I'd honestly argue that this is the most important role in the company. As a startup--your company is your product and for or all intents and purposes the product design is the product. Yes, it needs to be supported by a strong, scalable, flexible foundation, but from a user standpoint--design is everything. It will make or break you.

Exactly, if anything if you are the initial product designer for a startup then in many respects you are that startup.

Very interesting article!

Just FYI: In the top left corner of the iPhone screen on the giveaway page [1] I see, "Receivd." Is this a typo?

[1] http://kicksend.com/iphone_giveaway

EDIT: Nevermind - I saw "Receivd, Inc." in the footer.