Simple Ventures

“The idea person must learn enough of the craft to create greatness. It is more the age of the creator-polymath than the pure idea person.” ai is commoditizing ideation. if you work in startups, the craft is: experimentation, product, design, analytics, ops, code, growth, sales, finance, leadership. execution matters. there’s work to do.

I enjoyed chopping it up with Care Fader, Ben Yoskovitz, Gaurav Kapoor, Kristy Sadler, and Sally Daub last night at the Koru Venture Studio event. I learned a lot about how other studios build companies and met a ton of smart people. Shout-out to Benji Eisenberg, Leah Carr and the Koru team for hosting a great evening. 𝐎𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: For Simple Ventures, it's rather simple: We are founders/builders. We are GTM experts. We are bullish on Canada. I was proud to emphasize our immutable belief in Canada and our goal to build 10+ great Canadian-founded companies over the next 5 years. Canada has the talent and market potential; we’re here to provide a platform to unlock it. I also appreciated the opportunity to share how we deeply test and validate unit economics and revenue/cost drivers to maximize the odds of success for each concept (and how we end up killing 99% of concepts in the process...). Focusing on P&L de-risking and profitability from day 0 really matters for founder outcomes. If you design capital-efficient, good businesses, you need less dilution to achieve great results. Our venture building framework is clear: + Increase the probability of success. + Amplify the $$$ outcomes tied to that success. + Accelerate the time it takes to get there. 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: I also appreciated Vincent Atallah's thought-provoking question about Generative AI's potential to disrupt the venture studio research process—I happen to agree. As tools like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic increasingly commoditize research and desk-based information work—and can even generate half-decent investment theses from public data—venture studios need to rethink their methodologies. Our priorities should shift to generating *proprietary* data through in-market actions that uncover unique, asymmetric insights. This means prioritizing customer interviews and real-world market experiments over traditional desk work—activities that large language models can't yet replicate, access, or "see." Humans have the distinct advantage of connecting with other humans in real life, "getting out of the building", and creating new data points through direct interaction. Every experiment, conversation, and action produces unique insights that help us make sharper (and hopefully less wrong) decisions. A studio’s ability to engage directly with the market and generate proprietary data becomes its competitive edge for making higher expected value bets. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴: 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺.” —𝘌𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪

I enjoyed chopping it up with Care Fader, Ben Yoskovitz, Gaurav Kapoor, Kristy Sadler, and Sally Daub last night at the Koru Venture Studio event. I learned a lot about how other studios build companies and met a ton of smart people. Shout-out to Benji Eisenberg, Leah Carr and the Koru team for hosting a great evening. 𝐎𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: For Simple Ventures, it's rather simple: We are founders/builders. We are GTM experts. We are bullish on Canada. I was proud to emphasize our immutable belief in Canada and our goal to build 10+ great Canadian-founded companies over the next 5 years. Canada has the talent and market potential; we’re here to provide a platform to unlock it. I also appreciated the opportunity to share how we deeply test and validate unit economics and revenue/cost drivers to maximize the odds of success for each concept (and how we end up killing 99% of concepts in the process...). Focusing on P&L de-risking and profitability from day 0 really matters for founder outcomes. If you design capital-efficient, good businesses, you need less dilution to achieve great results. Our venture building framework is clear: + Increase the probability of success. + Amplify the $$$ outcomes tied to that success. + Accelerate the time it takes to get there. 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: I also appreciated Vincent Atallah's thought-provoking question about Generative AI's potential to disrupt the venture studio research process—I happen to agree. As tools like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic increasingly commoditize research and desk-based information work—and can even generate half-decent investment theses from public data—venture studios need to rethink their methodologies. Our priorities should shift to generating *proprietary* data through in-market actions that uncover unique, asymmetric insights. This means prioritizing customer interviews and real-world market experiments over traditional desk work—activities that large language models can't yet replicate, access, or "see." Humans have the distinct advantage of connecting with other humans in real life, "getting out of the building", and creating new data points through direct interaction. Every experiment, conversation, and action produces unique insights that help us make sharper (and hopefully less wrong) decisions. A studio’s ability to engage directly with the market and generate proprietary data becomes its competitive edge for making higher expected value bets. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴: 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺.” —𝘌𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪

🚨 PANEL ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 We’re excited to introduce an incredible lineup of tech leaders for our upcoming venture studio event: - Kristy Sadler (Moderator), CEO, Zestyplan - Care Fader, Venture GM, Koru - Rob Palumbo, Partner & COO, Simple Ventures - Sally Daub, Entrepreneur & Early-Stage Investor - Ben Yoskovitz, Founding Partner, Highline Beta - Gaurav Kapoor, Partner, Diagram Ventures Join us as these experts share their unique perspectives on venture building, innovative strategies for market validation, and practical insights into minimizing risk while launching ground-breaking tech ventures. 📍 Where: Downtown Toronto 🗓️ When: Wednesday, December 4th | 5:30–7:30 PM 💡 Topic: Koru Presents: De-Risking Innovation with Toronto’s Venture Studio Leaders Stay for networking with Toronto’s vibrant tech community, plus enjoy snacks and drinks! 🚨 Space is filling fast — register now to secure your spot. 👉 Register here: https://lu.ma/63i3qwy2 Don’t miss this chance to learn, connect, and build!

reflections on investigating >300 startup concepts at Simple Ventures 📈 in the last 18 months at simple ventures, we take a hypothesis-driven approach to testing new concepts and innovations. it’s non-linear, but staying focused on structured learning rather than blind execution has built muscle and tribal knowledge. we are learning when to go slow and when to go fast to increase expected value (and im learning to temper my own “need for speed” to stay focused). 1. start with a clear hypothesis (and in our case, an international example to test in 🇨🇦) every idea begins as an assumption about a problem, a customer, or a market. articulating the core assumptions upfront forces first principles thinking, and ensures we focus on the riskiest hypotheses. 2. directly test customer value propositions and ideal client personas to cut through noise our first step is validating demand-side hypotheses in a “building block” manner. for example, in regulated industries like fintech or healthcare, we test whether customers see enough value to engage at all—before diving into operational or regulatory complexity. 3. design targeted experiments and stage-gate when to go deep & when to cut validation isn’t about proving you’re right—it’s about learning quickly and proving you’re less wrong than yesterday. for one idea in the “home electrification” space, we ran a 3-day test with a landing page, search ads, and a survey to gauge (non)-interest, saving weeks of wasted effort on a low ev idea. 4. constantly interrogate the business model with new evidence (and points of view) after validating early demand signals through tests or discovery, we deep dive into the “business model” (literally a spreadsheet), cell by cell, to blow out the riskiest assumptions—whether that’s margins, pricing, or client acquisition costs. we all have blind spots, so it’s helpful to get domain expertise and other eyes on our #’s. 5. kill ideas early most concepts won’t work, and that’s a feature, not a bug, of a studio. tests are designed to expose flaws so we can pivot or move on. the learning curve is steep, and occasionally we’ll have false positives or false negatives. that’s okay—progress over perfection 😇. get comfortable with discomfort. 6. local market knowledge matters what works in other markets doesn’t always work in canada. for example, industry nuances and customer behavior around willingness to pay can make or break an idea. reality > our hypothesis. 7. venture studio diligence ≠ vc diligence the beauty of operating as a venture studio is we get a first hand view on how a company actually performs in market. there’s a sort of reverse-information assymetry compared to traditional venture, in that we learn what it takes to actually build and *operate* the startup. building something new is always non-linear. but by starting with clear hypotheses and structured experiments, we can de-risk ideas systematically and “stack the odds”. learning every day. 🙏

💡Join our team at Koru along with Simple Ventures Highline Beta and more on December 4th. Details and 🔗 to register https://lu.ma/63i3qwy2

Hey Toronto tech builders! Curious about how venture studios like Simple Ventures and Koru turn raw ideas into high-growth companies? If you're in Downtown Toronto on Wednesday, December 4th at 5:30 PM, join us for an in-person panel discussion, “Koru Presents: De-Risking Innovation with Toronto’s Venture Studio Leaders.” This panel features leaders from top Canadian studios — including Koru, Simple Ventures, and Highline Beta, with more to be announced. The panel will share insights on market testing strategies, key signals they look for, and how they make tough calls on whether to pursue or pivot on a venture idea. Our very own Rob Palumbo will be speaking on the panel alongside some great founder-operators. Stick around afterward for networking with Toronto's venture-building community, plus light snacks and drinks! Register here: https://lu.ma/63i3qwy2

“Humans are mimetic. Your peer group has an outsized impact on your mindset and aspirations. If you surround yourself with status-seekers and credentialists, you’ll aspire to get a job at McKinsey or Goldman. Surround yourself with wildly ambitious founders and you’ll aspire to build something huge.” - Tom Blomfield come build with founders at Simple Ventures 👋

a big lesson from year 1 of venture building at Simple Ventures: keep things simple. break down each concept to its simplest form and find out if there’s real demand for that core. then aim to knock out the riskiest assumption(s) associated with the biz. complexity doesn’t always equal value—it generally masks what’s not working. you can figure out what’s working by increasing your velocity of making contact with the market.

“I think Canada’s problem is we do two things: We pull things out of the ground and we finance pulling things out of the ground,” Michael Katchen said at a Toronto conference hosted by technology publication The Logic. “And frankly, we don’t do it all that well all the time. And I think the challenge is, if that’s the story we tell ourselves in 20 years, we’re in deep trouble.” Katchen added that the ticket to boosting productivity is to grow the country’s industries and diversify the economy, which can be solved through entrepreneurship. https://lnkd.in/gwcep7J6 Simple Ventures exists to change that trajectory. We’re a venture studio building the next generation of great Canadian-founded companies. Rachel Zimmer Rob Palumbo