Partially the problem is in the word it self. As you can see from the discussion here and in many other places, as soon as someone asks similar question people

Partially the problem is in the word it self. As you can see from the discussion here and in many other places, as soon as someone asks similar question people start talking about what this word (designer) actually means. Take architecture for example. In a way it's about designing buildings, but they have a separate term for it. You say it and everyone knows what you mean. This is whats missing here I think. Some designers think only about "visual appeal" and can be even dangerous for a startup, because they don't know or often care about what it is they are actually building. Some are letter "T" people - they know one thing very very well and are more or less familiar with related fields. For them "design is how stuff works" (from your question Apple type designers). This kind of person can add a huge value to any business but we don't have a name for them (hopefully yet).