ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode, managing partner Mike Noshay sits down with co-founder and partner Jacob Johnson to trace Gitwit's 18-year journey — from innovation agency to a venture studio building AI-enabled companies. Jacob tells the origin story with co-founder Dan Fisher, what we learned scaling a services business, the leap into building our own products, and how the venture studio model works today, including our design partner program and our plans to build 15 ventures by 2030.The through-line is something Dan taught Jacob nearly two decades ago: the ultimate skill is rethinking. Every version of Gitwit has been an attempt to make that skill repeatable — a process, a culture, and a set of "plays" designed to keep us skeptical, keep us digging past the first obvious idea, and keep every decision rooted in what we've actually seen in the world. Looking back, the move from agency to studio wasn't a pivot so much as where the approach was always headed.
To learn more about Gitwit's open roles visit our website here. Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 0:19 Gitwit's Origin Story & Fund One Success 1:04 Why Now Is the Time to Build 3:59 Meeting Dan and Founding Gitwit 5:15 The Moleskin Vision 7:17 From Branding to Product Innovation 11:34 The Challenges of Professional Services 14:14 Betting on Their Own Product 17:16 The Call That Sparked a Venture Studio 19:18 What Is a Venture Studio? 22:33 The Art of Creative Process & Validation 26:42 Lessons in Staying Skeptical 30:26 The Design Partner Program 34:08 Bringing In Simon & Building Teams 39:00 Looking Beyond 2030 40:34 Closing Thoughts
