Zincan Venture Studio Raleigh, NC
Bring the founder. We bring the company.
Zincan builds companies with one founder at a time. You get studio capital, a partner in the room every week, and Zincan Venture Studio, where you talk to Coach and Engineering, Design, Sales and Legal do the work.
You9:41
We demo to the county on Tuesday. Need a logo, a landing page and something to hand out.
Coach9:41
On it. Design is drafting three marks, Engineering is on the landing page, and I’ll have Print proof business cards once you pick a mark.
Coach is bringing in Design…
- Logo candidates· ready for review
- Landing page pull request· checks passing
- Business cards· proof ready
How it works
From first conversation to shipping.
The same four steps for every founder we build with.
- 01
We reach out, or you ask
An invitation from Zincan, or a request from you. Either way it starts with a conversation, not a pitch deck.
- 02
You apply
A real application, not a form. It saves as you go, and someone at Zincan reads it.
- 03
We decide, clearly
Yes or no, with reasons. If it's yes, we agree terms in writing before anyone builds.
- 04
You build, with the studio
Your company opens in Zincan Venture Studio on day one. You talk to Coach, and the work gets done.
Inside the studio
One conversation. A whole company behind it.
Talk to Coach like you’d talk to a cofounder. Coach brings in the right specialist, and the work shows up as things you can hold: a logo, a pull request, a postcard on its way to print, an NDA ready to sign.
Your company
Goals · Deliverables · Homework · Team
Brand kit · waiting on your reviewSales
Prospecting · Branding · Print
Postcards · on their way to printProduct
Engineering
Landing page pull request · checks passingLegal
Legal · Data Room
Mutual NDA · ready to sign
The deal
What we bring. What we ask.
We build with one founder per company, so it has to be the right one. Here is the whole shape of it, before you ask.
We bring
- Capital to validate, build and launch
- A monthly stipend, so you can focus
- Zincan Venture Studio and its built-in specialists from day one
- Someone from Zincan in the room every week
- Shared infrastructure, tooling and design system
- Introductions across the Zincan network
We ask
- Real hours. This doesn't work as a side project you get to on Sundays.
- Candour, especially when things are going badly
- A willingness to change the idea when the evidence says to
- Equity: you keep the majority and control, and we take a meaningful minority stake that vests like yours does
Some companies we start ourselves, and those we own outright.
Featured ventures
Real companies, shipping.
Each one built at Zincan and run in Zincan Venture Studio.
Chaz
LivePayments, scheduling and customer messages in one place, with the follow-ups sent for you.
Built at Zincan
Not starting a company? We build software for yours.
For companiesThe people
Someone from Zincan is in the room every week.
Nate Collins
Founder, Zincan
Nate has been a CEO, a CTO and a principal engineer, and helped scale IXN Tech (acquired by Hexure), MX and Teamworks. Zincan is where he builds companies with founders: in the room every week, and in Zincan Venture Studio every day.
More about ZincanRoots · San Francisco, 1895
A family name, and a café in San Francisco.
Zincan is named for Charles A. Zinkand, known as Chaz, who opened Café Zinkand in San Francisco’s Spreckels Building in 1895, and made it a place where culture, ideas and community thrived.
His great-great-grandson carries the name now, and builds companies in the same spirit.
Our story
Have the idea and the hours?
We build with one founder per company, and we read every request.