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creating deal flow, not adding to it

the partnership frame for every VC, accelerator, platform, and venue we ask to host us. we sit upstream of their funnel. that is the trade.

the frame​

every time we ask a VC or platform to host a Jarvis workshop in their office, the naive read is "Imagos is asking for a favor." venue, exposure, maybe a check.

the actual exchange is the opposite. we are creating net new deal flow that did not exist before we walked in. people who attend a workshop in an Antler office and walk out as Jarvis-ed operators are entries the partner's funnel did not have access to until we ran the room.

we are creating new people who become net new entries in their pipeline. that is a different conversation than "do us a favor," and it should be the conversation we have in every partnership ask.

the antler case​

Antler has 28 offices globally. we are positioning Gary and Ron as their global partner for applied AI. it works for them because hosting our workshops produces net new high-conviction operators in every city they want talent flow in.

their selfish interest: deal flow they could not have surfaced through their normal channels. a Jarvis workshop converts an attendee from "interesting person curious about AI" into "operator who has built and shipped from a Personal Agentic OS in four hours." the post-workshop version of that attendee is a different deal-flow tier than the pre-workshop version.

we are converting their target audience into their target audience in a way they had not figured out how to do.

our selfish interest: free venues, brand association, distribution into the founder networks Antler curates, and access to the next round of human unicorn candidates we want in the Imagos pipeline.

both sides selfish. both sides aligned. both sides leave richer.

why this is structural, not rhetorical​

the move is a structural fact about where we sit relative to a deal funnel. clever pitching has nothing to do with it.

a VC's funnel begins the moment they meet a person who could plausibly start a company. our workshop is upstream of that moment. the attendee walks in pre-curious. they walk out as someone who can credibly be backed. the funnel did not have them before. it has them after.

this generalizes to any partner with a target audience and a pipeline:

  • accelerators need fundable founders
  • VCs need investable operators
  • platforms need power users who can produce content for them
  • enterprises need internal AI activators
  • universities need students who graduate with hire-able skills

in every case, our workshop produces a sharper version of the partner's target audience that did not exist in the world before we ran the room. the partner's funnel gets new high-conviction entries that no amount of their own marketing or sourcing would have produced.

upstream of the funnel is where leverage compounds.

how to use this in a conversation​

when a VC, platform, or accelerator asks "why should we host you?", skip the favors-language. lines like "because it's good for the community" or "because we'll bring smart people" do not earn the partnership.

lead with the structural claim:

"we create net new high-conviction entries to your funnel. the people who walk out of our workshops are operators you would not have surfaced through any other channel. you spend nothing on venue. you get founders, operators, and power users who did not exist as candidates before we ran the room. how many cities do you want this in?"

then quote the offices number. then ask which one comes first.

specificity wins. the Antler frame works because it is mechanically true and we can name the offices, the format, and the post-workshop conversion from "attended" to "active Jarvised operator." every partner conversation should be parameterized off that template.

the broader move​

every Imagos partnership opportunity should be evaluated by where we sit relative to the partner's funnel. parallel partnerships add work and split credit. upstream partnerships create new value that did not exist and let both sides claim the win.

build for the upstream version every time. the leverage is structural and the conversation is easier.

  • thesis: the Pegasus formula. partnerships are the distribution layer underneath every Pegasus team.
  • the ai activation flywheel: why the post-workshop operator is a structurally different entity than the pre-workshop attendee. activation is the conversion event that creates the new deal-flow entry.
  • why us: the Gary-and-Ron-specific reasons partners want to host us by name.
  • positioning: the broader landscape view. this piece is the partnership-conversation version of the positioning.