Joshua Greene 🪩

Venture Studios are still widely misunderstood. They’re often grouped with accelerators or incubators, but that’s not what they are. A venture studio doesn’t invest in companies. It creates them. That distinction changes the model entirely. A studio doesn’t just write checks. It provides end-to-end company Creation-as-a-Service Through three roles: 1. Entrepreneur: finds the idea, validates the market 2. Operator: builds the product and runs the business 3. Investor: deploys capital and drives portfolio outcomes Both models share a few important things: - Discipline over capital - Operational control - Oversight at scale A studio doesn’t just create companies. It de-risks the entire experience of starting one. P.S. For more insights on Venture Studios, follow (Matthew Burris).

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Last week AZ-VC Managing Partner, Jack Selby, posted about a significant corporate loss for the State of Arizona. While the post isn’t specifically about the state of the VC market in Arizona it highlights some of the shortcomings of a market we love – but when it comes to our relationship with AZ (like other active V.C.s in the state), well… it’s complicated. Here is a redacted rundown (due to length) of my full take on the AZ Venture Ecosystem. (Full article linked in the comments.) Those of us in the Arizona market have heard the rumblings of the sleeping giant in “The Silicon Desert“ for decades, only for those promises to continually fall short. It feels like there is momentum to some, but the reality is there are some serious shortcomings in this market marked by three key factors. Corporate Involvement From where I sit, this is the biggest issue with the State of Arizona, and it’s a real blocker to success. We have very few fortune 500 companies headquartered here, currently 10, if you walked into any restaurant or bar in the state and surveyed the guests, I’d set the over under at ‘1’ for the number of people who can name the biggest company in our state. Therein lies the problem. The biggest company in our state, Freeport McMoran (a global mining company) is not involved. They have no community presence and certainly aren’t supporting the venture community... Access to Talent Arizona State is the largest research and innovation university in the country, yet I rarely see talent bursting out of their doors to start a homegrown company. Even when great talent does emerge from ASU, they’re often bursting through those doors and right on out of the state to chase more established ecosystems in other regions. The University of Arizona boasts a massive and highly accredited medical college, despite that I am hard pressed to think of a SaaS founder to come out of the program looking to solve one of the umpteenth problems in the medical profession... Founders with Exits Which leads me to the third and final ingredient, founders with exits. Highly visible and successful founders who have a massive exit is a win, it must be celebrated and also re-invested, in order to grow the ecosystem. Gregg Scoresby, Managing Partner at PHX Ventures is a great example of this. He successfully exited CampusLogic and now gives back to the ecosystem through his Seed fund at PHX Ventures... How do we awaken the sleeping giant that is the “Silicon Desert?” A unified and intentional effort, driven and curated by our capital allocators, with backing from our corporates, schools, and successful founders would be one hell of a start.

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🚨 The venture model is changing. Slowly—and then all at once. Why small teams, capital efficiency, and sharp judgment are the new edge in VC. For years, venture was a scale game: Raise fast. Burn fast. Grow faster. And in a world of infinite-margin software, it worked. But AI is rewriting the rules: 🔺 Costs are higher 🔻 Margins are lower ⚡️ Growth is faster—but not stickier Suddenly, the old playbook looks… dated. Here’s what I’m seeing shift—and what it means for the next generation of VC firms: ✅ Capital efficiency isn’t a constraint—it’s a competitive advantage ✅ Growth isn’t a moat—retention and feedback loops are ✅ Small, sharp teams outperform consensus committees ✅ Insight is the new edge—research is free ✅ Trust moves faster, but the bar is higher Founders are raising less and doing more. Startups are hitting revenue and profitability faster. And the most compelling checks may come from the smallest funds—with the highest conviction. I’m building a fund around these principles. If you are too—founder, investor, or operator—I’d love to connect. 👇 Link to full post in the comments.

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Vimeo just got acquired for $1.38B. A quiet end to a loud ambition... 2004: Vimeo spun out of CollegeHumor 2006: IAC bought it for $26M 2021: Vimeo went public 2025: it’s going private again (sold to Bending Spoons at $7.85/share) Vimeo wanted to compete with YouTube. Then Netflix. Then it pivoted into B2B video tools. It never truly owned any of those lanes. Now it’s being folded into a European tech conglomerate best known for acquiring underperforming software with brand recognition (Evernote, StreamYard, WeTransfer, Meetup) Being a “video company” isn’t enough.  YouTube owns scale. TikTok owns culture. Zoom owns meetings. Vimeo owns: student short films? B2B SaaS isn’t a guaranteed escape hatch. Vimeo made the pivot, cut costs, focused on enterprise and still struggled to grow fast enough... Public markets reward dominance, not survival. Even with a 91% premium over its recent stock price, Vimeo sold for a fraction of what it once hoped to become.

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A healthy cap table tells you everything about founder commitment. Recently spoke with a 6-year-old gaming studio seeking funding where investors already owned 70% of the company. This is what I call the "founder exit warning": when ownership is so diluted, founders often have one foot out the door. As an investor, I look for a simple indicator: when investor ownership starts with a "3" (under 40%), it signals that founders have navigated previous rounds while maintaining meaningful stake. Founders: Consider creating a new stock option program before fundraising that benefits you and your operational team. This protects the ownership of those actually building the company and dilutes existing investors and non-operational people who've maybe left the company. Investors: The best returns come from teams who remain financially invested in their own success.

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Venture Studios: Hype, hope, or the future of startups? Over four conversations on the Startups Decoded podcast, one theme has become clear: Venture studios aren’t just a new model. They’re building the next infrastructure layer of innovation. But the path isn’t clear-cut. Studios are still fighting for legitimacy, struggling with investor education, and experimenting with structure, equity, and speed. Across these episodes, a few insights consistently surfaced: - Validation beats vision: Studios that test, kill, and iterate fast win. - Operators are everything: The right founder at the right time changes the outcome. - Studios are still misunderstood: Many LPs and VCs don’t get how to value or back them. - AI is the next unlock: From workflows to decision-making, studios are becoming AI-native. - Structure breeds creativity: Studios work best when governance enables, not restricts, startup chaos. If you’re an aspiring founder, building a studio, working in one, or investing in early-stage startups, these episodes are your playbook: Ep#7 - Legitimizing Venture Studios w/ Neal Ghosh Ep#14 - Venture Studios vs. Traditional Startups w/ Ben Yoskovitz Ep#19 - The AI Playbook: How Founders Must Adapt w/ Mark S. McNally Ep#24 - Why Venture Studios Are the Future w/ Matthew Burris Listen in → https://lnkd.in/g655jzfy Highline Beta, Nobody Studios, 9point8 Collective, The Venture Studio Forum

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GPT-5 isn’t the leap many expected and that’s good for startups. When every release feels like a step change, model providers tend to absorb more of the value chain. Slower jumps mean more room for startups to build durable products, own distribution, and differentiate through workflow, UX, data, and domain expertise. Instead of being displaced by the next API call from the frontier, founders can double down on deep integrations and compounding advantages knowing the ground beneath them won’t shift overnight.

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5 MAJOR Changes Coming to Fundraising in 2025! The fundraising is evolving fast. If you're still relying on pitch decks and "warm intros" alone...you're already behind. Here are 5 shifts we’re seeing across 1,500+ founders we’ve supported: 1. Investors want data, not dreams. A clear, dynamic forecast is becoming more powerful than a flashy deck. 2. Runway is under a microscope. VCs want proof your money won’t vanish in 6 months. Generic headcount math doesn't work. 3. Founder clarity beats charisma. Confidence backed by numbers > storytelling without substance. 4. Scenario planning is the new secret weapon. You need to show what happens if things go wrong. Or right. 5. Raising without a model = Red Flag Every investor has seen a pretty deck. Few have seen founders walk in with investor-ready numbers. Bottom line: 2025 fundraising will reward founders who are sharp, transparent, and financially clear. If you're planning a raise soon, start with the one thing most founders skip👇 A model that actually builds trust. Want help getting yours in shape? Book a free strategy call with our team here → https://lnkd.in/ePXBVpiE P.S. We helped Wasted earth raise $5M with a model we built together. Happy to show you how it works.

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I recently chatted w/Clay Norris about building VC funds. We talked about everything from misconceptions about starting a fund to being transparent with founders. My fave part was our exchange on the underappreciated role of luck. You can read the interview at: https://lnkd.in/edWfktGG

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