Venture Studio Family
20+ members inside. Paid P2P Community for startup studios, venture studios, & venture builders.
With the secret sauce – sharing inside the Family: 1. numbers, 2. documents & playbooks, 3. investors.
May 16-17, 2024 – next meeting, Studio Structures
With the secret sauce – sharing inside the Family: 1. numbers, 2. documents & playbooks, 3. investors.
May 16-17, 2024 – next meeting, Studio Structures
After publishing my 7-month research on startup studios, I got connections to hundreds of studios worldwide; we held the biggest Venture Studio Online Conferences. It's not only beneficial for our studio investment syndicate and my studio podcast, but...
... It's a super opportunity for all studios to access the best studio practices, investors, documents & playbooks... as well as educate the market on the venture studio model.
I'm inviting 1) established studios, 2) emerging studios, & 3) aspiring studio founders to join the Venture Studio Family.
... It's a super opportunity for all studios to access the best studio practices, investors, documents & playbooks... as well as educate the market on the venture studio model.
I'm inviting 1) established studios, 2) emerging studios, & 3) aspiring studio founders to join the Venture Studio Family.
Some of your studio peers (not the full list)
- Founders Factory – co-founded 100+ startups, invested in 300+
- Pioneer Square Labs – 33 ideas spun out, raised $200M+ across several funds
- Rainmaking VB – $5B+ in equity value created, exited their APAC business in 2023
- OSS Ventures – reached €24M ARR in 4 years (they have the super-power to attract founders with previous exits)
- Platform Venture Studio – raised a $11M fund to launch ~20 companies
- Highline Beta – raised a $10M fund
- THC Pathfinder – several funds $182M+
- Merantix – €40M of attracted capital into the studio & fund
- ICEO – co-built 42 startups with 16 exits
- Venturerock – built 15 ventures with IRR of 80%+ since 2018 (after founding & managing Startupbootcamp accelerators with 1100+ startups in the portfolio)
- Paloma – 100+ team that built the $120M+ portfolio
There are also some not-so-rock-star studios (still with promising theses and teams). Don't be shy if you are an emerging studio – join!
0. How it works? The base
P2P Zoom calls in groups of 5-10 people.
2 team members from each studio can participate.
2 team members from each studio can participate.
calls per quarter
time options for different zones
hours – Duration of calls
8 am San Francisco / 4 pm London
Americas, Europe,
Middle East & Africa
Americas, Europe,
Middle East & Africa
8 am London / 4 pm Singapore
Europe, Africa,
Middle East & Asia Pacific
Europe, Africa,
Middle East & Asia Pacific
4
1,5
2
Every 3 weeks
Past & Future topics for best practices sharing
The most important part is the three Venture Studio Family rituals below.
- Sharing best practices on a specific topic
- Asking for advice from studio peers
- Presentations and Q&A with guest speakers
Past & Future topics for best practices sharing
- December 2023 – Attracting Founders
- January 2024 – Revenue Streams for a Studio
- February 2024 – Fundraising into a Studio & Fund
- March 2024 – Studio Team
- April 2024 – Idea Generation
- May 2024 – Studio Structures
The most important part is the three Venture Studio Family rituals below.
1. No secrets inside the Family – sharing numbers
We learn better from actual cases and numbers than from abstract discussions.
Family ritual every Zoom meeting: one number should be presented to others by a studio.
Everyone decides what number they are ready to share: equity split, revenue, investment amount in startups, fundraising amount, EIRs' or co-founders' salaries, expenses, team count, time from startup foundation to spinout, etc.
Fun fact about my venture studio podcast. Sometimes, after we stop recording, I learn much more :grin: because my guests can share more details and numbers, not publicly. It gives a clear picture and helps distinguish good and bad studio practices.
Family ritual every Zoom meeting: one number should be presented to others by a studio.
Everyone decides what number they are ready to share: equity split, revenue, investment amount in startups, fundraising amount, EIRs' or co-founders' salaries, expenses, team count, time from startup foundation to spinout, etc.
Fun fact about my venture studio podcast. Sometimes, after we stop recording, I learn much more :grin: because my guests can share more details and numbers, not publicly. It gives a clear picture and helps distinguish good and bad studio practices.
2. Sharing best practices inside the Family: documents, playbooks, decks
We collect your requests for documents and templates (studio-founder agreement, studio-investor agreement, playbook of attracting exited founders, financial model, studio fundraising deck, validation process playbook, etc.) and ask Family studios to contribute them. So you always get what you need.
Family ritual every quarter: a studio (willing to get access to others' docs) shares 1 doc of its choice.
Family ritual every quarter: a studio (willing to get access to others' docs) shares 1 doc of its choice.
3. Sharing investors inside the Family
It’s rare to have investors familiar with the studio model. In the Family, we share our scarcest resources.
Family ritual every 6 months: a studio (willing to get exposure to dozens of studio investors) invites 1 of their current or potential investors to an online networking event for studios & investors.
We additionally invite investors interested in studios from our syndicate to these events.
The Venture Studio Family is friendly with Family Offices :heart:.
Invite 1, get access to 20+ = profit :grin:
Family ritual every 6 months: a studio (willing to get exposure to dozens of studio investors) invites 1 of their current or potential investors to an online networking event for studios & investors.
We additionally invite investors interested in studios from our syndicate to these events.
The Venture Studio Family is friendly with Family Offices :heart:.
Invite 1, get access to 20+ = profit :grin:
How to join?
Fill out the application form below and we will send you the up-to-date information and a membership plan.
Payment options
After joining the community you will receive:
Payment options
- Pay online with a credit card
- Request an invoice
After joining the community you will receive:
- Invitation to regular thematical meetings with peers.
- A pitch slot at a private meeting with investors who understand the venture studio model.
- The right to request a special meeting tailored to your interests, such as industry focus, region, etc.
- Access to materials from previous meetings, including video recordings and summaries.
- Exclusive access to all bonuses from our online conferences.
- Access to other VSF activities.
Request for a membership plan
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Question
How many members from our studio can participate in the Family?
Answer
Ideally, two people, preferably from management such as founders, CEO, or CXO. They can either join all calls together or alternate participation in the calls. Want to invite 3 or more? – contact us.
Question
What does the Family membership include, and what happens after we pay for it?
Answer
Upon payment, we will contact you and, before the start of the new month, send out invitations for our scheduled calls over the next three months. The membership includes:
- Every three weeks, Zoom calls with studio peers: one for P2P inquiries and advice, and another for sharing best practices related to studio processes.
- Quarterly collection of requests for documents and playbooks from each studio, followed by a request for these materials from the studios. If your studio contributes useful materials, you'll gain access to the shared document pool.
- Every 6 months, an online event for investors interested in venture studios and Family participants. To take part, your studio must invite at least one of its investors to the event.
- Additional activities, initiatives, and support from your studio peers and the Venture Studio Family team.
Venture Studio Mafia is on the long-term mission
Family mission: help the studio model cross the chasm from the Early Adopters to the Early Majority. Click on the black button below to learn more about the chasm, the mission, and the reasons of the three Family Values.
Venture Studio Mafia – sounds better? :grin:
Venture Studio Mafia – sounds better? :grin:
The growth of venture studios is evident:
But how many of them die and why? And what is the future all studios dream about?
1. At StudioHUB's webinar, Matthew Burris shared that according to the Venture Studio Index, 2/3 of studios are inactive or have ceased operations.
2. Reasons? Two types
3. Internal: no initial funding, weak team, complex model, hard to attract great founders, cash flow problems.
4. External: investors don't understand the model, no standards and benchmarks, making it challenging for investors and co-founders to evaluate studios. After people see some cases when studios take 80% of equity and struggle with attracting experienced founders & fundraising into startups – they put a cross on all venture studios.
5. The external problems exacerbate internal ones. It might feel for venture studio founders that they are paddling against the current.
6. Despite this, there are dozens of successful studios, which (despite huge skepticism) create great companies, raise tens & hundreds of millions into funds, and employ thousands.
7. To solve the internal problems, studios have to:
– learn & execute the best practices in the industry
– get access & share the scarcest resources: investors & great founders – both familiar and optimistic about venture studios.
8. To solve the external problems, there should be:
– a lot of education, content & activities around venture studios (you should start your venture studio blog or podcast after reading this :grin:)
– studio standards should be developed (aka SAFE from Y Combinator for startups, which has simplified fundraising since 2013, or the 2/20 model for funds, which has been present for 50+ years)
– benchmarks should be defined for easier evaluation by investors & founders.
9. Look at the picture. The current state of studios is – Early Adopters (in terms of Technology Adoption Lifecycle). There is a chasm between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority.
1. At StudioHUB's webinar, Matthew Burris shared that according to the Venture Studio Index, 2/3 of studios are inactive or have ceased operations.
2. Reasons? Two types
3. Internal: no initial funding, weak team, complex model, hard to attract great founders, cash flow problems.
4. External: investors don't understand the model, no standards and benchmarks, making it challenging for investors and co-founders to evaluate studios. After people see some cases when studios take 80% of equity and struggle with attracting experienced founders & fundraising into startups – they put a cross on all venture studios.
5. The external problems exacerbate internal ones. It might feel for venture studio founders that they are paddling against the current.
6. Despite this, there are dozens of successful studios, which (despite huge skepticism) create great companies, raise tens & hundreds of millions into funds, and employ thousands.
7. To solve the internal problems, studios have to:
– learn & execute the best practices in the industry
– get access & share the scarcest resources: investors & great founders – both familiar and optimistic about venture studios.
8. To solve the external problems, there should be:
– a lot of education, content & activities around venture studios (you should start your venture studio blog or podcast after reading this :grin:)
– studio standards should be developed (aka SAFE from Y Combinator for startups, which has simplified fundraising since 2013, or the 2/20 model for funds, which has been present for 50+ years)
– benchmarks should be defined for easier evaluation by investors & founders.
9. Look at the picture. The current state of studios is – Early Adopters (in terms of Technology Adoption Lifecycle). There is a chasm between the Early Adopters and the Early Majority.
Image Credit: Bart Krawczyk, source
10. Studios can be in this Early Adopters phase forever – just have their special (small) place in the Venture Ecosystem.
11. Or studios can cross the chasm by solving external problems.
12. What if studios will cross the chasm? We can see:
– There are hundreds of VC funds with mandates allowing investing in studios directly
– Most founders choose the studio to apply on a studio marketplace comparing their teams / terms / benchmarks.
– Hundreds of successful studio stories with 9-figure revenue companies and 50%+ IRRs.
13. Every studio will benefit hugely. The current will revert 180°: fundraising into studio day 1, founders with exits day 2, unicorns day 3 (OpenAI's keynote made me dream big :grin:)
14. Sharing numbers, documents, and investors (+ later founders) inside the Venture Studio Family – helps to solve internal problems.
15. Understanding numbers will help to define studio benchmarks. Creating a document pool & sharing best practices will result in emerging studio standards. This contributes to the mission of crossing the chasm.
You convinced me. I'm in! :heart:
11. Or studios can cross the chasm by solving external problems.
12. What if studios will cross the chasm? We can see:
– There are hundreds of VC funds with mandates allowing investing in studios directly
– Most founders choose the studio to apply on a studio marketplace comparing their teams / terms / benchmarks.
– Hundreds of successful studio stories with 9-figure revenue companies and 50%+ IRRs.
13. Every studio will benefit hugely. The current will revert 180°: fundraising into studio day 1, founders with exits day 2, unicorns day 3 (OpenAI's keynote made me dream big :grin:)
14. Sharing numbers, documents, and investors (+ later founders) inside the Venture Studio Family – helps to solve internal problems.
15. Understanding numbers will help to define studio benchmarks. Creating a document pool & sharing best practices will result in emerging studio standards. This contributes to the mission of crossing the chasm.
You convinced me. I'm in! :heart: