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Picture a hub of innovation where bold ideas transform into thriving startups, faster and smarter than ever before. Venture studios, like Small Great Ventures, are rewriting the startup playbook by combining resources, expertise, and hands-on collaboration to create companies from scratch. This unique model is rapidly reshaping entrepreneurship and driving the next wave of disruption.
In this two-part series, we’re taking you behind the scenes to uncover what makes venture studios the ultimate startup engine.
Is it like an accelerator, a venture capitalist, or a business incubator? Not quite—it’s all that and more.
Unlike traditional models that support startups at various stages, a venture studio is a one-stop engine for building companies from scratch. These studios generate ideas, rigorously test them, and bring them to life with funding, resources, and dedicated teams. Think of a venture studio as a company designed to create other companies—a startup factory for innovation. It’s not just meta; it’s revolutionary.
Traditional startups often begin with a founder and an idea, navigating a variety of paths to turn that concept into a viable business. Some seek venture capital, trading equity for funding to fuel growth. Others join incubators or accelerators, gaining mentorship, resources, and sometimes investment—often in exchange for equity or participation fees. A third route is organic growth, where founders bootstrap their way to success by generating revenue through sales. While these approaches have fueled countless startups, venture studios offer a bold alternative, as Max Pog highlights in his detailed breakdown of their structure.
Disruption, innovation, and scalability are key to startups' success beyond their venture studio roots.
Ever heard of a little company called Dollar Shave Club? Launched out of the startup studio, Science Inc., when this startup first came on the scene, its model was unheard of. Going up against the “big players” in the market was practically unfathomable. Five relatively short years after its founding, Dollar Shave Club was acquired by Unilever for a whopping $1B.
Other notable companies spawned from venture studios include widely known names such as Giphy, Yelp, Hims, Medium, and Liquid Death (planning to IPO in 2024 only seven years after founding).
While relatively new to the business world, believe it or not, venture studios have been around for close to three decades. Here’s a brief history lesson on the evolution of venture studios:
Today, more than 500 venture studios worldwide launch a total average of 200 businesses each year. Venture studios have raised more than $21B in funding to support these businesses. That’s the small but mighty stuff we live for!
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