How Do Startup Studio Teams Work?

Build a startup studio team that makes your startup studio attractive to potential founders.

Startup studios aim to improve the process at which startups are validated and brought to market. While startup studios offer great advantages, such as speed, collaborative resources, and funding, launching successful startups time and time again require an elite level of preparation and execution. With that said, the work is wildly exciting. Underneath the excitement of developing a new company lies a number of decisions that need to be made, and the people making those decisions are the core reason that the startup studio business model is so effective.

A startup studio team needs to be highly motivated, creative problem solvers who think both strategically and tactically. They must make considerations at a high level while building out the granular details of a new company.

How Does A Startup Studio Work?

First off, there are many types of startup studios. Some startup studio business models are generalists, who take on projects in a wide array of industries. Companies like Wilbur Labs fall into this category as they launch a wide array of companies across several business sectors from rental booking platforms to dog grooming services. In contrast, other studios such as Anova Studio focus their efforts exclusively on one domain, artificial intelligence. Knowing what your mission is and who you are is going to be the bedrock that supports your long-term strategy.

Startup creation is designed to be a repeatable process for startup studios. They have management know-how, data, technical tools, and organizational strategies tailored through their experiences, and they keep adding to this infrastructure.

So how do these experienced entrepreneurs, professionals, and industry veterans generally establish startup studios? Generally, most startup studio teams work through the following process:

1. Ideation: Startups create new solutions to problems every day. They come up with new ideas, brainstorm, and ideate. Sometimes they take the best ideas from outside entrepreneurs and deliberate with them to make the concepts even better.
2. Validation: If the studio decides to pursue an idea, the founders will check if it is feasible and scalable by conducting market research and running tests on it. Most studios have developed screening measures to efficiently remove all unsuitable ideas. If an idea passes the test, it is validated and can be worked on.
3. Creation: Working prototypes and customer feedback are key to improving the prototype and creating a solid business plan. If they fail, startups either have to start from scratch or drop the idea.
4. Spinning out: When a studio creates a business, it operates it for a period of time before letting the new business spin out and work under its own executive team. In some cases, the executive team is part of the studio, and in other cases they are hired externally.
5. Scaling-up: Now that they’ve raised funding and started scaling up, businesses may choose to work independently on their own or work as a team with the startup studios.

Staffing a Startup Studio

With a clear understanding of where your studio focus sits, it then becomes all about assembling a championship-caliber team. Let’s face it: working in a startup studio business model is a team sport and should be treated as such. Staffing for your team isn’t a box that can be casually checked off. It’s a cornerstone to your future success and deserves a great deal of consideration. Making the right decisions during the staffing process can be highly profitable when done right and devastating when done poorly. It’s no coincidence that professional sports teams will spend the majority of their off-season evaluating the talent. They need to know what players are going to be able to help put up points in week one, which players might develop with the right coaching, which players they can afford to pay, and what players are no longer needed. Businesses are no different.

The players on your team need to be like-minded people who feel the way you do about entrepreneurship. Hiring a family member or close friend might seem like a fun idea, but if their level of passion and enthusiasm doesn’t align with yours, you might want to look for other candidates. People who succeed in a startup studio team are there because they can’t imagine doing anything else. They love building businesses and are energized by novel ideas and creative solutions. It isn’t a typical 9–5 job and therefore doesn’t share the same mentality.

Leverage Networking Tools

If you find yourself wondering where to discover the right people, there are a few different tools you can use. LinkedIn is an amazing resource. There are dozens of entrepreneurial-minded groups, meet-ups, and think tanks where entrepreneurs can share their ideas and visions. Sites like Medium also function similarly. There is a wealth of information available from founders and visionaries who love sharing their passion for business development and startup creation. Step into these spaces boldly and begin to expand your network. When you can clearly articulate your vision with others, you will begin to attract others who think and feel the same way you do.

Startup studios are fueled by the ideas they generate. It’s important to know where these ideas are going to come from. Some studios use their internal teams to generate ideas, whereas others will work with founders who already have an idea but lack the know-how to scale their business. Whichever category you happen to fall in, you are going to need people who can conceptualize new products as well as carry out the tasks needed to launch a business.

What all successful startup studios have in common is their ability to launch multiple businesses within a calendar year. As such, the right team must have the ability to focus on multiple projects at one time. When launching your own startup studio, it’s essential to understand that time and attention are two of your most valuable resources. Having your entire team dedicated to one project at a time might make the initial stages of development move more quickly, but that will limit your ability to explore new ventures as they arise.

We hope this article has helped bring a better understanding of the elements required for staffing a startup studio with capable and experienced individuals. If you would like to learn more about how other startup studios operate, check out our spotlight series where we have covered other studios such as eFounders, Mamazen, Builders, and more!