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Rough Diamond Founders

Rough Diamond Founders™ / How it works

Complementarity.
By design.

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

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.

Facilitated sprints

Three questions.
A team working on the answers.

  1. 01

    What product or service?

  2. 02

    Is it feasible, and how does it make money?

  3. 03

    What is the tactical action plan?

[TO CONFIRM] matching and sprint length, delivery format and location.

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.

Optional, not assumed.

Forge Track. [TO CONFIRM] fee, duration and what it includes.

Post-Forge advisory. [TO CONFIRM] advisory equity and support terms.

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].

Beyond formation / two optional steps

Deeper support.
Only if you choose it.

Optional / paid

Forge Track

Teams that want deeper support can continue into the paid Forge Track.

Fee
[TO CONFIRM] amount and currency
Duration
[TO CONFIRM] duration
Includes
[TO CONFIRM] scope of support
Optional / advisory

Post-Forge advisory

An advisory relationship after the Forge Track is optional and separately agreed.

Equity
[TO CONFIRM] advisory equity terms
Support
[TO CONFIRM] scope and commitment

The formation equity is 4%. Optional post-Forge advisory terms are separate; no additional equity percentage is implied.

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]

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]