Denis Sandu’s Post

From Denis Sandu (Growably co-founder) Startups don’t fail because founders lack ambition. They fail because the early stage is messy: unclear validation, slow shipping, weak distribution, and fragile operations. Our POV: a venture studio compounds learning across companies—operating multiple startups under one umbrella with centralized know-how, shared infrastructure, and reusable systems that help teams move faster with less chaos. If you’re evaluating different venture models (or you thought it was only “venture capital”), this article is a practical guide: https://lnkd.in/ds9kYADa

The "Venture Studio" is the most significant evolution in startup creation since the introduction of the seed fund. But what exactly is it? Think of a Venture Studio as an Institutional Co-Founder. While VCs provide capital and Accelerators provide short-term coaching, a Studio is a permanent, high-octane execution engine. It is the only model that sits directly at the intersection of the three pillars of startup success: Talent: Studios don’t just wait for founders to walk through the door. They identify massive market gaps and pair them with "earned knowledge" experts often before a company even exists. Execution: This is the Studio’s "unfair advantage." Instead of a founder wasting 12 months learning how to build a tech stack or hire a sales team, the Studio provides a Startup Operating System (SOS) a repeatable playbook and shared services that handle the heavy lifting of company building. Capital: Because Studios co-build from Day Zero, they offer extreme capital efficiency. Data shows studio-backed startups reach Series A at a 72% success rate (vs. 42% for traditional startups) and do so 33% faster. In a world where AI has lowered the barrier to entry, the winning moat isn't just having an idea—it’s having the institutional infrastructure to turn that idea into a category-defining company. Forward Share Ventures is the AI-native venture studio co-building the future of work alongside domain-expert founders.

What does a venture studio actually do, and why are more startups being built this way? Venture capital typically backs companies that already exist and are showing enough traction, team strength, or market signal to justify investment. A venture studio operates earlier and more directly in the company-building process, helping shape ideas, validate opportunities, support execution, and build the foundation around a venture before it looks fully investable on paper. That distinction is important because many early-stage companies do not fail from lack of ambition. They fail because the path from idea to execution is harder, messier, and more resource-intensive than it looks from the outside. Capital matters, but in the earliest stages, capital alone is often not enough. As more regions focus on strengthening startup ecosystems, understanding the role of venture studios becomes more relevant. The strongest ecosystems do not only fund companies once they are polished. They also create the conditions for promising companies to become real in the first place. At UEV, we think some of the most important company-building work happens before a startup is ready for traditional venture capital. That early stage is where strategy, structure, and hands-on support can change the trajectory of what gets built.

For 5+ years, Previously Unavailable been quietly building venture studios. Not just talking about them. Actually designing, building and running them, for ourselves and with others. Designing the models, finding gnarly problems to solve, raising capital, building products, hiring and scaling teams, launching the ventures, making the mistakes, and in enough cases, getting it right. Some got off the ground. Some didn't. But all of them taught us something. More recently (the last 18-months) we've taken that experience and put it to work in two venture studios. Firstly New+Improved Ventures, a B2B SaaS and AI-focused studio we launched in partnership with the brilliant Connon Bray and Antony Ede, formalising a partnership which counts early ventures like Tracksuit and Ideally among its successes. And secondly a CPG-focused venture studio about to come out of stealth, which is building a portfolio of breakthrough brands and products launching into large US retail channels as I write this. Two different variants of venture studio models. Two very different categories. One VC-backed, one Corporate-backed. Common principles driving success. And a lot of shared lessons between them. Starting today, we're going to start to share some of those hard learnt lessons publicly. Over the next 12 months, our ‘Venture Studio Playbook Series’ will cover what we've learned about designing, launching, operating and scaling venture studio. From the operating detail most people gloss over to the strategic questions that keep studio teams and founders up at night. We'll be direct about what's worked and honest about what hasn’t. If you're a corporate leader trying to figure out how to actually innovate repeatedly at pace, a founder/operator looking for a smarter path to starting a company, or a venture investor trying to understand whether the studio model deserves a place in your portfolio, this series is for you. The first post of the series is below: What venture studios are, why they should be on your radar, and what we’ll be sharing. Follow along, drop a comment, or send me a message if you'd like to join the conversation in a more meaningful way. We'll also be publishing the first edition of our Venture Studio Playbook later this year. More to come on that soon.

Building venture studios is such an exciting and unique part of our business model. Follow along over at Previously Unavailable and Chris Paykel to learn more about how we’re building them and what we’re learning along the way! 💫

If you’re interested in venture studios and creating companies and products far more likely to launch and grow successfully, follow along as Chris shares some of the principles and things learnt over years of iteration and experience. Some great playbooks and events in the pipeline….

It can be a real struggle sometimes to explain what we do at Previously Unavailable - before joining I had never heard of a venture studio and honestly I was a little skeptical. A year and a half in, it's clear there's magic in the model. From my seat it's a model that forces you to get to the point and understand what you need to know or what needs to be true to move forward. If you're interested in venture studios, and how they are designed to launch and scale new companies, follow along! Looking forward to you sharing more of that 🧠 ⚡️ Chris Paykel

In the past few decades, early-stage startups have experienced a ton of interest in the investment world. We’ve seen an exponential increase in new ideas rising to the surface. As a result, a few key investment routes have become popular for these early-stage startups: incubators, accelerators, and venture studios. While you hear a lot about incubators and accelerators, you don’t always hear much about venture studios, but they actually provide a pretty ingenious approach to getting new ideas off the ground. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gbPMdp_8

In today’s fast-paced and innovation-driven world, startups are at the forefront of technological and business transformation. However, building a successful startup from the ground up is fraught with challenges, from securing funding to accessing the...

Conversations with local movers and shakers in the West TX business community have recently found their way to the subject of venture studios. Could it be time for a venture studio, supporting startups in West Texas? The University-to-Venture Gap: Why Venture Studios Might Be the Missing Link Every year, brilliant founders emerge from university accelerators with groundbreaking ideas, validated prototypes, and the passion to change the world. But here's the uncomfortable truth: most of them aren't equipped for what comes next. The gap is real. These founders—often technical experts or researchers—know their domain inside out. But fundraising? Investor relations? Building a sales pipeline? Scaling operations? That's a different game entirely, and it's where many promising startups stumble. Enter the Venture Studio Model Venture studios offer a compelling solution to this gap. Unlike traditional accelerators that provide short-term mentorship and then send founders on their way, studios become true operational partners. The Benefits: • Embedded Expertise: Founders get access to in-house teams covering sales, marketing, finance, and investor relations—not just advice, but hands-on execution • Shared Resources: From legal to HR to product development, studios provide infrastructure that early-stage startups can't afford alone • Systematic Fundraising: Studios often have established investor networks and know how to position companies for funding success • Reduced Risk: With operational support baked in, founders can focus on what they do best while the studio handles the rest • Faster Time-to-Market: Professional teams accelerate growth trajectories that might otherwise take years to achieve The Studio Challenge But building and maintaining a venture studio isn't easy: • Capital Intensive: Studios require significant upfront investment in talent and infrastructure before seeing returns • Talent Retention: Keeping high-quality operational teams engaged across multiple portfolio companies is complex • Portfolio Balance: Studios must carefully select ventures that align with their expertise and capacity • Long-Term Commitment: Returns take time, and maintaining momentum through multiple funding cycles demands patience and resources The Bottom Line University accelerators do incredible work nurturing early-stage innovation. But the journey from lab to market needs more than a 12-week program. Venture studios could be the bridge that ensures brilliant ideas don't die in the valley between innovation and commercialization. What's your experience with this gap? Are studios the answer, or do we need entirely new models?