Add to that the exploding competition in AI, and Europe's love for regulation, and it comes as no surprise that founders are seeking all the help they can get.

Enter the venture studio.

Unless you've made bank from a previous exit or have a crazy low burn rate, chances are you cannot bootstrap.

You can resort to usual suspects: Angels, VCs, Accelerators, Incubators, but there's a new kid in town: the Venture Studio.

I know what you're thinking: "Potato, potato. It's all capital innit?" Well... not quite. Despite similarities, the studio model is a different beast altogether. Something about apples and oranges. Let's dive into why.

Law of large numbers vs custom build

Angels, VCs, accelerators... they all play the large numbers game. VCs for example, bet on 50-100 startups, calculating on one or two unicorns. It’s a scattershot approach—great for them, but not so great for individual founders. Venture studios are the snipers in that battalion of shotguns.

"Just Build" is a cool laptop sticker, but not a very sound business strategy. Where traditional funding models optimise for speed-to-product, studios optimise for speed-to-validation instead. In other words: "Let's make sure we build the right it, before we build it."

A studio like Builders can only partner with 12 entrepreneurs per year. We need 4 of those to found successful companies. That means we need to be religious about picking founders and venture ideas. Studios’ incentives are at their core aligned with the founders they work with..

Don't take our word for it: Max Pog’s study found that startups from studios reach seed rounds twice as quickly, exit 33% faster and potentially have a 44% better financial outcome, compared to traditional startups.

Siblings in arms

We have more skin in the game, so we act like it. We're in the trenches with you, shoulder to shoulder, validating, building, iterating.

Many second time founders (successful ones) come to us for their second rodeo. Why? they understand the value of having a team, especially early on.

What do we offer? A small team of deep expertise. We have one of everything, whether that's product, design, tech, go-to-market & growth, finance, legal, fundraising, ... . We have got you covered head to toe.

Make no mistake: Studios are not an agency either. The team is invested in your venture (literally, as they have shares in the studio) and keeps their eye on the bigger picture. There's no 'throwing it over the fence' attitude here. Studios think and act like co-founders, because technically, they kind of are.

Battle-tested playbooks, from 0 to ∞

80% of studio founders were founders themselves at one point. That is wisdom you want on your team as a first time founder. Second time founders have a 2x+ probability of exit. At builders, all managers were active in venture building, with a combined total involvement in 100+ ventures.

That said: What good is the experience of building 100+ ventures if you cannot transfer it? Good thing we codified everything (like most successful studios). The entire process, from zero to series A and beyond, is revealed, bite-sized, and templated in our playbook. With knowledge like that failure's practically impossible 😉.

Jokes aside, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Whether it's the legal structure of your HoldCo. a template for finding winning business ideas, or a sales script for your launching customers – you will have it at your fingertips. That doesn’t mean it makes founder life in general any easier. Arguably more intense. But also more successful.

Founder matchmaking

Everybody's looking for that special someone. That person that hypnotises and casts a spell on... Customers. I'm talking about your technical co-founder of course, who will build the tech that will drive your business to success. And we all know: tech sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic. We're here to help you find your David Blaine.

And fast too. You already barely have any time for dating, and CTOs are no exception. Good thing studios have a pipeline of vetted tech geniuses coming in. It's like The Bachelor(ette) but without the weird ceremonies. In Builders' case, we even use psychometric evaluations in our matchmaking process. Marriage guaranteed.

Capital + Network = Lift Off

And finally: Yes, there is cash too. Studios too exist to make a buck after all. The specifics at Builders? €150k in direct investment and another €150-250k in team support. More than enough to get you to your Seed round.

Speaking of which - Did I mention the investor matching? Indeed, most studios also open their network of Angels and VCs to you, making your next fundraise that much smoother. You get the best of both worlds: the customer-focus that makes you more attractive to investors in the first place, and access to a wide investor network when you’re ready to blow past product-market-fit.

Ready to become a founder with Builders?

Venture studios are more than a source of capital. They are a co-founder, riding shoulder to shoulder with you, especially in those tough early goings. They bring cash, sure, but also proven process, a hands-on team of experts, access to resources, and a massive amount of skin-in-the-game.

Let's face it: the world doesn't need more 'fast failures', it needs better businesses. And at Builders building better businesses is our core business (say that 5x fast).

Convinced? See if you have what it takes to become a founder with us. Or apply directly.

Looking forward to Building with you – From zero to infinity (and beyond) 🚀🪐