Philip Sebastian

Modernizing Venture Capital for the Private Markets Era  

A redesign of Manhattan Venture Partners’ digital presence and internal tools — bridging brand, operations, and design systems.

Year

2021 - 2023

Company

MVP

Role

DEIR

Budget

$22K/mo

mvp.vc

The Problem

When I joined Manhattan Venture Partners (MVP), the firm’s digital presence no longer reflected its market leadership or innovative spirit.

The website was dated, difficult to update, and inconsistent with the firm’s evolving identity as one of the top-performing secondary investors globally.

Internally, the team managed complex deal flows and research across fragmented tools — Slack, email, and spreadsheets — creating friction in communication and workflow.

My challenge was twofold: reimagine MVP’s brand and website for a modern audience, and streamline the firm’s internal operations using design thinking and automation.

$1.5B+ AUM

Top 10 Global Secondary Investor

Established 2014

We set three key goals for the redesign:

Redefine the brand online. Communicate MVP’s sophistication and expertise through a modern digital experience.

Simplify internal systems. Eliminate redundant manual processes and unify communication between teams.
Build scalable design foundations. Create a consistent design system usable across web, internal tools, and investor dashboards.

Redefine the brand online. Communicate MVP’s sophistication and expertise through a modern digital experience.

Simplify internal systems. Eliminate redundant manual processes and unify communication between teams.
Build scalable design foundations. Create a consistent design system usable across web, internal tools, and investor dashboards.

Brand Voice

“We wanted our digital presence to reflect who we’d become — not who we were five years ago.”

Research & Insights

To understand MVP’s stakeholders, I conducted:
• Competitor analysis of top venture and secondary firms (e.g., Carta, Forge Global, a16z).
• Internal team surveys to uncover operational pain points and communication bottlenecks.
• Stakeholder interviews to identify what the brand should communicate: trust, innovation, and performance.

Key insight

while the investment strategy was cutting-edge, the tools and brand touchpoints lagged behind.

Design Process

Using insights from research, I led the end-to-end design process — from wireframes and design systems to launch.

I first built MVP’s new information architecture, emphasizing transparency, clarity, and storytelling. Then I translated it into a new Webflow site, introducing a clean, editorial layout, consistent typographic hierarchy, and subtle motion to humanize the firm’s voice.

Site Redesign

The new MVP website reflects the firm’s credibility and depth of insight. It merges data visualization, storytelling, and brand consistency — giving investors a clear view of the firm’s performance and values.
  

I transitioned the website from WordPress to Webflow, enabling the marketing team to independently manage content and publish research.  

The redesign elevated MVP’s external brand and created a scalable foundation for future updates.

I transitioned the website from WordPress to Webflow, enabling the marketing team to independently manage content and publish research.  

The redesign elevated MVP’s external brand and created a scalable foundation for future updates.

Featured Highlights

Clean homepage with performance highlights
Dynamic team and portfolio sections
Interactive “Private Market Insights” page
Responsive mobile experience

Images

Full homepage mockup (desktop)
Mobile screens (Team, Insights, Contact)
Webflow CMS structure screenshot (optional)
✨ Optional scroll animation or live preview GIF

Design Goals

Transparency (show confidence levels)
Education (why it was flagged)
Actionability (what to do next)

Internal Tools & Automation

Beyond the website, I embedded design thinking into MVP’s operational backbone.  

I developed internal dashboards and low-code tools using Slack, Salesforce, Zapier, and Wealthblock, automating tasks like deal tracking, onboarding, and communication workflows.  

One notable initiative was a custom Slack app for managing secondary transactions — giving the investment team real-time status updates without manual input.  

These internal improvements freed the team to focus on strategic work, cutting repetitive processes by more than 40%.

Beyond the website, I embedded design thinking into MVP’s operational backbone.  

I developed internal dashboards and low-code tools using Slack, Salesforce, Zapier, and Wealthblock, automating tasks like deal tracking, onboarding, and communication workflows.  

One notable initiative was a custom Slack app for managing secondary transactions — giving the investment team real-time status updates without manual input.  

These internal improvements freed the team to focus on strategic work, cutting repetitive processes by more than 40%.

Results & Impact

The redesign and internal systems overhaul had measurable results:

60% faster content updates due to Webflow migration
40% reduction in manual operations via Slack + Zapier workflows
Improved investor engagement from increased time-on-site (+22%)
Consistent brand language across web, decks, and reports

More importantly, MVP’s team gained autonomy — a small design-led shift that had a big operational payoff.

“Phil is an exceptional designer and entrepreneur. At Manhattan Venture Research, he consistently brought sharp UX thinking, strong collaboration, and clear communication. Any team would be lucky to have him.”

Santosh Rao, Head of Research at MVP.VC

Reflections

My time at MVP reinforced a key belief:Design isn’t just how something looks — it’s how a company works.
  

By merging brand strategy, systems design, and no-code automation, I helped a top-tier venture firm become more agile and aligned.
  

The experience also shaped how I think about the intersection of design and operations — and the value of embedding design leadership inside venture capital.

My time at MVP reinforced a key belief:Design isn’t just how something looks — it’s how a company works.
  

By merging brand strategy, systems design, and no-code automation, I helped a top-tier venture firm become more agile and aligned.
  

The experience also shaped how I think about the intersection of design and operations — and the value of embedding design leadership inside venture capital.

Long Story Short

During my tenure as Designer & Entrepreneur in Residence at Manhattan Venture Partners, I led a comprehensive rebrand and digital transformation — redesigning the firm’s website, establishing a scalable design system, and building low-code tools that optimized workflows across the investment team.

The result was a firm that looked, communicated, and operated more like the companies it invests in — modern, efficient, and design-led.