We validate before we build
Most startups in this market fail for two reasons: no product-market fit, and no capital to survive finding it. We address both before writing production code.
Every venture runs through a six to twelve week validation process. If it does not clear, we stop. Stopping is the point.
The pipeline
Every venture and thesis carries an honest stage label. Ventures move between stages without being re-published.
We will list our ventures here as each one is ready to be shared.
What each stage means
| In the idea bank | Scored against market demand, scalability, revenue potential, competition, feasibility and regulation. Not yet in validation. | The thesis in one line. No company name, because there is no company. |
|---|---|---|
| In validation | Running the six to twelve week process. | The thesis, the stage, what is being tested. No claims about outcome. |
| Building | Cleared validation. MVP in development. | The thesis, what is being built, expected launch window. |
| Live | In market with customers. | Full venture profile. Name, product, traction, team, link. |
| Stopped | Validation failed, or the market did not confirm. | The thesis and one line on what was learned. |
We publish the ventures we stop. A studio that shows what it killed demonstrates the discipline its whole model rests on.
How a venture leaves the studio
In a conventional startup the founder has the idea and then looks for proof. We invert it. We validate first, build the MVP, find the first customers, and then bring in a CEO-founder to scale a venture that already works.
That founder inherits a tested concept, early customers and a working model instead of a hypothesis. It is a different proposition from starting alone, and it suits a different kind of operator.
Lead one of our venturesInvesting alongside us
We co-invest in our own ventures and bring corporate partners in at the point where they become customers as well as shareholders.
Typical venture rounds run from pre-seed through to Series A. We work with angels, funds, development finance institutions and corporate venture arms, and we start in Francophone Africa, where competition for good deals is thinner than the opportunity justifies.
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