If you’re thinking of building a business, there’s one thing you need to know: venture building is a real and much-needed part of MENA’s startup ecosystem. In this blog post, we’re going to dispel five of the most common myths about venture building. By understanding these myths, you can make better decisions about whether or not joining a venture builder is the right choice for you.
Myth 1: Venture builders are the same as accelerators
There is a lot of confusion out there about what exactly a venture builder is. Some people mistakenly believe that they are homogenous to accelerators – giving startups capital and then monitoring their progress.
That couldn’t be further from the truth! Venture builders provide not just capital, but also the holistic and operational support required to execute a business model, and launch a product from the idea stage through to Series A. Accelerators, on the other hand, aim to advance the growth of an existing company with a product and a business model already in place.
In other words, venture building is probably the best option to take if you want to build a business without having to worry about market validation or testing out your product/service.
Myth 2: Just a fancy new buzzword with no real value
Venture building equals having a full suite of subject-matter experts to support you on your journey. Modus Venture Builders include marketing, tech, strategy, product, research, and design support – their expertise provides a level of value-add that is not often available in the early stages of building a startup. This is an invaluable resource for a founder.
Related Read: Building a MENA Startup: Ventures Lab Q&A
Typically, for a startup, it can take years to get anything off the ground. You would be seeking co-founders, partners, investors, or consumers to test and accept your product/service for lengthy periods of time.
But, once the initial link is established, there’s a halo effect: this is why being supported by venture building and a team of experts keeps you a step ahead at all times.
Myth 3: You won’t gain access to funding
Getting your business idea off the ground is the most important step – capital will follow suit once you have a solid plan in place.
Being part of a venture builder will enable you to move from zero to one, and build de-risked products/startups, which will, in turn, help you reach a point where you are ready to raise money effectively. Our venture builders have multiple inflection points where a go/no-go decision may be made.
This decision is based on a disciplined investment process where the team vets each partnership carefully from the get-go. Each startup will receive 450K in-kind resources to help them throughout their time in the program (Modus VB Fund).
Graduates of our venture builders will have the option of accessing the venture capital fund, but the only requirement is that Modus cannot be the only professional investor to invest in the round post-Builder graduation.
“The answer is simple, the builder turns into the ideal pipeline for seed and series A+ investing. Not only does the fund give builder graduates a streamlined way of raising funds, it gives the fund team a vetted pipeline of companies that we know are built with proven frameworks and methodologies.” – Simon Tkachenko, Why we Launched Venture Builders in MENA
Myth 4: You need to validate your idea before joining a VB
Yes, research and validation are crucial to identify your target market and verify your assumptions through real facts, data, and human insights. Yet, that is the purpose of joining a venture builder early: you do not need to have it all figured out. At the end of the day, we understand that businesses come in all shapes and sizes, so we’ll take every idea and validate it, then only tweak based on the factual outcomes.
Through a venture builder, founders can validate their business against key metrics from inception, and develop a clear roadmap to success.
Myth 5: You will lose full control of your startup
We understand it might take a while to adjust to another team’s approach to doing things, but being supported by a venture builder only removes the burdens from entrepreneurship by acting as your co-founder and support system.
A venture builder doesn’t replace you or your founding team, instead, it acts as a safety net with a team of entrepreneurs and operators partnering with you to provide tailored hand-in-hand venture-building support, strategic business planning, fundraising preparedness, and product growth management aligned to business objectives throughout the entire early-stage lifecycle.
Venture building is not a one-size-fits-all model – we know that you know your idea, team, and startup best, and will always provide a unique, hands-on approach to work alongside you, not over you.
Venture builders are essential to the success of a startup. In addition to helping you identify and explore opportunities, they can also help you build relationships with potential partners and customers, navigate complex legal and financial systems, and bring your product to market as efficiently as possible. Therefore, if you have an innovative idea and are willing to take on your next challenge, a venture builder may be the appropriate next step for you.
More Resources:
Modus Capital and Hub71 Partner to Build and Invest in Scalable Tech Startups
A Startup’s Key to Success: The Process of Testing and Iterating
