Startup Studios – are they a thing?

http://writing.makeshift.io/pieces/startup-studios-are-they-a-thing

by choosenick • 12 years ago

26 16 12 years ago

writing.makeshift.io

AVTizzle• 12 years ago

Hmmm... I've never heard the term "startup studio" before, and this post didn't really define it before diving into the nuances of it.

(i.e. I feel like I started reading about horsepower and power-to-weight ratio before being told I was reading about a car.)

... Does anyone else know what a "startup studio" is?

ulisesrmzroche2• 12 years ago

Looks like they want to take the concept of a movie studio maybe. There are some similarities, I think, between the two industries, mainly in that they are both really about producing hits, but I dunno, it's also a bit of a stretch. Once you're done with Post-Production, you're pretty much done. Stories don't require much maintenance.

zrail• 12 years ago

There's a lot that happens with the artifacts after post production but it's not very glamorous. Initial distribution, licensing, merchandising, negotiating rental and streaming windows (i.e. more distribution), disc releases, special editions, etc etc.

Stuff like that for franchises like The Hobbit or the Twilight series can easily last a decade. There was recently an article about how The Shawshank Redemption is still being distributed and is still amassing residuals 20 years down the line[1]. Operations don't stop after opening night.

[1] http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230453610...

DarkTree• 12 years ago

Sounds like a condensed version of Google

EC1• 12 years ago

I quit my job a month ago. Started a startup studio with a few buddies (business, sales, marketing, artists, developers, designers, product engineers). In our first month we made 50k~ish. We have a vodka brand we did videography for, a few startups we did product design for, UX, mobile apps, websites, everything.

Also allows us to exponentially build our portfolio and spend capital on expanding rapidly into new areas.

After the first few startups you start to get a sense of what your internal process looks like, this allowed us to ship products faster and charge more too.

This all started when I was working on a mobile app startup (single app) with my buddy and looked at him and asked "what if we sold shovels in the gold rush instead of competing in it?"

Best decision we ever made.

I should probably write a blog post.

choosenick• 12 years ago

Sounds interesting. I'd read it. At my company Makeshift we had a similar idea (the shovels) - hence our strapline 'we make tools for startups'

michaelchisari• 12 years ago

"what if we sold shovels in the gold rush instead of competing in it?"

Very interesting. I'd love to read a blog post about it. What's the name of your company?

amitklein• 12 years ago

we have had a similar model: startupgiraffe, its been a great way to build a team, play with different technologies/verticals and invest (discount rates for equity) in startups. there are definitely a lot of pros/cons of the approach though.

sixQuarks2• 12 years ago

Wait, how is this different from a web design/development firm? I don't consider what you're doing as a startup studio, unless you guys are building and marketing your own ventures.

cjbarber• 12 years ago

What's your email? I'm cjbarber@stanford.edu and would love to ask a question!

lhnz• 12 years ago

Well they are certainly a thing when you can point out examples of them aren't they.

Perhaps this structure works best in cultures that have difficulty accepting failure. Moving on to another project when one isn't working out is easier than admitting defeat after the failure of a whole company. It's the same obviously but psychologically it's easier for us.

Generally I have this sneaking intuition that the success of the multiple project approach depends on the size of the market and the type of consumers. It's fairly well accepted that it's harder to start rocket-ship type startups in the UK than it is in the US. Perhaps we are better suited to this approach?

Either way, I like the idea and it seems to be the business version of what more product-focused engineers do in their spare time. I am personally aiming to create a project a year at this point and would like to make them additive too if I can.

This, to me, is companies operating as people.

usumoio• 12 years ago

This is getting ridiculous. We're having full on conversations about what to name our already buzzword saturated offices. This studio is doing the same thing I've seen incubators do which is the same thing smart companies have always done. Provide good places for people to work hard.

It will never matter what you call the office as the terms are arbitrary. Find a place to work and then just work hard. Call it the immaculate teakettle house if you like, just make money while you do it. What is in a name, an office by any other name is still where I code.

sprobertson• 12 years ago

I didn't know there was a term for it, but I've been running a "startup studio" (http://prontotype.us/) for the last two years. Our terms are a bit different - we take only take a minority share and don't (currently) work on the marketing side of things, but the concept is the same - building software for early-stage entrepreneurs to validate their idea & market.

sixQuarks2• 12 years ago

I consider IdeaLab http://www.idealab.com to be the ultimate Startup Studio. Science ( http://science-inc.com ) also labels themselves a startup studio.

If your "studio" is doing design/development work for other companies, that automatically disqualifies you as a startup studio (in my book)

CodeCube• 12 years ago

The Melrose Center in Orlando has an interesting model. They provide tons of infrastructure and space for all kinds of creative and technical work: video, audio, electronics, 3d printing, along with workstations loaded with all kinds of software: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxkyuXAzAIg

All for free for county residents :) http://tic.ocls.info/

Also in Orlando - http://starterstudio.com/

Startup Studios – are they a thing?

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