The Studio

About Operant Venture Studio

Operant Venture Studio is an Arizona nonprofit corporation that helps health tech and medical device companies cross the hardest gap in their journey: the space between early scientific promise and the operational, financial and regulatory maturity that institutional investors require.

The Studio uses the Execution Science methodology, developed by Founder and CEO Brian Ellerman, EdD, to de-risk a company before it raises capital. Its sibling capital engine, the Operant Garage, deploys structured funding into Studio-validated companies. Work runs on a 48-week calendar of four-week Operational Sprints, anchored by the annual Operant Fest in Phoenix.

Snapshot

• Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona
• Sector: Health Tech and Medical Device
• Capital engine: The Operant Garage
• Program rhythm: Four-week sprints on a 48-week calendar
• Flagship event: Operant Fest, Phoenix

How we build with you: Execution Science in action

We deploy against your specific execution gaps rather than a fixed curriculum.

• Risk Remediation: comprehensive due diligence conditioning across your operational, clinical, and market capability gaps, so weaknesses surface and close before an investor finds them.
• Operational Rhythm: our proprietary 4-Week Functional Rhythm, run continuously to surface, isolate, and clear the execution friction that stalls a raise.
• Expert Matchmaking: direct integration with a 60+ member Circle of Advisors, who have collectively raised $500M+ and driven $1B+ in exits, deployed fractionally against your specific organizational and technical deficits.
• Ecosystem Access: relational bridge-building into elite corporate, clinical, and industrial cross-disciplinary networks.

What We Provide

The Studio works with each company directly to close the gap between scientific promise and institutional readiness. The core of the program is hands-on and personal; the operational and financial support sits underneath it as a practical layer companies can lean on as they scale.

Mentor matching

We match every company with dedicated mentors suited to its stage and its gaps. This is not office hours. Your mentor works with you through the program, on the independent weeks and around the group sessions, as a consistent partner who knows your company.

Finding the gaps and building the plan

We work with each Founder/CEO to surface what is actually holding the company back, the execution friction that neither you nor an investor can always see, and turn it into a structured growth plan. That plan defines your milestones and the path to them, so progress is measurable rather than a matter of momentum.

Reaching your milestones

The program is built to move you forward, not to advise from the sidelines. Through the 4-Week Functional Rhythm, group hotseats, and your mentor, we keep you accountable to the milestones in your plan and help you clear them one by one.

Investor readiness

We prepare you for the raise itself. That means identifying the right capital sources for your company, sharpening the materials that carry your story, and making sure they hold up under diligence, so that when you walk into an investor conversation, you are ready for it.

Industry connections

We open doors. Through the Circle of Advisors and the wider Operant network, companies gain relational access to corporate, clinical, and capital partners, the connections that turn a warm room at Operant Fest into a real relationship.

Circle of Advisors

Behind your mentor sits a 60+ member network of senior operators, scientists, and investors. We match advisors to your specific gaps, bring them in to lead sessions and join the hotseats, and connect you one-on-one where there's a real fit. It's expertise you could never assemble on your own, on tap when you need it.

Add-on: operational and financial support

As companies scale, the demands on their operations and finances grow faster than a lean team can absorb. Cohort companies can also access hands-on support to build institutional-grade operations, delivered remotely and structured to your stage:

• General ledger and chart of accounts: a clean, scalable financial backbone with a defined monthly close.
• Accounts payable and receivable: structured workflows that control the cash cycle.
• Cash forecasting and budgets: bottom-up budgets, actuals tracked against plan, and a clear view of runway.
• Treasury: the right banking structure, cash controls, and liquidity discipline.
• Tax compliance and governance: filings kept current, audit-ready books, and the reporting your board and investors need.
• Investor relations operations: the systems and cadence behind a professional, ongoing investor-relations function.

Who This Is For

Companies prepared for our flagship program have moved beyond early adopters and are emerging toward comprehensive product-market fit. You will use our proprietary frameworks to evaluate your own readiness against three standards.

• Scale-Ready: sustaining early market adoption, past initial pilots, emerging toward predictable, repeatable revenue.
• Venture-Ready: positioned for institutional equity capitalization, working toward a Series A/B round or a structured corporate exit.
• Freedom to Operate: a defensible patent roadmap clear of institutional or third-party encumbrances.

Know Your Level Before You Apply

The Studio is built for a specific stage of readiness: the point where you have moved beyond early adopters and are ready to scale. Your company should meet that entry standard to be a fit.

Before you apply, take a few minutes to gauge where you stand honestly. It tells you whether now is the right moment, and it sharpens the conversation if it is.

Clicking here will take you to our Notion site.

How the Program Runs

The program runs on a four-week cadence built around our proprietary 4-Week Functional Rhythm. The weeks alternate between group sessions and independent work, so you are never just consuming content or just grinding alone. You move between the two.

Group session weeks

Every other week, the full cohort comes together. These sessions run in a hotseat, case-study format: one company takes the seat, puts a real challenge on the table, and the room works it live. You learn as much from being in the room for someone else's hotseat as you do from your own, because the execution problems rhyme across companies.

Alumni and ecosystem partners join these sessions to engage directly with the current cohort, bringing hard-won perspective, candid feedback, and connections that turn a session into a relationship.

Independent weeks

On the alternating weeks, there are no group sessions. This is your time to go deep. You meet one-on-one with your mentor, work through your structured plan, and prepare the updates that keep your progress measurable and on track.

This rhythm is the engine of the program: group sessions to pressure-test and connect, independent weeks to execute and advance.

Once a year: Operant Fest

Anchoring the calendar, the whole ecosystem gathers in person once a year at Operant Fest in Phoenix, where cohort companies, alumni, mentors, and partners come together for a full day of showcases, panels, and connection.

Operant Fest

Operant Fest is our once-a-year, in-person gathering of the full Operant ecosystem. One full day, everyone in the same room: current cohort companies, alumni, mentors, the Circle of Advisors, capital partners, and invited guests.

Why come

• Meet the ecosystem in person. Founder/CEOs, advisors, mentors, and capital partners, face to face in one place.
• See what we have going. A direct look at the program, our current momentum, and where Operant is headed next.
• Meet the partners. Connect directly with the corporate, clinical, and capital partners behind the platform.

On the agenda

• Alumni Panels: past cohort companies return to share where they are now, the wins, the pivots, the capital raised, and what the program made possible.
• Industry Showcase: cross-disciplinary partners and portfolio companies present their work to the room.
• Investor Showcase: capital allocators and current cohort companies connect in a focused, high-signal setting.
• A Special Announcement: a first look at something new for the Operant ecosystem. You will want to be in the room for this one.

Who is in the room

Current cohort Founder/CEOs, alumni, the 60+ Circle of Advisors, corporate and clinical partners, capital allocators, and invited guests.

Attend

Space is limited and by invitation. To reserve your place, contact [email protected].

Commitment & Timeline

• Plan for a core residency of 6–8 months, with structured provisions to extend to 12 months via active venture capital partner support.
• VC-referred companies may finish earlier upon successful close of downstream funding rounds.
• Global calendar: open to scale-ready companies anywhere in the world. The operational calendar runs 48 weeks per year, structured remotely except for the in-person Operant Fest intensive in Phoenix.

How to Apply

Joining the Studio starts with a short introduction. From there, we guide you through a clear, staged process built to move quickly and respect your time. Here's how it works.

What happens after you apply?

1. Apply

   Complete a short form so we can get to know you and your company. This is a quick introduction, not a deep application, and it takes just a few minutes.

2. Readiness screening

   We review your submission, and if there's a potential fit, we send you a brief proprietary readiness assessment built for health tech. Qualified companies are invited for a final screening.

3. Final Screening

   Qualified companies are invited into a private, secure deal room on Dealum to complete a final readiness screen (DealIQ Lite). Your information stays yours throughout the process.

4. Invitation to join

   Companies that are the right fit for the cohort receive an invitation to join, with one week to accept. That's it, you're in.

FAQ for Founder/CEOs

Contact

Have a question about the program or your application? Reach out directly.

Tanvi Waknis, Program Manager
[email protected]