It's January, which means somewhere right now a studio founder is having that conversation again... You know the one. The investor call that starts promising—they’re nodding, asking good questions, clearly interested. Then they dig one layer de...

Three field stories that prove why human dynamics matter more than market size or tech stacks If you're building or leading a venture studio, you already know that market timing, technology choices, and business models all matter. You've p...

After a decade in the trenches, here are the biggest failure reasons — and the success-patterns that keep venture studios alive. When we built our own studio back in 2015, it felt like we had cracked the code. Eleven ventures in year one, five got t...

Why clarity, alignment, and strong foundations matter more than hype. When people ask me about the ROI of studio advisory, they usually expect me to talk about billion-dollar exits or flashy headlines. But here’s the truth: the real return on struct...

Lessons from experience, fresh research, and a practical checklist. Here’s a hard truth: most venture studios fail at fundraising. And not because they lack ideas, talent, or energy. They fail because they pitch like startups. That’s the wrong ...

Inside the rise and near-collapse of CEE’s first venture studio — and the lessons that still guide me today. Momentum without margins is fragile. Setting the Scene: 2015 In 2015, we set out to do something nobody in our region had done before: launc...

Summary and Key Points:Why This Matters: AI startups got 53% of all VC money in early 2025. Studios without AI plans will fall behind fast - both in taking new ideas to market and in raising new funds.How to Measure: Seven areas to score yo...

 When code is free and speed is infinite, the real constraint is knowing what’s worth building. Key Takeaways:The traditional Lean Startup cycle is being replaced by AI-powered validation loops.The new bottlenecks are clarity of intent&nbs...

How do you measure the ROI of the moon landing? Not in revenue or cost savings. But in momentum, credibility, and reshaping what an entire generation believed was possible. It wasn’t just a space race. It was a race to define the future. That’s...

A Comprehensive Introduction to Venture Studios and How to Build Startups with Higher Speed and Efficiency The way people build startups is changing. Venture studios and startup studios are a key part of this change. These organi...

  The real power of AI in venture building isn’t speed. It’s leverage. At first, it’s small: You take a task you do every day, write a half-decent prompt, save 10–15 minutes. -> Nice. But basic. Then you realize what AI can do with the ...

VCs just made it official: AI isn’t just part of the startup landscape - it is the landscape. In Q1 2025, AI and machine learning startups got more than 57% of global venture funding, exceeding to $73 billion. This...

Since I published the 2nd edition of the Startup Studio Playbook in 2019 I was largely silent on social media. I was focusing on clients helping to get from Zero to Minimum Viable Studio and the GVN Studio Bootcamp. This meant working with hundreds ...