We build to find out.
Some answers only exist once something does.
Some questions can be answered through research.
Others only become clear once something exists.
Storyworlding combines research, venture design, technology, product development, narrative, and real-world experimentation to determine whether an observation deserves to become a company.
The stages below overlap and repeat. A test can send us back to investigation, and a launch can reopen the structure.
Seven stages, rarely in a straight line
- 01
Notice
Something feels wrong, newly possible, unusually expensive, poorly allocated, or unresolved.
The initial signal may come from Storyworlding, a founder, investor, business owner, operator, customer, researcher, or domain expert.
- 02
Investigate
We work to understand:
- the existing system
- customer behavior
- incentives
- economics
- incumbents
- gatekeepers
- regulation
- technology
- cultural context
- why the problem has survived
We are less interested in proving an idea than in understanding the system that produced it.
- 03
Test
- Customer interviews.
- Prototypes.
- Market experiments.
- Business-model tests.
- Distribution tests.
- Technical proofs of concept.
- Willingness-to-pay experiments.
- 04
Structure
We determine:
- who should own the company
- who should operate it
- how contributors participate
- what Storyworlding contributes
- how capital should enter
- where IP belongs
- how incentives stay aligned
- 05
Build
- Product.
- Technology.
- Brand.
- Narrative.
- Business model.
- Distribution.
- Operations.
- Early customers.
- 06
Launch
Put the venture into the world and see what reality says.
- 07
Compound
Possible outcomes include:
- continue building inside Storyworlding
- recruit a founder or CEO
- spin out an independent company
- raise outside capital
- partner with strategic investors
- continue operating jointly
- stop, archive the learning, and redeploy attention elsewhere
We do not treat research as something that ends before building begins. Building is one of the ways we research.
Observe, investigate, build, learn, invest. Then observe again.
Every venture should leave us smarter than it found us.
What we learn building one company changes what we notice next, and where we put time, attention, and capital.
What a new company starts with
- StrategyPositioning, pricing, and the plan, led by Lauren.
- Product and engineeringA working first version with AI-assisted development, auth, payments, and a real database. Engineers join when the product needs them.
- Brand and designNames, identities, and sites, with typefaces drawn in house when a company needs its own.
- GrowthPaid, search, lifecycle, and content, run with the same Advise, Build, and Grow methods as client work.
- CapitalStoryworlding time and money for the first version, then introductions for the company's own raise.
- Legal and dataPrivacy and legal work through a partner law firm, and data scientists on call. Partners, not staff.
See it in the portfolio
Mastline began with a photographer who understood the economics of his industry. The Pull began with a lawyer who works on placements and sponsorships. Both show the stages above with a partner in the room.
Something worth testing?
Some questions only become clear once something exists. Start with what you noticed.