Vaporware

Vaporware is a B2B software
startup studio.
We partner with founders to build high-growth companies.

What We Do

We validate, build, and sell B2B SaaS products with founders who have domain expertise and vision.

  • Market Research
  • Design Thinking
  • Customer Discovery
  • Concept Validation
  • Go-To-Market
  • Product Management
  • Engineering
  • Data Science
  • UI & UX Design
  • Marketing
  • Pipeline Development
  • Customer Acquisition
  • Product-Led Growth
  • Customer Success
  • Operations
  • Company Formation
  • Recruiting
  • Fundraising
  • Legal & HR
  • Finance

Results

9

Funded Startups

Thriving startups we've
helped scale and fund.

70

Ideas Tested

Founders we’ve helped
test the market with their idea.

8.4M

Funds Raised

Pre-series investments
our startups have raised.

See some of the startups we’ve helped.

How we do it

Building a successful startup takes years and often leaves founders over-diluted. We've developed the playbook and team to eliminate those risks.

Research

Research

Start with your idea. We outline your opportunity with a strong go-to-market strategy in the form of our Startup Blueprint.

We combine our technical and product expertise with your market expertise to refine your idea into one that can be a venture-scaled software company that customers will love.

Validate

Validate

Every idea looks great, but 9 out of 10 aren't. Instead of building every idea, we use pitch decks, landing pages, and mockups to see if the idea is worth your energy.

With unbiased customer feedback, investor interest, and passionate early adopters, we only move forward when customers demand it.

Create

Create

When the market demands a solution, we move fast. Our in-house team of product builders turn your validated concept into a real product with early adopters.

At the same time, our in-house team of product sellers build and execute on a repeatable pipeline with proven B2B Sales and marketing techniques to acquire your first paying customers, targeting meaningful recurring revenue.

Scale

Scale

Great companies scale fast. With our founder-friendly investor relationships we'll get your company funded with seed-stage investors, and staffed with top-tier employees to scale as a standalone startup.

FAQ

  • Will Vaporware develop my app idea?

    If it's a B2B SaaS product, we can build it, but the question is should we?. We focus on solving the problem as the market demands, and are not tied particular solutions. Before starting this process, it's important to know that most ideas change, sometimes drastically, during the early market research and validation phases.

  • Does Vaporware take equity?

    Usually Vaporware does not take pre-seed equity.

  • How much does Vaporware's process cost?

    Spend is unique per startup and depends on growth strategy and product complexity. We start lean engagements at $10K with the research phase.

    Not sure what you should invest? We offer a financial planning service to project ROI based on current market data.

  • How long does Vaporware's process take?

    While speed depends on the complexity of the idea and sales cycle in the market, we've reduced the risk and uncertainty through our standardized process.

    We've invalidated go-to-market ideas in just 2 weeks. The fastest we've gotten to funding is 6 months, but most startups take a year or more as sales cycles dictate most B2B software adoption which drives traction metrics to attract investors.

  • How many startups does Vaporware work with at a time?

    As a focused team, we're actively researching, validating, creating, and scaling 3 startups at a time.

  • Does Vaporware have a fund?

    Studios that also have funds usually work on spinning out their own idea, taking a founder's share (30-70%) of the startup. Most don't even develop the products themselves.

    We work with founders who own a problem and have some ideas, so they keep 100% of their company until they're ready to fund raise and the terms are in their favor. We're happy to chat with founders who need discounts to ease cash flow in exchange for equity, but have to be mindful of what future investment rounds look like.

  • How is Vaporware different from an accelerator or incubator?

    Our focus is on creating the startup validation and execution, not teaching you how to do it. If you want to learn how to do this stuff on your own, there are hundreds of resources and some amazing programs locally that can teach you.

    We adapt our framework for launching high-growth startups to your particular business requirements. That means you won't be part of a large cohort or have a demo day. We'll work towards actual outcomes and results instead.

  • Is Vaporware a technical co-founder?

    We often play a technical co-founder role for many business founders. We're also a product, sales, marketing, design, and financial co-founder. Better yet? We're all that in one. We bring this variety of experience and perspective as a cohesive team to all the startups we work on.

  • Is Vaporware a development firm?

    Development firms write code for business requirements. While that's a step in our process, we focus holistically on taking products to market. If you just need a team of devs to do what you tell them, we're not the right fit.

  • Do I have to be in (or move to) Raleigh to work with Vaporware?

    Not at all. The majority of the founders we work with are from all over the US. It's helpful to collaborate in person occasionally, but thanks to tools like Miro and Slack, virtual can be better.