Presented by Zapier, the AI automation company

Less than 1% of startups that raise venture capital ever return money to investors. Ron Wiener, a 10-time founder with a $32M single-company raise, a 25-year investor, and the mind behind the "Free Flow" thesis, explains why the VC model is structurally broken for a growing class of high-cash-flow businesses, and what founders should do instead.

Ron shares how Venture Mechanics' Startup Studio model launches companies as LLCs with under $1M, caps teams at 2-5 people, and distributes cash to founders and angels from day one. He breaks down QSBS tax waivers worth up to $15M tax-free at exit, K-1 pass-through losses that put real money in angel pockets in year one, and why agentic AI has fundamentally lowered startup co ...