Zach Ferres of Coplex on Startup Studios and Corporate Venture Capital

Last week we dropped a new pod where I interviewed Zach Ferres. Zach is a serial entrepreneur and operator who loves building value within early stage companies. Zach goes in deep about the problems with the agency model, corporate venture capital, and the startup studio model. You can listen to the podcast on iTunes or Spotify.

Today, David is speaking with Zach Ferres. Zach is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive with a passion for building startups and the entrepreneurial communities around them. Zach built and sold his first technology company at the age of 24 and was recognized as one of the Top 33 Student Entrepreneurs in the World by the Kauffman Foundation and Entrepreneurs Organization at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. From 2012 to 2020, Zach served as the CEO of Coplex. During this time, Coplex helped start over 200 startups, built a diversified equity portfolio of over 50 companies, and became one of the largest Startup Studios in the US. Coplex partners with enterprises to build technology startups and have been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Washington Post, VentureBeat, and Fast Company. Today, Zach holds a variety of board positions at growing technology companies for which I actively support. Outside of work, He is an award-winning speaker, a runner, and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine.

What You’ll Learn:

• Agency metrics

• Keys to a successful agency

• Definition of an incubator, accelerator, and start-up studio

• What is the difference between incubator, accelerator, and start-up studio

• More about corporate venture capital

• Understanding how cash burn in an agency/service business is a problem

Favorite Quote:

“ The no-nonsense that it does when you have an agency that is focused on a vertical; it just makes it really easy for them to win business.”