Notes from the desk
Field notes and playbooks for early founders, from Start Up Partners.
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.
By Terry Chapman
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.
By Terry Chapman
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.
By Terry Chapman
Most grant lists are stale and built for search engines, not founders. Here are the non-dilutive programs we actually point Alabama startups toward, and how to tell whether one is worth your time.
By Terry Chapman
One is a program and one is a team. Here is how we explain the difference between a venture studio and an accelerator, and how to tell which gap your company actually has.
By Terry Chapman
A founder's map of the Birmingham startup ecosystem: where the work happens, who convenes and funds, who builds alongside you, and how to get plugged in without wasting a year.
By Terry Chapman
The list of Alabama accelerators, incubators and competitions is longer than most founders expect, and the programs are not interchangeable. Here is how we help founders read the map before they spend a quarter on applications.
By Terry Chapman
A studio takes a piece of your company before there is really a company. Here is what venture studio equity buys, how the deal is usually structured, and how to tell whether the trade is fair for where you are.
By Terry Chapman
Every venture studio website says roughly the same thing. Here is how to choose a venture studio on evidence instead of positioning, including the warning signs we would walk away from.
By Terry Chapman
Every founder gets pitched by someone. The offers all sound like help, and they are not the same thing. Here is the way we evaluate a startup partner, including us.
By Terry Chapman
Your first customers do not come from marketing. They come from a list of names, a direct ask, and about forty conversations. Here is the process we run with founders to get to the first yes.
By Terry Chapman
A technical co-founder is not a developer you pay, they are an owner. Here is the process we run with founders to find the right one, and how to tell when you do not need one at all.
By Terry Chapman
An MVP is not a smaller version of your dream product. It is an experiment with a customer attached. Here is how we help founders build one that earns a real answer.
By Terry Chapman
The equity split is the easiest decision to make while everyone is excited and the hardest to unwind once someone leaves. Here is the framework we run with founders before the handshake becomes a lawsuit.
By Terry Chapman
Accelerator, incubator, venture fund, venture studio. The labels blur together fast. Here is what a venture studio actually is, and how ours works with founders from idea to first revenue.
By Terry Chapman
Published by Start Up Partners sup.ventures
By Terry Chapman
Being sure your idea works is not the same as being right. Here are the five customer discovery moves we use to validate a startup idea before anyone builds anything.
By Terry Chapman
Most founders rush the paperwork and skip the five decisions that actually matter. Here is the short list we walk every founder through before formation.
By Terry Chapman