We turn engineers, operators and researchers into company-builders.
PHOIA is built for atypical founders with real-world expertise: Domain experts, industry insiders and operators who understand niche markets deeply.
Through structured sprints we help you develop the commercial, capital, leadership and performance capabilities required to turn your edge into a category-defining company.Through structured sprints we help you develop the commercial, capital, leadership and performance capabilities required to turn your edge into a category-defining company.
The Founder Layer.
Deep expertise is your edge. We help you turn it into a company.
PHOIA works across four systems for company building.
Commercial System
Define the wedge, customer, use case, offer, validation path and first traction motion.
Capital System
Shape the funding strategy, investor narrative, deck logic, proof points and diligence readiness.
Leadership System
Build the founder role, team structure, hiring bar, culture, decision rhythm and communication standards.
Performance System
Train your ability to lead under pressure: confidence, presence, resilience and execution cadence.
Developed over a decade of building companies.
We’ve gone from idea to company to exit ourselves. Multiple times.
Cedrik Hoffmann is a serial founder and operator with 10+ years of experience building across manufacturing, supply chain, e-commerce and AI.
- Raised $170M+ from Seed to Series B, with acquisition, company-building and exit experience.
- Co-Founder & CEO of Ameba, a B2B AI supply-chain platform; built a 17-person team and served enterprise customers including Gymshark.
- Co-Founder of VALOREO, a Latin American consumer brand roll-up; acquired 20 brands and scaled a 100+ person multi-country supply-chain organisation.
- CEO of TMP, acquired and operated a 50-person manufacturing company in Taiwan; served Fortune 500 customers as a hardware supplier.
Founder-led sprints tailored to your stage.
Each sprint is delivered 1:1 across five 2-hour sessions, typically over 4–10 weeks. Sessions are arranged around your schedule and pace. The structure is designed to create momentum without requiring a full-time commitment.
Founder FormationSprint
A private sprint to pressure-test your founder fit, domain edge, company thesis, wedge, co-founder path, financing route and 30-day execution plan.
Before the company is fully formed.
Founder LaunchSprint
Support across ICP validation, commercial strategy, customer development, business model, fundraising narrative, early hiring, leadership and operating rhythm.
For founders already building.
Ongoing StrategicAdvisory
Selective advisory across leadership, guided fundraising, co-founder working sessions, early-stage hiring, GTM and operating cadence.
Ongoing support.
The next generation of founders will look atypical.
AI tools have made it easier than ever for domain experts, industry insiders, operators and researchers to start building.
But building is no longer the bottleneck. Turning deep expertise into a real company is.
PHOIA equips atypical founders with the company-building skills required to move from prototype, insight or early traction to enterprise — whether venture-backed or bootstrapped.
Bring serial-founder expertiseinto your ecosystem.
Founder-led programmes for venture exploration, validation and early-stage execution.
PHOIA partners with accelerators, universities, founder communities, innovation consultancies and venture funds.
Programmes are structured around real company-building outcomes, not passive learning.
- Venture exploration workshops
- Founder formation cohorts
- GTM, product and fundraising deep dives
- Guided founder residency programmes
Common questions.
Building from deep expertise?
If you are a domain expert, industry insider, operator or researcher with the ambition to turn your edge into a company, PHOIA may be the founder layer around you.