Editing Openai/69636561-a85c-8009-a6d2-38643aad9e40 (section)

== research ==
=== User: Research historical and modern precedents where an accomplished investor, advisor, or operator fully funded a company a… ===
Research historical and modern precedents where an accomplished investor, advisor, or operator fully funded a company and paid the salary of a founder-operator, while retaining majority equity, board control, and ultimate authority, and where the founder-operator functioned day-to-day as the CEO or primary builder.

Focus on models where:

The founder-operator behaved like a true founder (long-term commitment, identity-level ownership, team-building responsibility)

The investor/advisor retained majority ownership and control

The company was designed to scale beyond any single individual

The structure aimed to minimize key-person risk over time

Specifically analyze:

Documented precedents (e.g. venture studios, search funds, operator-in-residence models, incubators, or bespoke arrangements)

Equity and compensation structures used (salary, vesting, cliffs, option pools, performance-based equity, earn-ins)

Governance models (board composition, control mechanisms, IP ownership)

Outcomes:

Which examples scaled successfully (>$100M, $1B+ if any)

Which failed and why

Founder-operator retention dynamics:

What prevented early departure?

What caused departures when they happened?

Knowledge-leakage risk:

How IP, playbooks, and strategy were protected

Lessons learned:

Structural patterns that consistently worked

Structural patterns that consistently broke at scale

Conclude with:

A synthesized best-practice structural model for creating a single, long-term, multi-billion-dollar company using this approach

Clear warnings about misalignment traps and failure modes

A short list of design principles that matter more than legal mechanics

=== Assistant: This is a great and complex research topic. ===
This is a great and complex research topic. To tailor this effectively, could you please clarify:
# Are you focused on specific geographies (e.g., U.S. only, global)?
# Should I prioritize certain time periods (e.g., post-2000, post-2010)?
# Are you only interested in tech startups, or should I include other sectors like consumer goods, healthcare, etc.?
# Are you also interested in newer or less-documented bespoke structures, or only well-publicized historical precedents?
# What level of detail do you want for each precedent — high-level summary, or deep dives including contracts, cap tables, etc. if available?

Let me know so I can begin with precision.

=== User: 1. ===
# Geographies
Global.
Please include precedents from the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and other regions. Do not limit the research by geography, as the goal is to extract structural and behavioral patterns, not local employment norms.
# Time periods
Primary focus on post-2000, with strong emphasis on post-2010 examples where modern software, remote teams, and venture-style scaling are relevant. Earlier historical precedents may be included only if they illustrate durable structural principles that still apply today.
# Sectors
Primary focus on software and technology startups (SaaS, platforms, internet-scale products), as these best match the intended application.
However, include relevant precedents from other sectors if they meaningfully inform founder–operator structures, incentive alignment, governance, or scale without key-person dependency.
# Public vs. bespoke structures
Include both well-publicized and lesser-known bespoke arrangements.
Do not limit the research to formal programs or branded models; private, customized, or unconventional structures are highly relevant, even if documentation is partial.
# Level of detail
Prioritize deep structural analysis over surface summaries.
Where possible, include:

Equity and compensation logic (even if approximate)

Control and governance design

Incentive alignment mechanisms

Why the structure succeeded or failed
Exact contracts or cap tables are not required, but concrete details and causal explanations are preferred over generic descriptions.

=== Assistant: Got it. ===
Got it. I’ll investigate global precedents—especially post-2010 in tech—where an investor or advisor fully funded a company, retained majority control, and installed a founder-operator as CEO with long-term, identity-level commitment.

I’ll analyze documented structures across venture studios, incubators, operator-in-residence setups, and bespoke models, focusing on:
* Equity and compensation mechanics
* Governance and IP control
* Long-term scaling and retention dynamics
* Outcomes (including multi-hundred million and billion-dollar cases)
* Lessons learned and structural best practices

I’ll share a synthesized model with critical design principles and common failure modes. You can continue chatting with me while I work on this.