Founders and investors alike were hopeful the funding winter would start to thaw in 2024. However, the latest figures show that the adverse impacts are still being felt by startups globally.
In the US, VC funding is still down about 47%, and 63% globally. Meanwhile, over 35,000 startups had to close their doors in 2023 due to the scarce amount of funding, heightened investor expectations and persistently high-interest rates.
With global consumption in 2024 still on the down and geopolitical tensions rising, the fortunes of startups are in a delicate balance.
Still, one enterprise is committed to its mission of building 100 new companies in just 5 years. Nobody Studios is a high-velocity studio with a belief that the very fundamentals of business creation are due for an overhaul in order to compete with the tough odds new companies are dealt in today’s world.
The team behind the brand
Nobody Studios was initially started by a handful of executives including Mark McNally, who continues to lead as CEO to this day. McNally has over 25 years of experience across 14 startups which led to him becoming a devout future enthusiast obsessed with finding companies that have the power to change the world. He’s also a strong family man, veteran, pilot and world traveler which seeded the idea to make Nobody Studios have a strong people-first paradigm that democratizes access to company creation support.
McNally leads at the helm alongside Greg Lovett, Chief Financial Officer at Nobody Studios. Lovett is an accomplished executive with extensive experience building, growing, and improving both privately held startups to publicly traded corporations globally.
Rounding out the executive team are Connie Kwan, Chief Product Officer; Tiffany Hansen, Chief of Staff & VP of Operations; Eyal Shavit, Chief Technology Officer; Sejal Thakkar, Chief Culture Officer; Kyle Kane, Chief Marketing Officer; and Barry O’Reilly, Chief Incubation Officer.
Supporting the leadership team is a diverse and collaborative community of technologists and marketers, supported by the knowledge, experience, and systems to bring the best ideas to life. To date, this winning team has helped to raise over $600M, deliver $7B in exits and create over 40 startups.
But what is the secret to such numbers during the current climate?
The secret sauce at the studio
You’ve heard of crowdfunding and you’ve heard of startup incubators. At Nobody Studio, the decidedly different approach uses a crowd-infused incubation model to build companies that promise to deliver massive cultural and social impact at a 40% faster rate than usual.
The inclusive company culture has been purpose-built for speed, profitability, and impact with a goal to open the world of entrepreneurism and venture investing to everyone.
Equally, the team at Nobody Studios provides a welcome alternative to the era when founders were turned into cult-like gods, a trend which contributed in part to the inflated company valuations seen before the funding winter hit. Instead, the studio is just as likely to support ‘nobodies’ as it is founders with a track record of success, with a focus placed instead on the collective benefit that each company can deliver in its target market.
Although news that the current funding winter is nearing to an end will be welcome to many, the team at Nobody Studios also hopes that the startup community will take forward some important lessons from this painful period. A future that makes realistic valuations and diligent investing the norm, leaves unsustainable hype cycles in the past to usher in a more prudent era.
Said McNally in an earlier interview, “We specialize in de-risking seed-stage companies and identifying repeatable, scalable business models. We bring together investors, founders, and creatives to forge companies with real-world value and purpose.”
“The economics of business creation are in desperate need of an overhaul. No longer will it be only a very tiny privileged minority that is invited to this table. Our stakeholders will share the founders’ journey. Anyone can bring their talent, influence, or capital to help us create world-changing companies,” added the executive.
As ever, founders need determination and grit to succeed, but with the inspiring vision found at funds like Nobody Studios’ the creative spirit is being kept alive.
Featured photo of Nobody Studios CEO Mark McNally
This article includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company
