Designing Your Life
Designing Your Life is a privately held, founder-owned coaching and content company that commercializes a Stanford-developed design thinking methodology for life and career design, delivered through books, certified coaches, workshops, corporate programs, and online classes to individuals, universities, and organizations worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Designing Your Life does
Designing Your Life (DYL) is a coaching, education, and content company that commercializes a design thinking methodology for life and career design, originally developed at Stanford University's Life Design Lab by co-founders Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The core product portfolio centers on four published books (including a #1 New York Times bestseller and the 2025 release 'How to Live a Meaningful Life'), supplemented by a CreativeLive video class, downloadable worksheets and discussion guides in multiple languages, and the freemium 5-Day Meaning Design Experiment. Service delivery is executed through a globally distributed, franchise-like network of 800 certified coaches, 3,000 trained educators, 15+ certified workshop providers across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, and the DT.School partnership adding 50+ facilitators in Greater China; the methodology is taught at 600 universities worldwide. Dedicated programs include DYL for Women and a 'Bring DYL to Your Organization' corporate engagement offering.
The business operates as a private, founder-owned entity headquartered in San Francisco with 11-50 employees and no disclosed external funding. Revenue is generated through six streams: book sales (one-time retail), online class sales, certification and licensing fees from coaches and workshop providers, coaching services routed through the certified directory, in-person workshops delivered by certified providers, and corporate/enterprise consulting engagements. Marketing relies on thought leadership, PR in outlets such as the New York Times, Fast Company, TED, and NPR, the weekly 'Fully Alive' newsletter, and an in-house blog (DYL Insights), with founder speaking engagements booked through Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Customer segments are intentionally diversified across B2C individuals seeking career/life clarity, corporate buyers of organizational workshops, universities integrating the curriculum, and aspiring coaches purchasing certification.
Designing Your Life firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Designing Your Life
- Legal name
- Designing Your Life
- Website
- https://designingyour.life
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Designing Your Life is a privately held, founder-owned coaching and content company that commercializes a Stanford-developed design thinking methodology for life and career design, delivered through books, certified coaches, workshops, corporate programs, and online classes to individuals, universities, and organizations worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Designing Your Life industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Life Design Coaching
- NAICS
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Certification & Credentialed Creator Programs (MPACALAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Learning Strategy, Instructional Design & Content Development (BPACANAG)
Keywords
Where Designing Your Life is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Designing Your Life business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Book Sales: Sale of published books including 'How to Live a Meaningful Life', 'Designing Your Life' (original), 'Designing Your New Work Life', and the Designing Your Life Workbook. Books available through standard retail channels.
- Online Classes: CreativeLive online class based on the bestselling book. Customers purchase digital access to video-based learning content.
- Workshops: In-person workshops facilitated by certified workshop providers globally. Providers pay for certification and operate independently.
- Coaching Services: One-on-one and group coaching services through certified coaches. The platform connects clients with coaches through the 'Find a Coach' directory.
- Certifications: Revenue from certifying coaches and workshop providers who pay for training and credentialing to deliver DYL methodology.
- Corporate Engagements: Bringing DYL to organizations through consulting and workshop programs for corporate clients.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | One-time | 5-Day Meaning Design Experiment - free entry point |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels8 records
Designing Your Life product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Designing Your Life offers a suite of books, workshops, coaching, certifications, and digital learning programs built around the Stanford Life Design Lab methodology. The company sells published books, operates an online class via CreativeLive, runs in-person and virtual workshops through certified providers globally, and offers one-on-one coaching via a certified coach directory. It also certifies coaches and workshop providers and delivers corporate engagement programs ("Bring DYL to your Organization") plus specialized offerings like DYL for Women.
Product overview
Designing Your Life is a coaching and educational content company built around the Stanford design thinking methodology, offering a suite of books, workshops, coaching services, and digital learning programs. The core product portfolio centers on four books (How to Live a Meaningful Life, Designing Your Life, Designing Your New Work Life, and the Designing Your Life Workbook), complemented by the 5-Day Meaning Design Experiment and a CreativeLive online class. The company provides coaching and workshop services through a global network of certified coaches and workshop providers, with specialized offerings like DYL for Women. Additional offerings include DT.School for design thinking certification, downloadable worksheets and discussion questions in multiple languages, and organizational consulting services. The ecosystem is supported by the Fully Alive newsletter and DYL Insights blog content.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- DT.School: Greater China partner organization for Designing Your Life, co-founded by Cheng Wang, Bill Burnett, and Paul Marca. Provides design thinking and life design training and certification across China.
Products and services
- How to Live a Meaningful Life (Book) A book by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans exploring how to find meaning in life through design thinking principles, addressing societal shifts and increasing isolation. Sold through standard retail channels.
- Designing Your Life (Original Book) The original New York Times bestselling book that introduced the design thinking approach to building a well-lived, joyful life. Sold through standard retail channels.
- Designing Your New Work Life (Book) A book focused on applying design thinking to career and work-related challenges and transitions. Sold through standard retail channels.
- Designing Your Life Workbook A companion workbook with exercises and activities to support the application of Designing Your Life principles. Sold through standard retail channels.
- DYL Workshops In-person and virtual workshops led by certified workshop providers to help participants apply Designing Your Life principles. Operated through a global network of 15+ certified partners.
- CreativeLive Online Class An online video class by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans taught through the CreativeLive platform based on their #1 New York Times bestseller. Self-paced digital learning with paid access.
- Coach Certification Program Training program to become a certified Designing Your Life coach, including coaching skills development and methodology training. Graduates join the 'Find a Coach' directory.
- Workshop Provider Certification Certification program for individuals and organizations to become authorized providers of Designing Your Life workshops globally.
- Bring DYL to Your Organization Corporate engagement and organizational consulting services to bring Designing Your Life principles to businesses, universities, and institutions for employee development and team workshops.
- DT.School Certification Program A certification and training program for Design Thinking practitioners, offering courses and workshops in the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) and globally. Co-founded by Cheng Wang, Bill Burnett, and Paul Marca.
- DYL for Women Specialized coaching and resources tailored for women seeking to design meaningful lives and careers, including women-specific community programs.
- 5-Day Meaning Design Experiment A five-day program offering one mindset and practice per day to help users design a more meaningful life, including an exclusive preview from Bill & Dave's new book. Free entry-point product.
Quantifiable outcome
- 1M+ readers have engaged with the methodology
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Designing Your Life
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Designing Your Life technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Designing Your Life partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Penguin Random House Speakers BureaucoreBill Burnett and Dave Evans are represented by Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau for speaking engagements. Contact: Kim Thornton Ingenito ([email protected])
- Beyond Boundaries Consulting (Netherlands)minorCertified workshop provider based in Netherlands, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Daws and Rose (New York)minorCertified workshop provider in New York, NY, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Designing Your Life Hong KongminorCertified workshop provider in Hong Kong, HK, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Growth Factory (Greater Sacramento Valley)minorCertified workshop provider in Greater Sacramento Valley, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Leadership Labs (Stanford, California)minorCertified workshop provider based in Stanford, California, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Modular Consulting (Thailand)minorCertified workshop provider based in Thailand, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Off Course Ltd. (Taiwan)minorCertified workshop provider based in Taiwan City, Taiwan, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Plus Rasmussen (Munich, Germany)minorCertified workshop provider based in Munich, Germany, operating independently under DYL certification.
- QGLUE (New Delhi, India)minorCertified workshop provider based in New Delhi, India, operating independently under DYL certification.
- Transcend Thought (Oakland, California)minorCertified workshop provider based in Oakland, California, operating independently under DYL certification.
- The Life Experiment (Quito, Ecuador)minorCertified workshop provider based in Quito, Ecuador, operating independently under DYL certification.
- DT.School (Greater China)coreChina partner of Designing Your Life with 50+ certified facilitators across China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Co-founded by Cheng Wang (王成), Bill Burnett, and Paul Marca. Offers Design Thinking and DYL certifications.
- CreativeLivecoreOnline class platform hosting the DYL video course based on the bestselling book. Customers purchase digital access to video-based learning content.
- Stanford University / Stanford Life Design LabcoreOriginated from Stanford University where co-founders Burnett and Evans co-founded the Stanford Life Design Lab. Methodology developed through academic research and teaching.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Designing Your Life competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Skillshare: Skillshare is an online learning community with creator-led video courses on creative and personal development topics—similar business model to DYL's online class offering but with a broader creator ecosystem and subscription pricing.
- Mind Tools: Mind Tools is a corporate learning and personal development content platform with books, courses, and resources on career and leadership skills—directly competing with DYL in the self-directed learner and corporate L&D segments.
- MasterClass: MasterClass operates a creator-led online video course platform where experts (including Bill Burnett and Dave Evans on CreativeLive, which is similar) sell premium video courses—overlapping with DYL's online class and certification monetization streams, but with a much broader content portfolio.
- CoachHub: CoachHub is a digital coaching platform serving enterprise clients globally with a network of certified coaches—competing in the same corporate L&D market that DYL targets through its 'Bring DYL to Your Organization' program.
- IDEO U: IDEO U is the educational arm of IDEO (whose founder David Kelley endorsed DYL), offering design thinking courses online—positioned as the institutional origin of the design thinking methodology that DYL commercialized for life applications.
- LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) is a major online learning platform with extensive career and personal development course libraries—competing with DYL for both individual learners and corporate L&D budgets at significantly greater scale.
- Gallup (CliftonStrengths): Gallup's CliftonStrengths is an assessment-based coaching and training methodology widely adopted in corporate L&D—competing for the same enterprise training budget as DYL's corporate workshops, with much deeper HR/HRIS integration.
- BetterUp: BetterUp is the leading enterprise coaching platform combining technology, AI, and a network of coaches—competing directly with DYL's corporate engagement business and 'Find a Coach' directory, but at much greater scale and with integrated digital tooling.
Direct peers
- The School of Life: Founded by Alain de Botton, The School of Life offers books, workshops, one-on-one coaching, and online classes around life design, emotional intelligence, and meaning—essentially the same business model as DYL with comparable content philosophy and direct customer overlap.
Emerging players
- Brené Brown Education and Research Group: Brené Brown has built a comparable individual-author-to-movement brand around Dare to Lead and Daring Greatly, with books, workshops, corporate training, and certifications—structurally similar to DYL's book-to-workshop-to-certification flywheel.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Designing Your Life social profiles
Digital presenceDesigning Your Life financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Designing Your Life leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Designing Your Life funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Designing Your Life M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Designing Your Life
What does Designing Your Life do?
Designing Your Life offers a suite of books, workshops, coaching, certifications, and digital learning programs built around the Stanford Life Design Lab methodology. The company sells published books, operates an online class via CreativeLive, runs in-person and virtual workshops through certified providers globally, and offers one-on-one coaching via a certified coach directory. It also certifies coaches and workshop providers and delivers corporate engagement programs ("Bring DYL to your Organization") plus specialized offerings like DYL for Women.
Is Designing Your Life a public or private company?
Designing Your Life is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Designing Your Life founded?
Designing Your Life was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Designing Your Life based?
Designing Your Life is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Designing Your Life make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are online Classes, workshops, coaching Services, certifications and corporate Engagements.
Who are Designing Your Life's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Skillshare, Mind Tools, MasterClass, CoachHub, IDEO U, LinkedIn Learning, Gallup (CliftonStrengths) and BetterUp. The School of Life is listed as a direct peer. Brené Brown Education and Research Group is listed as an emerging player.
Does Designing Your Life have an API?
No public API is recorded for Designing Your Life.
What industry is Designing Your Life in?
Designing Your Life's product category is Life Design Coaching. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACALAI, Certification & Credentialed Creator Programs, with a secondary code of BPACANAG, Learning Strategy, Instructional Design & Content Development. Its NAICS code is 5416 and its SIC code is 2731.