Renown \Japan

STEP 2 - VALIDATION (Weeks 9-20, $100K budget): Build full platform MVP: community onboarding flow (connect Discord/Telegram → upload aesthetic references → AI generates brand identity and 10 initial designs), custom storefronts (subdomain like atelier-ai.com/community-name), revenue dashboard showing real-time sales and payouts. Recruit 25 communities across verticals: 10 crypto/web3, 5 gaming clans, 5 professional communities (designers, developers), 5 interest-based (sustainability, mental health). Provide white-glove onboarding: 1-hour Zoom to set up storefront, $2K ad budget per community for TikTok/Instagram testing. Success metrics: 15/25 communities generate $10K+ GMV in first 60 days, 40%+ repeat purchase rate, NPS >50. Validate unit economics: $50 average order value, $15 COGS (Printful), $15 platform fee (30%), $5 community payout (10%), $15 gross profit (30% margin). Key pivot decision: if gaming/professional communities outperform crypto, shift focus; if custom fabrics requested by >50% of communities, build cut-and-sew partnerships.

STEP 3 - GROWTH (Months 6-18, $1M budget): Scale to 200 communities through: (1) Self-serve onboarding (no-code storefront builder, AI design wizard, Stripe Connect for instant payouts), (2) Community referral program (existing communities recruit new ones, earn 5% of referred GMV for 12 months), (3) Marketplace discovery (public directory of community stores, SEO-optimized landing pages, affiliate program for fashion bloggers/influencers). Launch SaaS tier ($500/month): advanced AI features (custom fabric recommendations, trend forecasting reports, A/B testing designs), priority manufacturing (7-day vs. 14-day fulfillment), dedicated account manager. Expand manufacturing partners: onboard 3 cut-and-sew factories (for communities wanting custom fabrics, embroidery, higher quality) with 100-unit MOQs. Build AI trend engine: GPT-4 analyzing TikTok/Instagram/Reddit to identify emerging aesthetics, proactively suggesting designs to communities. Success metrics: $5M GMV (200 communities × $25K average annual GMV), 60% gross margin (mix of print-on-demand and cut-and-sew), $500K MRR from SaaS subscriptions, 25% month-over-month community growth. Key moat development: proprietary dataset of community aesthetics and purchase behavior enables better AI design recommendations than generic tools.

STEP 4 - MOAT (Months 18-36, $5M budget): Build defensibility through: (1) Vertical integration: acquire small cut-and-sew factory (50-person operation in Portugal or Mexico, $2-3M acquisition) to control quality and margins for high-volume communities, (2) Brand incubation: identify top 10 communities by GMV and engagement, offer to spin out as standalone brands with Atelier AI taking 20% equity and providing $250K growth capital, design/manufacturing services, and executive coaching (comparable to Thrasio model), (3) Enterprise tier: sell platform to large organizations (gaming companies like Riot/Epic wanting official merch for player clans, corporations wanting employee swag stores, universities wanting student org apparel) at $5-50K/month, (4) International expansion: localize platform for EU (GDPR compliance, local manufacturing partners) and Asia (Shopee/Lazada integration, WeChat Pay). Launch AI design marketplace: allow independent designers to create templates that communities can customize, with revenue split (60% designer, 30% platform, 10% community). Success metrics: $25M GMV, 1,000+ communities, 50 enterprise customers, 10 incubated brands generating $500K-2M revenue each, 40% EBITDA margin. Exit readiness: demonstrate platform economics (take rate, LTV/CAC, retention), showcase incubated brand portfolio (comparable to holding company model), and prove category leadership (largest community commerce platform for apparel).