From the point of view of an established designer most startups are seen as having a high flake factor: Some startups go south overnight without paying their ve

From the point of view of an established designer most startups are seen as having a high flake factor: Some startups go south overnight without paying their vendors, many startup owners have no clue on how to work with creatives and the worst offenders ask you to work for free. So for a designer to work with a startup is high risk. Now of course if you're Steve Jobs after Apple and you're starting NeXT then yes Paul Rand will work with you. But that said I don't think Paul Rand would have even spoken to Steve Jobs when Apple was in the garage in the 70s. PS This isn't just for tech startups, but for any sort of startup.