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Since the late 1990s, three types of organizations have emerged to help early-stage startups find product-market fit and raise initial capital: incubators, accelerators and venture studios.
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Learn about the different types of venture studios, their benefits and drawbacks, and what to look for when choosing one.
What is a venture studio?
A venture studio, also referred to as a startup studio, combines company building with venture funding to create, launch and grow startups. The studio team or external founders may generate ideas, or the studio and external founders may develop concepts collaboratively. From ideation through growth, the studio acts as a co-founder and provides capital, talent and operational support.
While venture studios are often grouped with incubators, accelerators and venture capital firms, key differences exist in their timing and activities.
Venture studios
- Timing: Venture studios enter at the idea stage.
- Activities: Studios generate, test and validate ideas. They also build startups’ minimum viable product, recruit teams and manage operations. Venture studios stay closely involved as co-founders, guiding the startups’ strategy and execution.
Incubators
- Timing: Incubators support startups at their earliest phase, helping shape initial ideas and teams.
- Activities: Incubators offer mentorship, training, workspace and sometimes limited funding. They guide founders through early development, then step back after the program.
Accelerators
- Timing: Accelerators step in once startups have a developed idea, usually during a three- to six-month program.
- Activities: Accelerators can provide mentorship, networking and capital—either dilutive or non-dilutive funding—to prepare startups for fundraising and rapid scaling.
Venture capital firms
- Timing: Venture capital firms invest after startups show traction and growth potential.
- Activities: Firms provide substantial capital, strategic advice and access to networks. They may also assist with scaling, fundraising and hiring, and their members may join startup advisory boards.
Who uses venture studios?
Venture studios attract many types of clients, including:
- Early-stage technology ventures: Founders who have a concept but lack a full team or technical resources
- Experienced founders: Individuals with prior exits who want to leverage studio infrastructure and launch quickly
- Corporate spinouts: Large companies aiming to innovate outside their core operations
- Non-technical founders: Entrepreneurs with market expertise who need help with product development
- Mission-driven startups: Ventures focused on social impact, sustainability, or niche markets that can benefit from studio guidance
- Vertical-specific startups: Fintech, proptech and other sectors where studios have deep domain expertise
4 stages of venture studio startups
Venture studios help startups throughout their journey, generally divided into four stages:
- Ideation: The venture studio generates and refines business ideas, assessing market needs and potential solutions.
- Validation: The studio tests concepts, gathers feedback and determines product-market fit. The studio also assesses the product’s financial model and profitability.
- Build: The studio assembles a founding team, develops the product and establishes the operational foundation.
- Launch and growth: The studio brings the business to market, helps drive initial traction and supports scaling through strategic resources and assistance.
4 types of venture studios
Depending on their focus and needs, startups may choose to work with:
- Tech transfer studios work with companies and government laboratories to identify promising ideas and intellectual property (IP), then transfer the IP and develop new startups within the studio’s framework.
- Corporate studios source ideas and intellectual property internally, then build startups. These studios operate as separate entities within larger companies.
- Niche studios specialize in specific industries or technologies, such as health care or B2B SaaS technology, using extensive knowledge to generate ideas and IP.
- Industry-agnostic studios provide operational support and a structured process to new ventures regardless of their industry.
Benefits and drawbacks of using a venture studio
Startups should evaluate benefits, such as hands-on support, and drawbacks, including equity dilution, before choosing to work with a venture studio.
Venture studio benefits
- Hands-on support: Venture studios provide access to experienced teams who work alongside startup founders on product development, go-to-market strategies and securing funding. This practical guidance can help entrepreneurs navigate challenges and accelerate progress.
- Compounded experience and knowledge: Each time a business moves through a venture studio—whether it succeeds or not—founders and studios gain valuable insights. These lessons are documented and applied to future ventures, so every new business benefits from what came before.
- Lower risk: Venture studios help uncover and analyze business opportunities early on, sometimes before a founder joins the process. This can help prevent founders from learning too late that their ideas aren’t viable for fundraising.
- Opportunities for underrepresented founders: By helping to reduce risks, studios can open up opportunities to founders typically underrepresented in the venture ecosystem—especially those who lack financing and a startup support network.
Venture studio drawbacks
- Reduced equity ownership: Founders typically give up a significant share of the company—sometimes up to 80%—in exchange for studio resources.
- Limited autonomy: Studios often set processes and guardrails and share in decision-making, which can reduce founders’ influence.
- Potential misalignment: The venture studio’s priorities may not match the startup founder’s vision, leading to strategic conflicts.
What to look for in a venture studio
When evaluating a venture studio, ask questions that help you understand their infrastructure, approach and fit for your business:
- Are any former founders on staff?
- What percentage of equity are you asking for?
- What is your track record with previous ventures?
- What resources and expertise will you provide to support my startup?
- How involved are you in day-to-day operations and decision-making?
- What is your equity model, and how is ownership structured?
- How do you support fundraising and investor introductions?
- What is your process for selecting and developing new business ideas?
- How do you measure success for the startups you work with?
- Can you share examples of how you’ve helped startups overcome challenges?
The bottom line: Venture studios can provide expertise and resources to help startups ideate, validate, build, launch and grow their businesses. However, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of working with a studio and evaluate individual options before choosing one.
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JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Visit jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/legal-disclaimer for disclosures and disclaimers related to this content.
