Every great startup eventually becomes a studio.
- Startup = Growth.
- No company can grow forever with just one product.
- The best startups launch, buy, and grow many products.

The old way to invent is to make a studio inside the startup:
- Xerox → PARC
- Google → X
- Amazon → Grand Challenge
The new way to build to make the whole startup a studio:
- Google → Alphabet
- Facebook → Meta
This generation of founders is starting younger, growing faster, and running their companies longer.
- Keeping their startups in perpetual studio mode is key to staying relevant for another generation.
I’ve now been running my indie startup studio Utopic for 7+ months after being founder & CEO of my VC-backed startup Labdoor for 9+ years.
- Running an indie startup studio means doing everything yourself, from building your own website to manufacturing your own products.
Here are the 6 biggest differences I see between studios and startups:
1. Home Runs vs. Singles:
- VC-backed startups are incentivized to go $1B+ or bust every time.
- That’s great for VCs, but horrible for founders who strike out.
- Startup studios can build a portfolio of profitable businesses.
- Swing for singles and some will go over the fence.
2. It’s actually easier for studios to focus:
- Startups have to keep chasing larger target markets as they scale.
- This forces them to aim too wide.
- Studios can focus each of their products on precise target markets.
- Studios often have many different products in their portfolio, which can be hard to operate.
- But each product in a studio usually has its own leader(s), which makes them easier to run.
- Studios often have many different products in their portfolio, which can be hard to operate.
3. Studios are harder to fund than startups.
- Most founders can’t raise money for a studio until they’ve gotten a successful startup exit.
- Startups have thousands of investors they can target for early-stage investments.
- Accelerators, angels, and VCs each specialize in different phases of startup growth.
4. Studios can target a wider range of asset classes:
- Studios that follow a hits-based model are still great investments for VCs.
- VCs can invest in specific startups that “graduate” from studios.
- VCs can also back funds that invest in every startup created by specific studios.
- PEs, endowments, and family offices might prefer to invest in the studios themselves.
- These funds can back more profitability-focused studios.
5. Studios require two types of focus: zooming in and zooming out.
- If you love being zoomed in, own your own business.
- If you love being zoomed out, be a VC.
- If you love both, startup studios are for you.
6. Both can bootstrap with services, but studios keep those businesses:
- Startups and studios can both use services businesses to cover early costs before they raise money.
- Startups almost always shut these businesses down once they get funded, but studios can keep them as cash cows.
I believe more founders should start studios instead of just startups.
- Parallel entrepreneurship, not serial entrepreneurship.
I’m now building Utopic, the Dreamville (or Roc-A-Fella) for startups.
- Utopic Studio is my indie startup studio.
- Utopic Ventures will be my fund to invest in other founders.
If you’re considering starting your own studio, please DM me. I’d love to talk!