This is super interesting!

I get $0 of business from Dribble because my profile is crap, but I do get business through my personal network. Big agencies get business through their networks and through features in AdWeek or something. IDEO gets their business by being featured in Business Week and Fast Company and winning awards and stuff. Boston Consulting and McKinsey get their jobs by being revolving doors to big-business executive jobs. Someone else gets their business by Dominating Dribble's leaderboard and getting the outsize share of traffic/leads.

In the end these are all just ways to juice your reputation. I bet someone is out there now scheming how they will get that Dribble traffic from UENO :) ... the magic of capitalism!

I would like to note that UENO and K+F both have very rad work!

To me this was the most "Instructional" book on branding I've read. You could literally follow the steps in the book, and it is very exhaustive. Perhaps it is more relevant for folks doing corporate or CPG branding work where the scale of $ and time investment is a lot larger than in say, your average startup or small business. Anyhow, it does describe a quite detailed process,

Agreed! 'Zag another brand book by Marty Neumeier is quite good also.

Also, The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the web by Jesse James Garrett is great but focused specifically on websites.

It's less instruction and more case studies/interviews but "Designing Interactions" by Bill Moggridge is really excellent. http://www.designinginteractions.com/

Will do!

My question was poorly worded. Here's another attempt:

I'm going to create a podcast about what happens when designers and business folks collaborate effectively, and how they do it.

Do y'all know any interesting business with great design, that I might talk to for the podcast?

Well, I tend to think there is still some blackbox magic in design but that's just me. Absolutely a clear repeatable process is a powerful tool for collaboration –I love a good framework! You bring up another good point: effective communication is essential to being a good collaborator...

Re-reading my question now it does seem silly to think that anyone could succeed without collaborating effectively on both design and non-design activities. Anyhow, I like the idea of highlighting the 'Facilitator' role.

Hi, I made this transition back in 2009, when I partnered up with a friend to form my current company Distill. In general, I would NOT go out and spend more money, take a loan or sign a lease, one of the smartest things we have done as a team is cutting expenses. I would focus on communicating how you and your partner are more valuable as whole, than you are as separate pieces. Also, I have found that focusing on a niche will be easier and faster to see results from. I have to head out to a mtg now but will post more later. In the meantime you can peep this post I wrote about starting, and re-starting a design studio:

http://wedistill.com/on-starting-and-growing-a-consultancy/http://wedistill.com/on-reinventing-a-design-company/