About
Dominika BLACKAPPL is a sculptor of things, both tangible and intangible. She is the Bohemian love child of Henry Ford and Willie Wonka. Dominika is trained in design and in business, with graduate degrees from the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague, Czech Republic, the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, USA, and the London Business School in London, UK.
She founded and led companies including a consumer electronics company that shipped thousands of products worldwide, a satellite imagery company, a fashion line that grew to be the top online label in Europe, and most recently a venture with a social purpose called Smokeless.
Dominika has also done award-winning design work independently and at IDEO. She brings together what people want with what is possible and affordable. Her design work is present in your life, whether you have a biomass stove in rural India or a smart phone in Silicon Valley.
As a design expert with Y Combinator she helps startups get through to their customers. Together with Michal Sloboda, Dominika demystifies the design process for early stage startups. They created black.design where they translate relevant design know-how to free actionable tools for founders.
Dominika thrives on art. She co-founded and for many years was the official sponsor of the Governor’s Island Art Fair in New York City, which has given hundreds of emerging artists their first show.
Her favorite color is yellow and hence a yellow picture a day.
