Startup Studio Newsletter | ED57

How do you bootstrap a Startup Studio?

I’ve thought a lot about this question over the years because great economic climate or terrible, fundraising for a Venture Studio has always been hard.

🤨 Investors are already skeptical of the Studio model
📈 They want to see traction (portcos) before investing
⏳ Relationship building takes time (a lot of time)

Don’t get me wrong, Studios absolutely can raise funds (sometimes massive funds) but getting from pitch deck to closed round takes time and most Studios die on that stretch of the journey.

I’ve always encouraged the Studios I work with to consider alternative revenue streams. I like to call this “Studio Sustainability” — there are “traditional” paths to sustainability for Studios

• Agencies

• Corporate Clients

• Consulting

But, almost all of these options usurp massive resources from the Studio making the journey to success even harder.

So, I challenged myself to think outside the box and bootstrap creatively. As it so happens I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about the Creator Economy lately and then it hit me 💥

There are thousands of solopreneurs generating $1M in revenue annually.
💰 Justin Welsh makes $2M+ annually with courses
💰 Dan Koe makes $2M+ annually with coaching and courses
💰 Alex Garcia makes $1M+ annually with a newsletter

If these solopreneurs can achieve this kind of success, a Studio— with all it’s resources and know how— should be able to do the same.

In this week's deep dive, I break down the exact strategies these creators use and what it takes for a Studio to steal their playbook 👉 Unlocking $1M: 3 Unconventional Tactics for Bootstrapping Startup Studios

P.S - I’ll be moderating the Venture Studio Online Conference TODAY at 12pm EST - hope to see you there. Here’s the link to register!

📝 Venture Studios – Strategy & Structure - Fenwick

📝 How Hexa Does Early-Stage Go-To-Market - Hexa

🎥 13 Questions With Mike Jones, CEO Of Science Inc. - The Gallery TV

📝 The Roast of a Startup Studio Model: Part 3 - Denis Kovalevich

• New fund of funds launches for first-time VCs

• Hedera’s Hashgraph Launches $250M DeepTech Studio in Riyadh

• Industry leaders launch experience design focused Venture Studio, ZeroSixty

• BXVentures and Axelys establish a new partnership for CleanTech ventures

• Seaworthy Collective announces February 18 deadline to join the next co-hort of ocean entrepreneurs

• Digital Sandbox KC secures $450K to support startups

Quality Assurance Engineer - 10XBeta Venture Studio (Brooklyn, NYC)

Lead MatchMaker - Platform Studio (Charleston, SC)

Fund Manager - Fierce Foundry (Remote)

10 NEW Studios were added to the Global Studio Database this week - check it out!

That’s all for this issue, if you enjoyed it consider sharing with peers and fellow Studio friends. To connect with me, I’m always available on LinkedIn or Twitter!