As chief creative officer of Squarespace for the past decade, David Lee has witnessed several stages in its evolution. He was there in the early days when the platform was still a “scrappy” startup building upon founder Anthony Casalena’s original elevator pitch when he launched it from his dorm room in 2003: “a website that makes websites.”
That was a niche at the time, but Squarespace has since expanded its business beyond web production and grown up in a digital landscape that is shifting again. The current phase, which Lee likens to the Wild West, is being fueled by a new wave of creators and entrepreneurs—and the brand wants to be with them for the next stage of that journey.
As platforms like Squarespace try to keep up with the rapidly expanding creator economy, they’re also feeling pressure from the wider tech industry, which is facing mass cutbacks and layoffs. But Lee, who oversees Squarespace’s lauded in-house agency, believes the same principles that helped the brand take off will guide it through the next uncertain period.
“Creativity was always at the root of our purpose. It’s about how you differentiate yourself in a sea of sameness,” Lee said. “In the phase of the web that we’ve moved into, that same thing applies to what we’re doing now.”
Starting from scratch
Squarespace, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, appointed Lee in 2013 to be its creative leader. For a company with a seemingly dry business proposition, hiring a designer with a background at creative agencies including TBWA\Worldwide (where he was worldwide digital executive creative director) and Wieden+Kennedy (where he was creative director), may have seemed an unusual move.
But the hire—and subsequent agency launch—demonstrated an “unorthodox structure” wherein “the creative team sits at the executive table,” said Lee.
