Karri Saarinen co-founded Linear after leading design at Airbnb and Coinbase and co-founding Kippt. His work treats software quality as the result of a company’s habits: small teams, clear priorities, and care for the details people encounter every day. Across product design and company building, he argues that taste and craft can guide decisions that metrics alone cannot settle. He has also invested as an angel in Granola.
Karri Saarinen co-founded Linear after leading design at Airbnb and Coinbase and co-founding Kippt. His work treats software quality as the result of a company’s habits: small teams, clear priorities, and care for the details people encounter every day. Across product design and company building, he argues that taste and craft can guide decisions that metrics alone cannot settle. He has also invested as an angel in Granola.
Career
CEO, Co-Founder at Linear from 2019-04 to Present in San Francisco Bay Area.
Principal Designer at Airbnb from 2015-10 to 2019-04 in San Francisco Bay Area.Led design systems work at Airbnb, helping build its reusable design language and test and integrate the Cereal typeface with Dalton Maag and Airbnb’s design teams.
Head of Design at Coinbase from 2014-05 to 2015-06 in San Francisco, California.Built Coinbase’s early design foundation across its brand, website, mobile apps and web product, and hired and managed its design team.
Co-Founder, Designer at Kippt, Inc. from 2011-10 to 2014-05 in San Francisco Bay Area.
Co-Founder at ArcticStartup Media Oy from 2008-09 to 2012-12.
Partner & Head of Design at Kisko Labs Oy until 2011 in Helsinki, Finland.
Business Developer, Product Design at Flowdock Ltd from 2009-05 to 2010-08 in Helsinki, Finland.
Web Developer & Designer at Oy Crasman Co Ltd from 2008-01 to 2008-08 in Helsinki, Finland.