02Our Approach
A patient, practical way of turning ideas into businesses.
We do not follow a formula. We follow a sequence of questions, asked honestly and in order, and we are willing to stop when the answers do not support going further.
The four steps
Identify
Problems worth solving, and room for a thoughtful new entrant.
We look for problems worth solving and markets with room for a thoughtful new entrant. We pay attention to the substance of an idea and to the person or team behind it, and we test our assumptions early, while the cost of being wrong is small.
Develop
Who it is for, and what the first useful version looks like.
A promising idea is shaped before it is built. We define who it is for, what the first useful version looks like, what it will cost to make and run, and how we will know whether it is working.
Build
Small, deliberate steps with clear milestones.
We build in small, deliberate steps, with clear milestones and the right collaborators for the work. We favor shipping something modest and learning from it over planning something large and learning nothing.
Support
Planning, administration and sensible governance, for as long as it helps.
Once a business exists, it needs ongoing attention: planning, administration, sensible governance and someone to ask the hard questions. We aim to support any venture we take on for as long as it is useful to do so.
Habits
A few commitments we hold ourselves to.
Start small, learn quickly
Early versions are for finding out what is true.
Say what we know and what we do not
Clear thinking depends on honest labels.
Keep options open
Commitments are made in stages, not all at once.
Measure progress, not activity
Busy is not the same as advancing.