Vidyard

Design Leadership, Team Scaling, Brand & Product Design

Overview

Over ten years at Vidyard, I helped scale the product to over 12 million users; not as an outside consultant, but from the inside, growing with the company. I started doing hands-on brand design, moved into leading brand design, and eventually took on design leadership across the entire product. That arc, craft first, leadership second, is what I now bring to studio clients.

Design Leadership & Scaling

As Director, Product Design, I was responsible for scaling the design org, maturing the design practice, and aligning design strategy with aggressive business goals. A few specifics:

Sat at the table with Product, Engineering, and Marketing. Design wasn't a downstream service, it shaped roadmap strategy and go-to-market decisions from early discovery through launch.

Built and scaled the design team. Grew both marketing and product design functions, established a hiring pipeline, and formalized onboarding, grew the team from 2 to 12 people.

Raised the bar on how the team worked. Introduced structured design reviews, cross-functional critique sessions, and a full career development framework (career matrix, coaching plans, performance reviews) to give the team clarity and a real growth path.

Led design through Vidyard's first AI-powered features. A company-wide reinvention of the product, with design responsible for making the shift intuitive and human, not just technically impressive.

This is the range I bring to fractional and advisory design leadership work today: org design, hiring, process, and the judgment to know which of those actually matters at a given stage of a company.

Design Leadership & Scaling

As Director, Product Design, I was responsible for scaling the design org, maturing the design practice, and aligning design strategy with aggressive business goals. A few specifics:

Sat at the table with Product, Engineering, and Marketing. Design wasn't a downstream service, it shaped roadmap strategy and go-to-market decisions from early discovery through launch.

Built and scaled the design team. Grew both marketing and product design functions, established a hiring pipeline, and formalized onboarding, grew the team from 2 to 12 people.

This is the range I bring to fractional and advisory design leadership work today: org design, hiring, process, and the judgment to know which of those actually matters at a given stage of a company.

Brand & Product Craft

Before I was leading the org, I was doing the work directly, and that craft is still the foundation of everything Sidhu Studio ships.

Unified the brand across marketing and product. Built a brand identity and design system that brought Vidyard's marketing site and product interface into one coherent experience, tightening the gap between what the brand promised and what the product delivered.

Made the system usable, not just documented. Brand guidelines and design principles that actually improved design velocity and reduced friction across teams, rather than sitting in a deck no one opened.

The scale is different now, Sidhu Studio works with startups, not a company at 12 million users, but the range is the same: I still do the hands-on brand and product work directly, and I still bring the org-level thinking when a client needs design leadership, not just design.

Charise Sousa

I’m incredibly grateful for everything Raj has done—his leadership, strategic thinking, vision, and dedication have shaped not just the design team but the entire company during his time as Vidyard’s Director of Product Design. He has a remarkable ability to uplift those around him, always leading with inspiration and empathy. His influence has transformed how we approach design, collaboration, and innovation.

Katie Grant

What sets Raj apart as a design leader is his ability to both effectively develop people and implement and uphold efficient internal processes. As a marketing design leader, Raj would ensure all customer-facing work was simple, beautiful and functional before release. He held the work and the team to a high standard.

Katie Grant

Mizan Shaikh

What sets Raj apart is his empathy and approachability. He created an environment where everyone felt valued and supported, making him a truly inspiring leader to work with. I highly recommend Raj to any organization seeking a visionary and impactful design leader.

Mizan Shaikh

Jesse Young

I had the privilege of working under Raj during his time as Director of Product Design at Vidyard, and I can confidently say he is one of the most exceptional leaders I’ve worked with. Raj’s leadership transformed our design group, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and growth.

Jesse Young