We're hiring a Lead Product Designer—focused on getting more users to try RISE and improving their experience during their first few weeks. I wrote this letter to help you decide if this is the right opportunity for you. In it, I share what you need to be successful, what success looks like, and challenges you're likely to face.If it turns out this is a fit, I believe that you will be hard-pressed to find something more meaningful and impactful for your life and career. Just 18 months ago, I was reading a letter like this from Jeff, our CEO. My decision to join Rise Science has been better than I could have ever imagined.It will take you time to read through, but if you do, you should learn something new, have a clear sense of what we're working on, and if you'll thrive in our current environment. You won't find traditional requirements. Mostly because this isn't a traditional role and we're not looking for a traditional person.For the right person, this could be a once-in-lifetime chance to do something that matters and propels your personal growth.Thanks in advance for reading &amp; sleep well,JasonHead of Design @ Rise Science<hr><h2>What are we working on at Rise Science?</h2>The short answer: we're building a sleep app for everyday-people that helps you be less tired and get more out of your day.Sleep is the most potent performance enhancing drug there is. It's the foundation of literally everything we can measure about you. And it's your nights that dictate your days.Read about how we got started: <a href="https://www.notion.so/Founder-Story-c65ae47f62014c4ba6ebdf02280d4c0b">Our founders' journey to sleep and its importance</a>.You might ask “Does the world need another sleep app?” The answer is, no, it doesn’t. At least not a traditional one...Through years of user research and product development, we learned that&nbsp;people don’t want to spend more time sleeping.What people&nbsp;really&nbsp;want is to have more energy.It turns out that the biggest determinant of your energy levels is your sleep. However, the tools available today only address part of the problem. Some are trying to help you fall asleep (like Calm) and others aim to measure your sleep (like Fitbit, WHOOP, &amp; Oura). None of these services are designed to help you feel better and have more energy. In fact, WHOOP’s recent peer-reviewed paper shows that while their tracker is accurate for measuring sleep it&nbsp;does not effectively improve sleep behavior. For people to feel better&nbsp;sleep tracking is necessary but not sufficient.RISE is not a sleep tracker.&nbsp;Our mission is to affect long-term behavior change to help people feel better and have more energy. After all, that is what people want. And to do that, you need to make the feedback loop between your sleep and your daily energy instant. We are not alone, the academic literature backs this up: BJ Fogg says, “it’s emotion that creates behavior, not repetition.” And this is why our company is called Rise&nbsp;Science. We couple peer-reviewed science with constant user feedback to guide our product development.It’s taken a decade of rigorous work and research to get here. We’ve invested millions of dollars (from the investors behind Peloton, Fitbit, Spotify, Facebook, and Twitter). We’ve studied tens of thousands of users – high schoolers to pro athletes, working parents to retirees - to design and build scientifically robust algorithms to help people live the best lives possible.If you want to see it for yourself,&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rise-track-sleep-circadian/id1453884781">start a free trial</a>.<h2>A lot of the early hard work is done, the work we do next will determine our success.</h2>While we're not an established category with hundreds of thousands of paid subscribers, you're not starting from scratch. Our retention and product metrics are strong, and we have paid acquisition working well. We didn’t get lucky on product. We got here with a human-centered product team. But the work we do next, together, will ultimately determine how many lives we can improve and write the Rise Science storyNow onto the challenges in front of you:<ul>
<li>You'll be our lead designer for product growth – expanding the market for who can discover and use RISE.</li>
<li>You'll be learning and removing the obstacles for more people to start a trial and become a customer.</li>
<li>The world is full of myths and confusion when it comes to sleep and energy. You'll enlighten and help them take advantage of 100 years of sleep science in improving their life.</li>
<li>Today, most people find out about RISE from paid ads. You'll be fostering organic growth– making it simple to hear about RISE from trusted sources.</li>
<li>RISE customers should know that the product is supported by a mission-driven team, not just some app-shop cranking out features and trendy UI. You'll make that story something customers can see and feel.</li>
</ul><h2>What success looks like:</h2>Success is positively impacting more peoples' lives. You'll help sustain our growth with 5x our paid subscriber base in 2021 on the path to 3x it in 2022.You'll partner with our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.notion.so/A-letter-to-our-future-Lead-Product-Manager-Growth-94937a4a80c94a87a7ccb9ce648935c8">Lead Product Manager, Growth</a>&nbsp;to get new customers onboarded and help them make progress in their lives during their trial so that they fall in love and subscribe to RISE. When your designs are successful, you'll drive our install to subscribe conversion rate and increase the percentage of users who find out about RISE through trusted sources.<h2>Some reasons you might like working with us</h2><ul>
<li>You'll do work most days that will directly improve people's lives. Each pixel you move and every word you type will help more people feel better and be more productive. Each member of the team shares this daily mission. What you do each day directly contributes to the world's health, happiness, productivity, and longevity. You'll talk regularly with people whose lives you've changed.</li>
<li>You'll work with a&nbsp;team where human-centered design is the center of how we develop our product and business.&nbsp;You'll pair with a product manager in at least three user research sessions most weeks. These sessions will directly inform what problems you solve and the right solution.</li>
<li>You'll collaborate with the Head of Design (me) to continue the work of developing an&nbsp;effective and efficient design system&nbsp;for use across marketing and product. As a design team of two, we'll be shaping the practice at Rise Science.</li>
<li>One of our core values is growth. That means every week we'll talk about how we can help you grow. What skills, experiences, people can&nbsp;help you get to your next career goal. For this role to be successful, it has to be a great big step in the right direction for your career, not just a job.</li>
<li>If&nbsp;entrepreneurship&nbsp;is interesting to you, you'll also have a front-row seat to all the company building's ups and downs. Your work will be in front of some of the&nbsp;top consumer health investors and operators&nbsp;that backed and worked at teams at companies like Fitbit and Peloton.</li>
<li>More than anything else, we realize&nbsp;<a href="http://paulgraham.com/vb.html">life is short</a>. So even though we're solving an unthinkably significant problem,&nbsp;taking time for yourself and your family is essential. Without it, we don't believe you can live your best life and do your life's work. And of course, we'll get your sleep in order. 😉</li>
</ul><h2>What you'll need to be successful:</h2>Expertise in interaction design:&nbsp;You think in flows, not just static screens. You've been making it effortless for people to move around consumer applications for many years. Other designers respect your interaction skills and tap you for advice.Expertise in user-centered design methods:&nbsp;Customer feedback is an inspiration and something you crave to keep your creative juices flowing. You use iterations to maximize your opportunities for feedback. You know what needs to be learned, how to put together a discussion guide, facilitate the session, and synthesize the findings.Good visual design fundamentals:&nbsp;Making the right typography choice or reworking a layout to optimize clarity is effortless for you. You know how to apply a style guide effectively but also know when to extend beyond it.Competent writer:&nbsp;You've solved design problems with words and designed with content.Skills and experience that separate you from your peers<ul>
<li>Several years of mobile design experience</li>
<li>Data visualization chops</li>
<li>Worked on products that design for behavior change</li>
<li>Motion design experience</li>
<li>Effective across a wide range of design tools</li>
</ul><h3>Why this role might not be a fit for you:</h3><ul>
<li>We spend our time talking to customers, designing, developing, and shipping.&nbsp;If you'd rather focus on polishing shiny things, this is not the proper role.</li>
<li>The area of sleep and human energy is very complex.&nbsp;If you get bored iterating on the same problem space for a long time, you won't enjoy this.</li>
<li>Our weaknesses are magnified on a small team at an early-stage company.&nbsp;If you struggle to ask for help, receive constructive feedback, or practice radical transparency, you should consider another company.</li>
<li>We are building a product together. Product, design, engineering all sit at the same table, and we are all listening to the user.&nbsp;If you don't find yourself inspired by non-designers or it's difficult for you to let go of your idea, you're not going to be happy here.</li>
<li>We don't have all the answers.&nbsp;If you don't enjoy being in the uncomfortable space of not knowing and learning, this isn't for you.</li>
</ul><h3>Compensation?</h3>We target 50th percentile for cash and 75th percentile for equity for companies of our size and capital raised. We'll share up-to-date market data with you, so we see the same data. We'll dig into specifics as soon as it's an obvious fit on both sides.<h3>Location?</h3>US-friendly hours are strongly preferred. We’re a 100% distributed team (most in Eastern and Central time in the US) and we keep our meetings to an absolute minimum. However, we often work semi-synchronously collaboriating on zoom so it’s important to have some solid workday overlap.<h2>If this sounds interesting, let's talk.</h2>Instead of a cover letter, email me at <a href="mailto:jason@risescience.com">jason@risescience.com</a> | Subject: 'Lead Product Designer' and include your answers to the questions below. We appreciate thoughtful responses, but please don't spend more than an hour.<ol>
<li>Tell me why this opportunity feels right to you. What did you respond to in the letter?</li>
<li>In 250 words or less, tell me about the most significant project you've lead that drove conversion or product growth.</li>
<li>If I could chat with your previous design managers, what skills would they say are your strength? Are there any you're actively improving?</li>
</ol>Please include a PDF or link to your resume in the email. If you have a portfolio, I'd love to take a look, but it's not required.<h2>What to expect Next</h2>I’ll hand review what you send. I’ll respond with either “I don’t think the fit is here” or that we should move forward with the process. If we move forward, here's what the rest of the process we'll use to learn together if this is an amazing fit for you looks like.














































<ol>
<li>
Interview: We meet over Zoom and cover some basics, then focus our conversation on questions about your past work and how it relates to what you’d be doing at Rise Science.
</li>
<li>
Work Review: You've read the job letter and what we need you to do. During this conversation I'll ask you to walk through, in detail, how you've done this in a past job. I may invite a few team members to join.
</li>
<li>
Work Simulation: We'll send over a take-home challenge that will let us simulate working together. This is designed to be similar to the type of work we do here at Rise Science. This stage should take no more than 3 hours, and we'll both have a clear sense of how we work together by the end.
</li>
<li>
Team Talks: At this stage we're incredibly excited about your potential with Rise Science. Get to know the team you'd be working with. You'll find time with 1-4 of your potential future team members. You will also spend time with our CTO and CEO talking about how Rise Science can support you on your personal journey.
</li>
</ol>

We're hiring a Lead Product Designer—focused on getting more users to try RISE
and improving their experience during their first few weeks. I wrote this
letter to help you decide if this is the right opportunity for you. In it, I
share what you need to be successful, what success looks like, and challenges
you're likely to face.

If it turns out this is a fit, I believe that you will be hard-pressed to find
something more meaningful and impactful for your life and career. Just 18
months ago, I was reading a letter like this from Jeff, our CEO. My decision
to join Rise Science has been better than I could have ever imagined.

It will take you time to read through, but if you do, you should learn
something new, have a clear sense of what we're working on, and if you'll
thrive in our current environment. You won't find traditional requirements.
Mostly because this isn't a traditional role and we're not looking for a
traditional person.

For the right person, this could be a once-in-lifetime chance to do something
that matters and propels your personal growth.

Thanks in advance for reading & sleep well,

Jason

Head of Design @ Rise Science

* * *

## What are we working on at Rise Science?

The short answer: we're building a sleep app for everyday-people that helps
you be less tired and get more out of your day.

Sleep is the most potent performance enhancing drug there is. It's the
foundation of literally everything we can measure about you. And it's your
nights that dictate your days.

Read about how we got started: [Our founders' journey to sleep and its
importance](https://www.notion.so/Founder-
Story-c65ae47f62014c4ba6ebdf02280d4c0b).

You might ask “Does the world need another sleep app?” The answer is, no, it
doesn’t. At least not a traditional one...

Through years of user research and product development, we learned that
**people don’t want to spend more time sleeping.**

What people  _really_  want is to have more energy.

It turns out that the biggest determinant of your energy levels is your sleep.
However, the tools available today only address part of the problem. Some are
trying to help you fall asleep (like Calm) and others aim to measure your
sleep (like Fitbit, WHOOP, & Oura). None of these services are designed to
help you feel better and have more energy. In fact, WHOOP’s recent peer-
reviewed paper shows that while their tracker is accurate for measuring sleep
it  **does not effectively improve sleep behavior**. For people to feel better
_sleep tracking is necessary but not sufficient_.

 **RISE is not a sleep tracker.**  Our mission is to affect long-term behavior
change to help people feel better and have more energy. After all, that is
what people want. And to do that, you need to make the feedback loop between
your sleep and your daily energy instant. We are not alone, the academic
literature backs this up: BJ Fogg says, “it’s emotion that creates behavior,
not repetition.” And this is why our company is called Rise  _Science_. We
couple peer-reviewed science with constant user feedback to guide our product
development.

It’s taken a decade of rigorous work and research to get here. We’ve invested
millions of dollars (from the investors behind Peloton, Fitbit, Spotify,
Facebook, and Twitter). We’ve studied tens of thousands of users – high
schoolers to pro athletes, working parents to retirees - to design and build
scientifically robust algorithms to help people live the best lives possible.

If you want to see it for yourself, [start a free
trial](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rise-track-sleep-circadian/id1453884781).

## A lot of the early hard work is done, the work we do next will determine
our success.

While we're not an established category with hundreds of thousands of paid
subscribers, you're not starting from scratch. Our retention and product
metrics are strong, and we have paid acquisition working well. We didn’t get
lucky on product. We got here with a human-centered product team. But **the
work we do next** , together, will ultimately determine how many lives we can
improve and write the Rise Science story

 **Now onto the challenges in front of you:**

  * You'll be our lead designer for product growth – expanding the market for who can discover and use RISE.
  * You'll be learning and removing the obstacles for more people to start a trial and become a customer.
  * The world is full of myths and confusion when it comes to sleep and energy. You'll enlighten and help them take advantage of 100 years of sleep science in improving their life.
  * Today, most people find out about RISE from paid ads. You'll be fostering organic growth– making it simple to hear about RISE from trusted sources.
  * RISE customers should know that the product is supported by a mission-driven team, not just some app-shop cranking out features and trendy UI. You'll make that story something customers can see and feel.

## What success looks like:

Success is positively impacting more peoples' lives. You'll help sustain our
growth with 5x our paid subscriber base in 2021 on the path to 3x it in 2022.

You'll partner with our [Lead Product Manager,
Growth](https://www.notion.so/A-letter-to-our-future-Lead-Product-Manager-
Growth-94937a4a80c94a87a7ccb9ce648935c8) to get new customers onboarded and
help them make progress in their lives during their trial so that they fall in
love and subscribe to RISE. When your designs are successful, you'll drive our
install to subscribe conversion rate and increase the percentage of users who
find out about RISE through trusted sources.

## Some reasons you might like working with us

  * **You'll do work most days that will directly improve people's lives**. Each pixel you move and every word you type will help more people feel better and be more productive. Each member of the team shares this daily mission. What you do each day directly contributes to the world's health, happiness, productivity, and longevity. You'll talk regularly with people whose lives you've changed.
  * You'll work with a  **team where human-centered design is the center of how we develop our product and business.**  You'll pair with a product manager in at least three user research sessions most weeks. These sessions will directly inform what problems you solve and the right solution.
  * You'll collaborate with the Head of Design (me) to continue the work of developing an  **effective and efficient design system**  for use across marketing and product. As a design team of two, we'll be shaping the practice at Rise Science.
  * One of our core values is growth. That means every week we'll talk about how we can help you grow. What skills, experiences, people can  **help you get to your next career goal**. For this role to be successful, it has to be a great big step in the right direction for your career, not just a job.
  * If  **entrepreneurship**  is interesting to you, you'll also have a front-row seat to all the company building's ups and downs. Your work will be in front of some of the  **top consumer health investors and operators**  that backed and worked at teams at companies like Fitbit and Peloton.
  * More than anything else, we realize [life is short](http://paulgraham.com/vb.html). So even though we're solving an unthinkably significant problem,  **taking time for yourself and your family is essential**. Without it, we don't believe you can live your best life and do your life's work. And of course, we'll get your sleep in order. 😉

## What you'll need to be successful:

 **Expertise in interaction design:**  You think in flows, not just static
screens. You've been making it effortless for people to move around consumer
applications for many years. Other designers respect your interaction skills
and tap you for advice.

 **Expertise in user-centered design methods:**  Customer feedback is an
inspiration and something you crave to keep your creative juices flowing. You
use iterations to maximize your opportunities for feedback. You know what
needs to be learned, how to put together a discussion guide, facilitate the
session, and synthesize the findings.

 **Good visual design fundamentals:**  Making the right typography choice or
reworking a layout to optimize clarity is effortless for you. You know how to
apply a style guide effectively but also know when to extend beyond it.

 **Competent writer:**  You've solved design problems with words and designed
with content.

 **Skills and experience that separate you from your peers**

  * Several years of mobile design experience
  * Data visualization chops
  * Worked on products that design for behavior change
  * Motion design experience
  * Effective across a wide range of design tools

### Why this role might not be a fit for you:

  * We spend our time talking to customers, designing, developing, and shipping.  _If you'd rather focus on polishing shiny things, this is not the proper role._
  * The area of sleep and human energy is very complex.  _If you get bored iterating on the same problem space for a long time, you won't enjoy this._
  * Our weaknesses are magnified on a small team at an early-stage company.  _If you struggle to ask for help, receive constructive feedback, or practice radical transparency, you should consider another company._
  * We are building a product together. Product, design, engineering all sit at the same table, and we are all listening to the user.  _If you don't find yourself inspired by non-designers or it's difficult for you to let go of your idea, you're not going to be happy here._
  * We don't have all the answers.  _If you don't enjoy being in the uncomfortable space of not knowing and learning, this isn't for you._

### Compensation?

We target 50th percentile for cash and 75th percentile for equity for
companies of our size and capital raised. We'll share up-to-date market data
with you, so we see the same data. We'll dig into specifics as soon as it's an
obvious fit on both sides.

### Location?

US-friendly hours are strongly preferred. We’re a 100% distributed team (most
in Eastern and Central time in the US) and we keep our meetings to an absolute
minimum. However, we often work semi-synchronously collaboriating on zoom so
it’s important to have some solid workday overlap.

## If this sounds interesting, let's talk.

Instead of a cover letter, email me at
**[jason@risescience.com](mailto:jason@risescience.com)** | **Subject: 'Lead
Product Designer** ' and include your answers to the questions below. We
appreciate thoughtful responses, but please don't spend more than an hour.

  1. Tell me why this opportunity feels right to you. What did you respond to in the letter?
  2. In 250 words or less, tell me about the most significant project you've lead that drove conversion or product growth.
  3. If I could chat with your previous design managers, what skills would they say are your strength? Are there any you're actively improving?

_Please include a PDF or link to your resume in the email. If you have a
portfolio, I'd love to take a look, but it's not required._

## What to expect Next

I’ll hand review what you send. I’ll respond with either “I don’t think the
fit is here” or that we should move forward with the process. If we move
forward, here's what the rest of the process we'll use to learn together if
this is an amazing fit for you looks like.

  1. Interview: We meet over Zoom and cover some basics, then focus our conversation on questions about your past work and how it relates to what you’d be doing at Rise Science.

  2. Work Review: You've read the job letter and what we need you to do. During this conversation I'll ask you to walk through, in detail, how you've done this in a past job. I may invite a few team members to join.

  3. Work Simulation: We'll send over a take-home challenge that will let us simulate working together. This is designed to be similar to the type of work we do here at Rise Science. This stage should take no more than 3 hours, and we'll both have a clear sense of how we work together by the end.

  4. Team Talks: At this stage we're incredibly excited about your potential with Rise Science. Get to know the team you'd be working with. You'll find time with 1-4 of your potential future team members. You will also spend time with our CTO and CEO talking about how Rise Science can support you on your personal journey.

