Apply for the January cohortApply
Menu
Rough Diamond Founders

A founder-formation studio / Dubai

Don't network
for co-founders.
Get matched
with them.

Rough Diamond Founders™ profiles every applicant, composes founding teams of three to four complementary people, and facilitates them from idea to incorporation.

Apply for the January cohortSee how it works

Next cohort: January 2027 · Dubai
Opening [TO CONFIRM] · Deadline [TO CONFIRM]

Potential, composed.RDF / 01
The Rough Diamond Founders gold diamond emblem, with an uncut edge and complementary facets.
VisionaryBuilderSellerOperator

Four roles. One founding team.

Formation3–4 founders

Deliberately matched

Ownership96% yours

4% studio at incorporation

CommitmentFacilitated sprints

Duration & format [TO CONFIRM]

The problem

Business cards
aren't a team.

Most founder events leave you with business cards, not a team. The right co-founder is rarely the person standing next to you at a mixer. Rough Diamond Founders replaces chance with method.

01 / The model

Three moves.
Not another mixer.

Profile → Match → Forge

01

Profile

Before you're admitted, we understand your gift, your expertise and your goal.

02

Match

We compose founding teams of three to four people whose strengths complete each other.

03

Forge

A facilitated sprint takes your team from "what could we build?" to a product, a business model and an action plan.

02 / The framework

Different strengths.
One direction.

The founder roles and the support beneath them.

Rough Diamond Founders framework: external value creation above four founder roles—Visionary, Builder, Seller and Operator. Profile, Match, Sprint and Forge are supported by the Architect and APX Vision.
Rough Diamond Founders™ framework · Open full size ↗
The customer / value out

External value creation

The four founder roles
  • Visionary
  • Builder
  • Seller
  • Operator
The method and support

Profile · Match · Sprint · Forge

The architect and setting

Cyrille C. Catel · APX Vision

  1. 01

    Profile

    Duration [TO CONFIRM] timing

  2. 02

    Match

    Duration [TO CONFIRM] timing

  3. 03

    Sprint

    Duration [TO CONFIRM] timing

  4. 04

    Forge

    Duration [TO CONFIRM] timing

Journey detail

The six core steps from application to incorporation, followed by the optional Forge Track and advisory relationship, will be detailed here. [TO CONFIRM] exact six-step sequence, durations and delivery format.

03 / Fair terms

You keep
the company.

You keep the company. At incorporation the studio holds 4% formation equity; the founders share the other 96% equally. Teams that want deeper support can continue into the paid Forge Track and, if they choose, an advisory relationship after it.

Your venture is your own. This is not recruitment into Cyrille’s other businesses.

96%

Founders' equity

4%

Studio formation equity

3 founders

32% each

4 founders

24% each

At incorporation. The 96% is split equally among founders. Optional advisory terms are separate and [TO CONFIRM].

04 / The right fit

Ready to build.
Not just to meet.

Who it's for

  • Experienced professionals in the UAE ready to build a company but missing co-founders.
  • Solo founders with an idea who need complementary skills around them.
  • Specialists who want to join a founding team rather than start alone.

Who it's not for

  • People looking only for funding.
  • People looking for a job.
  • People looking for a networking club.

Quality of fit matters more than volume. Admission and a successful company outcome are not guaranteed.

Cyrille C. Catel, Founder and Sensei of APX Vision, with his books.The architect behind the setting

05 / The facilitator

Cyrille C. Catel

Founder & Sensei · Adaptive Systems Architect

Cyrille C. Catel has spent about 30 years shaping organizations in life sciences, pharma and MedTech, from inside and as an advisor. He created AOMS 6.0™ and the Rough Diamond business novel series. Rough Diamond Founders applies the same idea to teams that don't exist yet: every great company starts as a rough diamond.

The name echoes APX Vision’s diamond emblem and the novel series. The novels are not the cohort curriculum.

Meet APX Vision ↗Read the books ↗

06 / The 2027 cohorts

Choose your
starting point.

Six planned cohort windows.
Exact dates and capacity [TO CONFIRM].

02 / 2027Upcoming

Mid-March

Start date [TO CONFIRM]

Deadline [TO CONFIRM]

03 / 2027Upcoming

May

Start date [TO CONFIRM]

Deadline [TO CONFIRM]

04 / 2027Upcoming

Mid-June

Start date [TO CONFIRM]

Deadline [TO CONFIRM]

05 / 2027Upcoming

Mid-September

Start date [TO CONFIRM]

Deadline [TO CONFIRM]

06 / 2027Upcoming

November

Start date [TO CONFIRM]

Deadline [TO CONFIRM]

07 / A few answers

Good questions.
Clear terms.

All frequently asked questions ↗

[DRAFT] FAQ wording for review.

01Do I need to arrive with an idea?

No fixed idea is required by the application. You can bring an idea, a direction, or be open to others’ ideas. Your gift, expertise and goal are all part of the profiling process.

02How are founding teams matched?

Applicants are profiled before admission. Teams of three or four are deliberately composed for complementary strengths, rather than formed by chance at a networking event.

03What equity does the studio take?

At incorporation, APX Vision holds 4% formation equity. The founders share the remaining 96% equally: 32% each in a three-founder team, or 24% each in a four-founder team. Optional post-Forge advisory equity terms are [TO CONFIRM].

04What time and financial commitment is required?

The form asks how many weekly hours you can commit. Matching and sprint duration, delivery format, application fee decision, and Forge Track fee, duration and inclusions are [TO CONFIRM]. No fee or schedule is implied while these remain open.

Form your founding team

Your founding team is out there.
Let's form it on purpose.

Apply for the January cohort

January 2027 · Dubai
Opening [TO CONFIRM] · Deadline [TO CONFIRM]