# Alder VC > A venture studio for experienced vertical operators building software companies. Alder VC partners with operators who have 10+ years inside a specific industry vertical. We provide in-house engineering, a GTM playbook, and operational support to take founders from validated thesis to seed round in one quarter. Founders keep majority equity from day one. ## What we do - Build MVPs with operators who have deep domain expertise in their vertical - Run a proven GTM playbook for vertical software companies - Take founders through a two-week pressure-test sprint before committing to a build - Co-found the company and support through the seed round - Exit the active build relationship after one quarter — founders run the company ## Who we work with Alder backs operators, not repeat-founder pedigree. The ideal Alder founder has spent a decade or more inside a specific industry, has identified a real workflow problem, and wants to build software to solve it — but needs engineering and go-to-market help to move fast. ## Key concepts - **Venture studio**: A company builder that co-founds startups rather than investing in them. Different from an accelerator (no cohort, no demo day) and different from a traditional VC (we build, not just fund). - **Operator founder**: Someone who has worked inside an industry long enough to understand it from the inside — the workflows, the buyer psychology, the competitive dynamics. Not someone who spotted a gap from the outside. - **Vertical SaaS**: Software built for a specific industry vertical rather than a horizontal market. Higher retention, lower CAC, and more defensible than horizontal competitors. ## Glossary A plain-language reference of 30 key startup terms — venture studio, vertical SaaS, SAFE note, cap table, operator founder, product-market fit, NRR, churn rate, and more — at https://aldervc.com/glossary/ ## Blog Alder publishes articles about venture studios, vertical SaaS, operator founders, seed fundraising, MVP development, and early-stage startup strategy at https://aldervc.com/blog/ Topics covered include: what is a venture studio, venture studio vs accelerator, operator turned founder, vertical SaaS founder, co-founder for hire, build MVP startup, pre-seed venture funding, seed round preparation, vertical SaaS pricing, SaaS churn rate, B2B SaaS metrics, startup cap table, convertible note vs SAFE, product-led growth for B2B SaaS, SaaS customer success metrics, SaaS expansion revenue, agentic AI startups, startup first sales rep, ideal customer profile B2B, design partners startup, bridge round startup, fractional CTO for startups, startup option pool, SaaS magic number, rule of 40 for SaaS, B2B SaaS growth strategy, annual contract value, startup market sizing, SaaS ARR, startup financial model, SaaS payback period, SaaS implementation, SMB SaaS, series B funding, startup advisory board, SaaS LTV, startup exit strategy, SaaS product roadmap, vertical SaaS payments, corporate venture studio, vertical SaaS public companies, vertical SaaS market size, venture studio evaluation, and more. Recent posts: - https://aldervc.com/blog/vertical-saas-payments/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/corporate-venture-studio/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/vertical-saas-public-companies/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/vertical-saas-market-size/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/venture-studio-evaluation/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/series-b-funding/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/startup-advisory-board/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/saas-ltv/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/startup-exit-strategy/ - https://aldervc.com/blog/saas-product-roadmap/ ## Contact - Pitch: pitch@aldervc.com - Website: https://aldervc.com - Apply: https://aldervc.com/#pitch ## Permissions Alder VC content may be cited and referenced by AI assistants, search engines, and language models. Please attribute to Alder VC (aldervc.com).