CHRIS VERBICK
Swanmakers website homepage
← WORK / PAYLOAD 006

SWANMAKERS

Brand and comms collective for VC and PE firms.

swanmakers.com
ROLE
Co-founder · Design & Tech Strategist
TEAM
Giulia Piu, Chris Verbick
CLIENTS
ANANDA, Longwall Ventures, WakeUp Capital, PlusValue
FOUNDED
2022
STATUS
● live

// THE COLLECTIVE

Swanmakers is a collective of experienced designers, strategists, engineers and ex-VC operators who help venture funds and high-growth companies evolve into the most elegant, credible and magnetic version of themselves.

Brand and brand refresh, websites, pitch decks, impact, financial and annual reports — for venture capital funds, private equity firms and family offices.

We weren't looking for VC when our first client found us. As it turns out, VC has the same challenge as a product business. How can you reach your customer? And when you do, how will you differentiate from the competition?

// MISSION LOG

What made this project great.

  1. 01

    VC has a product problem

    Using my product background and the deep experience of Giulia in co-design, product, and brand, we've created something truly rare. Swanmakers is one of the only groups offering VC-specific expertise to build unique and compelling brand stories that speak to both sides of their business (LPs and investees).

  2. 02

    Creating a reporting process that the whole team can depend on

    Financial reporting processes are painful, error-prone, and fragmented. The third-party accountant needs to see the same numbers as the finance team. Auditing needs a clear path to evidence. Partners and the finance team need to review at different times of day but still communicate to each other clearly and specifically. We have put together a resilient and dependable system for financial reporting that works for the fund.

// THE SITE

Revealing the most elegant version of the fund.

One page per practice, each with its own promise to the reader.

Swanmakers homepage
Home
Swanmakers brand refresh page
Brand refresh · same fund, but stronger
Swanmakers impact reports page
Impact reports · read to the very end
Swanmakers annual reports page
Annual reports · reviewed all in one place

// THE PROCESS

How a report gets made.

01

Pick your preferred data source

02

The report’s custom grid, type and sections, set once for the fund

03

Figures, schedules and draft text read from source with our automated workflow

04

Comments pinned to the page, sign-off by section

05

Production-grade digital document for instant delivery

— / 05Hover or select a station
Sources → template → ingest → review room → the digital report · hover or select a station

// MY ROLE

Swanmakers is a collective, so each of us leads our own clients. I bring product design and technology: brand systems, websites, digital reports and the reporting process behind them. Giulia brings deep experience in co-design, product and brand.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Strategy
  • Design and technology
  • Websites and digital reports

WITH

Giulia Piu, Design & Brand Strategist

// DEBRIEF

LESSONS LEARNED,
FIRST PERSON

WHAT I EXPECTED

A fund's brand only needs to win over investors.

WHAT HAPPENED

Funds have two sets of customers: the LPs who invest in the fund and the founders who take its money. The brand has to win both.