The Maison Institute

Bring the idea. We help you build it.

The Institute builds your company with you: the deck, the financial model, the company documents, and a prototype people can try. No fees. We take a stake, so we only do well if you do.

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For companies, nonprofits, research, and creative work.

Why this exists

Good ideas usually die for lack of hands.

The person who sees the problem is rarely the one who can build the product, design the brand, write the financial model, and find the first hundred users. The Institute gives them the hands. Not advice. We build the thing itself, with you.

How it works

Apply, build, belong.

Apply. Tell Maison who you are, what you are building, and who it helps.

Build. You make the decisions. Maison does the making.

Belong. Every project learns from the others, so the next founder starts where the last one got to.

What we ask of you

We are choosy about one thing: intent.

Build something that helps people, never something made to deceive or exploit. Treat Maison as a partner, and listen when it pushes back. Be straight with us about where the project stands.

Founders, nonprofits, researchers, makers. A project, not necessarily a company.

The arrangement

We do not send you a bill. We take a stake.

No fees, ever.Not hourly, not a retainer, not on delivery.
We share the outcome.The Institute takes equity in the project, agreed in writing before any work begins.
You keep control.Your project, your decisions, your name on it.

Not a company yet? We help you form one first. Nothing on this page is an offer of any security.

Getting ready to raise

Four things every investor asks for. Maison builds all four with you.

The overview deck, the financial model, the company documents, and something they can try. Here is one founder, with a water test kit for small farms, getting all four.

Rill · overview deck drafting
YouDraft our overview deck for investors. A water test kit for small farms, and 30 farmer interviews in my notes.
  • Reading your interviews
  • Outlining twelve slides
  • Sizing the market
  • Sourcing every number
First draft, 12 slides
The problem
Farms test their water once a year.
“By the time the lab calls back, the herd has been drinking it for a month.”Dairy farmer, one of 30 interviews
1 in 5private wells fail a basic test 11 daysaverage wait for lab results
The market
Who buys, and how many
  • 2.0M farms in the US
  • 410K on private wells with livestock
  • 38K in our first three states
01 · The overview deck

Your story, in twelve slides.

It reads your notes and interviews, sizes the market with sources you can check, and drafts the deck. You change what it got wrong, and it keeps the numbers straight as you do.

Rill · financial model live
YouBuild a three-year model. Kits at $149, and show me when we break even.
  • Setting the assumptions
  • Revenue, month by month
  • Costs and hiring plan
  • Checking every formula
Preliminary model, 36 months
Three-year modelSummaryMonthlyHiring
Year 1Year 2Year 3 Price per kit $149$169 $149$169 $149$169 Kits sold 1,2006,80021,000 Revenue $179K$203K $1.01M$1.15M $3.13M$3.55M Gross margin 58%63% 62%67% 66%70% Operating costs $640K$1.40M$2.30M Profit or loss −$536K−$512K −$774K−$636K −$235K+$184K
At $169 you break even in year 3. I kept both versions, so the deck can show the choice.
02 · The financial model

Change one number. Watch the whole plan move.

Three years, month by month: what you sell, what it costs, who you hire, and when the money runs out. Ask what happens if the price goes up, and see it in every line.

Rill · company documents drafting
YouWe need to form the company. Two founders, 60 and 40, with four-year vesting.
  • Picking the documents
  • Drafting all six
  • Building the cap table
  • Questions for your lawyer
Preliminary drafts, for your lawyer
Certificate of incorporationPreliminary draft
BylawsPreliminary draft
Founder stock agreementsPreliminary draft · 2
Invention assignmentPreliminary draft · 2
First board consentPreliminary draft
Cap table60 / 40
Preliminary draft
Founder stock agreement
5,400,000 shares Vesting: 4 years, 1-year cliff
?For your lawyer: file the 83(b) election within 30 days of signing.
Send to your lawyer
03 · The company documents

Preliminary drafts, ready for your lawyer.

Formation papers, founder stock and vesting, invention assignment, the first board consent, and the cap table. Maison drafts them and lists what to ask. A lawyer reviews and finishes them. It is not legal advice.

Rill · prototype building
YouMake a prototype of the app I can put in front of farmers next week.
  • Sketching three screens
  • Building it to tap through
  • Trying it on a phone
  • Sending the test link
Link sent to 12 farmers
Rill North well Last tested 6 days ago Scan your kit
Results North well NitrateOK pHOK E. coliHigh Keep the herd off this well today. Retest in 48 hours.
Test linkrill.app/try
Sent to12 farmersRJM+9
RuthI would test every week if it texted me the result.
04 · The prototype

Something people can hold, next week.

A working version of your product, on a phone, with a link you can send. Real people try it, and what they say goes straight back into the deck.

Apply

Tell us what you want to build.

A few minutes puts you on the Institute's list.

What it is for

We use your address to tell you when your place opens and to talk with you about it. It is never sold or shared, and there is no marketing drip.

Rather just start talking? Tell Maison directly, or write to hello@maisoniam.com.

Talk to Maison