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Listen "108: Clay Unicorn, Marc Gigliotti & Dylan Wilson, Rethinking Venture Studios"
Episode Synopsis
For the third year running, Boston Speaks Up took over the Startup Boston Week stage for a three-hour live podcast marathon.
This year, we dove into three big themes: raising capital the right way, modern venture studio models, and the evolving role of AI in product building.
In this segment, I was joined by Clay McIlrath (aka Clay Unicorn), Marc Gigliotti, and Dylan Wilson for a deep dive into venture studios and new models of collaboration.
Clay described the shift from “coin-operated” agencies to a hub-and-spoke product studio model:
“A lot of agencies just fulfill the work. They do a disservice to innovation. We wanted to build something consultative, startup-minded — a true venture studio.”
Marc stressed outcomes over analysis:
“Get to an outcome, get to an experiment, fail fast. If it doesn’t work, figure out why and follow the data.”
And Dylan spoke to the power of design in an AI age:
“AI can generate outputs, but it all starts to look the same. Brand and design are what unlock a founder’s unique point of view.”
The three of them showcased a studio model where senior operators, fractional contributors, and AI-powered workflows accelerate both client work and new venture creation.
This year, we dove into three big themes: raising capital the right way, modern venture studio models, and the evolving role of AI in product building.
In this segment, I was joined by Clay McIlrath (aka Clay Unicorn), Marc Gigliotti, and Dylan Wilson for a deep dive into venture studios and new models of collaboration.
Clay described the shift from “coin-operated” agencies to a hub-and-spoke product studio model:
“A lot of agencies just fulfill the work. They do a disservice to innovation. We wanted to build something consultative, startup-minded — a true venture studio.”
Marc stressed outcomes over analysis:
“Get to an outcome, get to an experiment, fail fast. If it doesn’t work, figure out why and follow the data.”
And Dylan spoke to the power of design in an AI age:
“AI can generate outputs, but it all starts to look the same. Brand and design are what unlock a founder’s unique point of view.”
The three of them showcased a studio model where senior operators, fractional contributors, and AI-powered workflows accelerate both client work and new venture creation.
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