most-used tools for task management was built live in a previous session.

You don’t need coding knowledge.
You don’t need setup.
You just need curiosity and 90 minutes.

This is the last beginner-friendly vibe-coding workshop I’m running with Uxcel this year.
If you want to enter 2026 with a skill your future self will thank you for, join us tomorrow.

Link is in the comments.

P.S. There are still spots open — and I can give you 25% off.
Leave a comment and I’ll DM you the discount code.

“One designer, many hats” isn’t a catchy idea anymore.
It’s how a lot of teams actually operate now.

Yesterday I ran a session with Femke van Schoonhoven about what it really feels like to design in lean teams — not the romantic version, but the practical reality many designers have been living through these past few years.

Early-stage startups have always worked this way.
But now even mid-sized teams are shrinking, specialists are disappearing, and more designers are suddenly finding themselves responsible for product, brand, research, content, motion… all at once.

And here’s the truth people usually say quietly:
it’s not that the work got easier — it’s that the support structures got smaller.

In the session, I talked about three things that have consistently helped me stay effective in these environments, whether I was a team of one or spread across multiple cross-functional teams at the same time:

1. Designing your own constraints.
Lean teams don’t give you clarity — you create it yourself.
If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

2. Building allies, not asking for permission.
You can’t wait for perfect processes.
You need the people who unblock you, challenge you, and amplify your work.

3. Scaling yourself deliberately.
Not by “hustling harder,” but by shaping your workflow so your time goes into decisions, not noise.

These ideas came from years of navigating resource-strapped environments and still shipping meaningful work — without burning out or becoming the unofficial “person who does everything.”

If you were in the session yesterday: thank you.

Lean teams aren’t going away.

But the designers who learn to operate confidently inside them tend to become the ones with the clearest judgment, the strongest systems, and the fastest growth.

taplio

The Battle

Olly Meakings

Florian Boelter

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreOlly Meakings's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFlorian Boelter's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Olly Meakings

Florian Boelter

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Olly Meakings's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFlorian Boelter's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreOlly Meakings's LinkedIn Performance