Hem, Jason Goldberg's Pivot From Fab, Is Buying Design Business Discipline.eu
Context & Ripple Effects
By early 2015, Jason Goldberg's post-Fab vehicle was taking shape as Hem, and this acquisition of design business Discipline.eu was the build-out move: buying design capability rather than rebuilding it inside the company. It mattered because Fab's collapse had left investors skeptical that Goldberg could execute a second act.
The subsequent arc validated the skepticism about durability rather than intent — within the year Hem itself was reported up for sale with Swiss furniture maker Vitra as the likely buyer, and by late 2016 Goldberg had moved on again, raising $2.35M for the social app Pepo from his old Fab.com backers.
First-order effects
- Discipline.eu's design team and client relationships fold into Hem, giving Goldberg an in-house design capability for the home-furnishings relaunch instead of outsourcing it.
Second-order effects
- Small European design studios become acquisition targets for consumer brands seeking credibility, a path IBM was also working in the same period with its purchase of German design agency Ecx.io.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, pivot-by-acquisition only works when the acquired capability anchors a durable business — Hem's reported sale attempt to Vitra suggests bolt-on design buys did not fix the underlying economics, pushing founders like Goldberg toward serial restarts funded by the same backer network.
The trend: Post-collapse startup relaunches increasingly assemble capability through small acquisitions of design and service firms, but investor patience still forces a second pivot or sale within roughly two years.