MDL’s management has extensive experience in launching innovative products and building successful enterprises.

MDL’s management is made up of a collection of executives with true cross-disciplinary capabilities. Their experience spans strategy, design and investing; they’ve worked across agencies, start-ups and multi-national corporations. They hail from three continents and have launched products and services around the world. They share a passion for design-centric innovation.

Together, they have worked for or with companies including IDEO, Method, Organic, Interpublic, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Hyundai, Lehman Brothers, AVG, GlaxoSmithKline, DreamWorks, Viacom, National Geographic, BBC, Channel Five, ThompsonReuters, Current TV, LVMH and Adidas, among many others.

Kevin Farnham

As co-founder and Chairman of Method Design Lab, Kevin is responsible for investment decisions, opportunity vetting, ideation, and partnerships. His passion for fostering innovation both at Method and with educational institutions has culminated in forming this unique partnership between Method and Central Saint Martins.

Kevin also serves as Co-Founder and CEO of Method where he oversees vision, direction, global recruiting and company culture. His focus is on helping leading edge organisations create truly great brands, products and services through design. Over the past two decades, he has worked with business leaders from Fortune 500 companies like Apple, BBC, Google and Microsoft to start-ups like Blurb, Boxee and TED Conferences to launch innovative offerings.

Throughout the course of his career, Kevin has acted as a judge for (and has been a recipient of) numerous international design awards. He speaks regularly about the intersection of experience design and business at events all over the world. He also serves on the boards of several companies.

Santiago Matheus

Santiago is co-founder and Managing Director of Method Design Lab. As Managing Director, Santiago focuses on expanding the pool of participating channels, go-to market investors and partners; being a key part of the intellectual property sourcing and vetting team; and publicly representing MDL.

Previously, Santiago was the Vice President of Corporate Development at AVG Technologies, a disruptive security software company, where he was the point person for several investments and acquisitions across new platforms and sectors. Prior to AVG, he was the Managing Director of IDEO UK, where he oversaw and helped drive the doubling of the business during his 3 year tenure.

Additionally, Santiago is an angel investor, currently invested in UK and US start-ups such as IOVOX.com and Green Valve. He has extensive experience in general management, business development, and strategy as well as expertise in mergers and acquisitions and investing. He has volunteered at organisations such as Big Issue Invest Social Enterprise Fund (where he was an investment advisor) and the Casa Victoria Foundation (where he is on the board as well as a donor). He has lived and worked on four continents and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Yann Mathias

Yann is the Creative Director of Method Design Lab, where he oversees all creative design activities for MDL and is heavily involved in vetting intellectual property, prototyping and bringing concepts to market.

Yann Mathias is a creative director with 12 years experience working with the best in up-and-coming and established talent through Central Saint Martins Design Laboratory. In that time Yann has worked with Alexander McQueen, LVMH, Adidas, Nokia, The Fat Duck and more, and has made the Design Laboratory one of the most respected and recognised design agencies in the UK. Yann is also Co-Director and original founder of www.Jotta.com

As Director of the Design Laboratory, Yann has overseen every one of the hundreds of high profile projects the Lab has undertaken from beginning to end, in disciplines as diverse as marketing, animation and fashion.

Jason Meil

As a Partner at Method Design Lab, Jason sits on the investment board, co-leads day-to-day strategy, and oversees the US-based activities for MDL and its fund. He also serves as a Principal of Strategy at Method.

Previously, Jason was at Interpublic Group, where he headed Initiative's award-winning Innovations unit, the company’s strategic and creative idea factory. In this capacity, he helped Initiative’s clients navigate the future of media through the use of digital, mobile and other emerging technologies. He was the Managing Director of, and a General Partner at, Castling Group, a technology incubator focused on the media and retail industries. At Castling, he was instrumental in the launch of many successful ventures, including a start-up with Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records (purchased by Viacom), as well as StudioDirect, a groundbreaking JV with Li & Fung (which was later absorbed into LF USA). Jason was an early executive at Current TV, helping grow the network from 10 employees and 15 million subscribers to 450 employees and 60 million subscribers across 3 countries, while serving as a key architect of the user-generated content revolution. He has also worked at DreamWorks, Viacom, and National Geographic, building out brands and launching new products and services.

Jason started his career at Lehman Brothers, where he covered media, entertainment and telecom clients. He holds an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from Stanford University.