We are the team your startup is missing.
I am Terry Chapman. Start Up Partners is a venture studio. My team of ten C-suite operators does the real work alongside you, from formation and branding to the build, fundraising and first revenue, so your idea actually becomes a company.
- Formation
- First customers
- Brand
- PR
- Pricing
- Prototype
- Network
- Fundraising
- Positioning
- Operations
- Formation
- First customers
- Brand
- PR
- Pricing
- Prototype
- Network
- Fundraising
- Positioning
- Operations
Terry Chapman
Founder & CEO, Start Up Partners
I am not a fund. I am the guy who shows up.
I am not a fund and I am not a consultant who hands you a slide deck and disappears. Start Up Partners is a venture studio. My team and I take a real operating role in your company and do the work with you.
When a founder comes to me, we figure out what the company actually needs next, then we go do it. Formation and legal. Branding and the website. Fiscal management and compliance. Customer discovery, software, fundraising and go to market. About ten seasoned operators covering every C-suite seat.
I have helped found and scale companies in medical imaging and radiology, data analytics, mobile marketplaces and medical devices. Start Up Partners is a grant recipient of Innovate Alabama. It usually starts with a coffee. We take on the founders we believe we can help, then we stay in the work with them, from concept to company.
Backed by Innovate Alabama.
Selected for the Innovate Alabama Talent Pilot Program. A venture studio based in Birmingham, Alabama, building the next wave of STEM companies across the state.
15
Startups supported
$1.2M+
Raised by our founders
10
C-suite operators
2024
Founded in Birmingham, AL
Real people. In their own words.
Four founders on meeting Terry, the work that got them moving, and what changed.
Read transcript for Meet the founders
Ebony Miller (The ARAH Company): I was very focused on the invention itself, and I was learning everything else as I went. Joseph Rusk (The BreadBoard Company): I didn't win Tiger Cage, which was like a big competition. And I thought I was. Paige Goldschmidt (Grantarium): I do not think I am a traditional tech founder. Darrell Bilbrey (Alter-Sync): “Dude, you need to meet Terry.” Ebony Miller (The ARAH Company): Hi, I'm Ebony Miller, founder of the ARAH Light. Joseph Rusk (The BreadBoard Company): So I actually met Terry through a competition at Auburn called Tiger Cage, and he came up to me after the competition and he was like, “Oh, I love the idea. I loved your pitch. I'd love to help any way I can.” Darrell Bilbrey (Alter-Sync): He picks up the phone and calls Terry, goes, “Terry, get over here, we got one for you.” And so that was the introduction. Paige Goldschmidt (Grantarium): And he met us for coffee and told us there wasn't a spot in his current cohort, but he still wanted to continue to meet with us. Darrell Bilbrey (Alter-Sync): The places where Terry helped me the most was because there was going to be some partners and getting the legal work set up. So getting the company created. Ebony Miller (The ARAH Company): Terry connected me with an IP company that was able to move really quickly and get my provisional patent filed. Paige Goldschmidt (Grantarium): He introduced me to another person in his cohort who is a long-time software engineer. Joseph Rusk (The BreadBoard Company): He was very much like, don't give up. There's this, this competition doesn't define your business or like define if it's a good idea or not. Joseph Rusk (The BreadBoard Company): And so through that, and then going to a much bigger competition and winning it. Darrell Bilbrey (Alter-Sync): The 30 minutes we spend together, or 20 minutes, whatever it is, every week. It gives me a chance to verbalize some of this stuff. Paige Goldschmidt (Grantarium): It feels a little less like elementary school and a little bit more like college professorship. Ebony Miller (The ARAH Company): I think he's also helped me get out of just thinking about ARAH as a product and start thinking more like a founder. Ebony Miller (The ARAH Company): I think the biggest value has been knowing that I don't have to figure everything out by myself. Joseph Rusk (The BreadBoard Company): If you have the chance to work with him, I highly recommend it.
Four founders · 1:59
The help behind the company.
Joseph, Ebony, Darrell and Paige talk about the work behind their companies, and where Terry and Start Up Partners helped.
Watch the founder stories
The whole job, broken into the next step.
Twenty steps, grouped in four stages. My team runs each one with you, in the order that keeps your runway alive. We call it Concept to Company.
Foundation & validation
Confirm there is a real problem and a viable solution before we build anything.
- Problem identification
- Ideation
- Market analysis
- Customer discovery
- Value proposition
Business setup
Put the legal, financial and structural building blocks in place.
- Business model design
- Formation and legal
- Banking and credit
- Intellectual property strategy
Build & brand
Create the product and the identity that will represent it.
- Prototype and MVP
- Technical development
- Website and digital presence
- Social presence
- Branding and positioning
Go to market & growth
Take the product to market, generate revenue and plan for scale.
- Marketing
- Sales planning
- Pilot and early revenue
- Selling
- Revenue generation
- Scaling and growth
Things I tell founders all the time.
How to structure a paid pilot that turns into a real contract
A pilot should end in a yes or a no, not drift. Here is how we help founders structure a paid pilot: the five terms to put in writing, the steps to run it, and what to do when it works but there is no budget.
Read the postStartup incubators in Alabama: what each one gives a first-time founder
Incubators in Alabama mostly offer space, community and time, not a team that builds with you. Here is how we help first-time founders read the options and ask the right questions before they move in.
Read the postVenture studios in Alabama: who builds companies here, and how to pick one
Alabama has plenty of startup support organizations and only a few true venture studios. Here is how we map the landscape, including the players we compete with, and what to ask any studio before you sign.
Read the postLet us grab a coffee.
First contact is a real conversation, a coffee or a phone call. Tell me what you are building and I will tell you how we can help. No forms into a void, no chatbot, just me reading every word.
terry.chapman@sup.ventures A real person reads every word. Usually Terry, usually same day. No bots, no void.
On its way to Terry.
Your message is on its way to Terry. A real person reads every one, usually the same day. Prefer email? Write him at terry.chapman@sup.ventures .