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Colabs · sister company

You bring the idea. We bring the team. You keep equity in what gets built.

Colabs is our sister company and the reason most of the portfolio above exists. A founder arrives with an idea and the domain knowledge that makes it credible, and almost always without the team to build it. Colabs supplies the team, the founder funds the build with a monthly subscription rather than a lump sum, and the founder holds equity in the company that results. Nobody is anybody's contractor: it is a company being built by two sides who each put something irreplaceable in.

[ 01 / THE DEAL ]

Two sides, both irreplaceable

Neither of us is the other's contractor. If either side could do it alone, this would not exist.

[ BRINGS ]

What the founder brings

  • The idea, and the domain knowledge that makes it more than an idea
  • The monthly subscription that funds the build
  • Decisions: what to build next, what to cut, who it is for
  • The market access that comes from actually knowing the industry
[ BRINGS ]

What Colabs brings

  • The team: engineers, automation, applied AI, design and delivery
  • The reusable stack, so a venture starts at month six rather than month zero
  • The discipline visible in the portfolio: measure it, gate it, refuse to launch on a guess
  • Operations after launch, so the thing keeps running
[ 02 / HOW IT GOES ]

From idea to running company

Four steps, and we say no to most things at the first one.

[ STEP 01 ]

Bring the idea

A conversation, not a pitch deck. We are looking for whether you know the industry, whether the problem is real, and whether software is genuinely the answer. We say no to most things at this step, and quickly, because a slow no is the expensive one.

[ STEP 02 ]

Agree the shape

Equity split, subscription level, milestones and what each side owns, all written down before any code exists. The split is negotiated per venture and it is never worked out afterwards.

[ STEP 03 ]

Build in the open

Fortnightly delivery against milestones you can see. The subscription buys continuous delivery rather than a fixed scope, because a new venture changes monthly and a fixed scope would be obsolete before it shipped.

[ STEP 04 ]

Launch and run

The venture goes live and Colabs keeps operating it: monitoring, incidents, changes. Equity vests against delivered milestones, not on signature.

[ 03 / THE TERMS ]

Written before any code exists

Every question that causes a founder dispute, answered up front.

SubscriptionFrom $2,400 a month, which is the same continuous-delivery rate published on our pricing page. Set against the venture, not per feature.
EquityNegotiated per venture and written before work starts. It vests against delivery milestones rather than on signature, in both directions.
What the founder ownsThe company, the brand, the customers and the data. That is the asset being built and it belongs to the venture.
What Colabs ownsThe reusable stack, licensed to the venture perpetually and irrevocably. It is what lets the next venture start further along.
If it endsThe licence survives. The venture keeps running whatever happens between us, because the alternative punishes the only party that did nothing wrong.
If the subscription stopsDelivery pauses, the venture keeps everything already built and keeps running. We do not switch anything off, and vested equity stays vested.
[ 04 / THE HONEST BIT ]

When not to do this

Equity is the most expensive currency you have. Spend it deliberately.

[ DO NOT DO THIS ]

When Colabs is the wrong answer

  • You can fund the build outright. Take a fixed-price build from the catalogue instead and keep one hundred percent of the company. Colabs costs you equity, and equity is the most expensive currency you have.
  • You want a contractor who does what they are told. Colabs has opinions about what gets built, and if that sounds like a problem then it is one.
  • The idea does not need software. Plenty do not, and we would rather say so on the first call than take a subscription for eighteen months.
  • You are not going to stay involved. Founder attention is the input we cannot replace, and a venture where the founder disappears is a venture that fails slowly and expensively.

If two of those are true, take a fixed-price build from the catalogue and keep the whole company. We would rather tell you that now.

[ 05 / THE EVIDENCE ]

19 ventures built this way

Each one labelled, with its real status rather than a flattering one.

All 23 projects
[ 06 / QUESTIONS ]

What founders ask

Including whether this is just an agency with extra steps.

How much equity do you take?

It is negotiated per venture and written down before any code exists, because a split agreed afterwards is a split someone resents. It vests against delivered milestones in both directions, so neither side is holding paper for work that did not happen.

What does the subscription actually buy?

Continuous delivery rather than a fixed scope: a team building fortnightly against milestones you set. From $2,400 a month, the same continuous-delivery rate published on our pricing page. A new venture changes monthly, and a fixed scope would be obsolete before it shipped.

What happens if I stop paying?

Delivery pauses. You keep everything already built, it keeps running, and vested equity stays vested. We do not switch anything off, because holding a founder's business hostage over an invoice is not a business model we want.

Who owns what?

You own the company, the brand, the customers and the data. Colabs owns the reusable stack and licenses it to the venture perpetually and irrevocably. That licence survives the relationship ending.

Is this just an agency with extra steps?

No, and the difference is that we are exposed. An agency gets paid whether or not the thing works. Colabs holds equity, so a venture that fails costs us as well as you. That is also why we say no to most ideas at the first conversation.

How do I know you will not just build it yourselves?

Because the idea is rarely the scarce part. Domain knowledge, market access and founder attention are, and none of those transfer. If we could build it without you, we would not be offering you equity.

Got an idea you cannot build alone?

Tell us what it is and what you know that nobody else does. If it is not right for Colabs we will say so on the first call.