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1. Our Evaluation Process

Ideas Pitched

Every month we are pitched dozens of startup ideas.

Market Research

The best ideas progress to the “Problem Space Exploration” stage where a member of our team conducts market research to validate the opportunity.

  • Validating the pain point
  • Researching customer needs
  • Competitive mapping
  • Product market viability analysis

50

PASS THIS PHASE

Concept Testing

Only about 10% of ideas will make it through the Market Research phase and progress to the “MVP Hypothesis” stage. At this stage, our team helps the founder develop and test a detailed business plan and product vision.

  • Identify the Ideal Customer Persona (ICP)
  • Outline product value proposition
  • Develop pricing strategy
  • Identify defensible competitive advantages
  • Interview 10-15 customers to test product concept

10

PASS THIS PHASE

Prototyping

The top 3% of ideas will eventually progress to the final stage of our concept evaluation process, prototyping. Our experienced Product Managers and Designers will work with a founder to turn their idea into a clickable prototype that can be tested with customers.

  • Clickable prototypes developed
  • In-depth customer demos and reviews
  • Product strategy refined
  • Pre-sales of product begin (Target 15 commitments)
  • Product scope finalized
  • Studio partner business strategy sessions
  • Founding team composition finalized

3

PASS THIS PHASE

Estimated time to complete all phases
= 90 days

PASS RATES:

50

PASS THIS PHASE

10

PASS THIS PHASE

3

PASS THIS PHASE

Estimated time to complete = 90 days

NEXT STEPS

2. Company Formation to Seed Round Spin Out

For those concepts that make it through our evaluation process, we will partner with the founder(s) to launch a new company. At this stage, we become an official co-founder in the startup and are involved with all key aspects of launching and growing the business.

Operations & Recruiting

  • Founding team recruited
  • Founder equity allocated
  • Key strategic partners identified
  • Company formation and regulatory filings
  • Financial model and use of proceeds finalized
  • Legal & compliance work complete
  • Read this blog post   on founding team composition and how we approach dividing equity among co-founders

MVP Development & Launch

  • Product roadmap laid out through seed stage
  • Technical planning and architecture 
  • Founders work with studio to build an initial proof of concept or MVP
  • Initial customers acquired and revenue activation
  • Target $100K+ in ARR before formal seed round

GTM Strategy Development

  • Go-to-market (GTM) strategies developed with studio CRO
  • Distribution and strategic partners identified  
  • Sales & marketing implementation support
  • Customer success strategies implemented

Fundraising
Strategy

  • Capital strategy and fundraising plan 
  • Pitch deck development
  • Strategy alignment to bootstrap MVP or raise pre-product
  • Fundraising plan implemented
  • Intros to leading VCs and strategic investors
  • Read this blog post on how we think about fundraising readiness

Once key milestones are achieved, we will spin your startup out of the studio with a Seed round led by a leading VC and help you scale your team with top startup talent.

Work With Us

We have relationships with leading VCs…

Bessemer Venture Partners

Andresseem Horowitz Logo

Armory Square Ventures

Obvious

Watchfire

NEA Logo

Fintop Logo

BCVP

8VC

Lewis and Clark

Fifth Wall

Page One

… plus dozens more.