#1 objective
Create the conditions for your project's success: Imagination Machine provides the initial funding, we activate our operating team and mobilize our community & network of partners.
Our methodology
Inspired by design thinking, our methodology is fundamentally pragmatic: we adapt to each project, each team. We proceed by successive iterations to learn more and more about a sector, its users, its habits. Together, we look for the best solutions to boost your startup's long-term growth.
Explore
From a good idea to a startup…
Your mission: validate the market opportunity and choose a positioning (duration: 3 to 4 months).
With our dedicated user research & ideation team, you’ll conduct many user interviews and test several value propositions. You’ll build a vision for the project. If we jointly validate a market opportunity, we’ll create the company together, with you as co-founder.
Build
From 0 to 1
Your mission: launch the project on the market and confirm its potential to scale up (duration: 3 to 6 months)
Together we launch the “prototyping” phase (MVP): our team dedicated to the 0 to 1 process -product, designer, developers, etc.- works with you in iterative stages to find THE formula that works with customers. You are in the driver seat structuring operations: you develop the Product Market Fit, create the BPs, success metrics and pitch decks, participate in sales strategy and brand creation, build the network of partners,…
Develop
From a startup to a scaleup
Your mission: develop & grow to maximize impact! (duration: 6 to 12 months)
After 12 to 18 months on the project, your objective is to create the conditions for rapid growth, while maintaining the initial values of the startup: agility, transparency, responsibility and positive impact.
On your agenda: recruitment of the first employees, business & operations, possible fundraising and relations with your investors.
Our expertise
You start with an operational team - all with an expert and entrepreneur profile - dedicated to your project from day 1.
User research
Product
Design
Tech
Talents
Operations
Marketing
Finance
Our engagements
Agile mode activated to create the conditions for your project success.
Early stage investment
(up to €500k in 2 years)
Operational team
with you to go from 0 to 1
Remuneration of the co-founder(s)
during exploration phase
Fully remote possible
and regular meetings with your cohort of entrepreneurs
Ideas to explore
These topics - and 1000 others, of course - are of interest to us at Imagination Machine. Do you want to launch an exploration and build sustainable solutions with us? Apply now!
Frequently asked questions
First, you’re on a freelance mission to explore the opportunity and assess whether or not it’s promising enough to lead to the creation of a business. We pay you for this research, depending on your profile.
If the market opportunity is validated, Imagination Machine provides the financing needed to create a company & first round of seed financing. You then become a cofounder of the company (together with the other entrepreneur/s-in-residence) without needing to invest financially.
We are pragmatic 🙂 We decide to start working with an entrepreneur-in-residence when we feel like there’s a great fit. And if, together, we believe there’s a need for another co-founder, we look for that rare pearl together. The first co-founder is therefore part of the “recruitment” team.
We work remotely : you can join Imagination Machine wherever you are! You can also choose to work in our offices, in Nantes or Paris. If necessary, we can assist you in obtaining visas, our studio being certified French Tech Visa.
And we meet up at least every 2 months to spend time together. Paris, New York, Barcelona, Milan, Annecy, Nantes,…
The Imagination Machine community is large and solid: changing the world and launching your start-up will not be a solitary process 🙂
The project stops. If we’re all up for continuing to work together, the co-founder(s) may eventually find a job in an existing startup or start another project as an entrepreneur-in-residence.
Yes ! Your previous experience interests us because it has shaped you.
Depending on the talents already present on a project, we are led to look for all types of profiles to complete a team.