FACTORY ZERO

VENTURE AS A SERVICE

Your venture, built on our factory.

We build the MVP of an autonomous venture for you, on the same foundation every Factory Zero venture runs on. Prices start at $5,000.

Price
From $5,000scope and price agreed per project
Version 1
4–6 weeksto Version 1, typically
Pilot
8–12 weekswith 10–20 paying customers
Payment
50/5050% at the start, 50% on delivery

PRICE

From $5,000

for an autonomous venture MVP · scope and price agreed per project

Venture as a service is offered through Parallel Entrepreneur (parallelentrepreneur.me).

What you get

  • 01

    An autonomous venture MVP

    A working first version of your company's product, designed to be run by agents with a person accountable.

  • 02

    The Factory Zero foundation

    Built on the FZ stack: the same open-source framework, agents, email, deploys and support the Factory Zero ventures use, so nothing is rebuilt.

    See the stack

  • 03

    Your company, your brand

    Your own brand, product, customers and data boundaries, like every venture in the registry.

    See the ventures

STARTUP PROGRAM

Limited places

$500 in Factory Zero credits.

A limited number of startups get $500 in Factory Zero credits. In return, you give us a testimonial and agree that we publish how your company is built, as it develops.

Venture as a service is offered through Parallel Entrepreneur (parallelentrepreneur.me).

Credits, eligibility and places are set out when you apply. Program terms may change.

HOW IT WORKS

  1. Tell us the venture

    Send what you want to build through the access form.

  2. Agree scope and price

    We agree what the MVP covers. Prices start at $5,000.

  3. We build on the foundation

    The MVP is built on the Factory Zero stack.

  4. Launch and tell the story

    Startup program members share a testimonial and we publish the build.

THE PLAN

The plan we write for you

Every project starts with an Offer & Plan document. It reads like a short book, and it is the first thing you receive.

Contents

  1. 01Summary
  2. 02Version 1
  3. 03Payments
  4. 04Running costs
  5. 05Revenue scenarios
  6. 06Version 2 (the AI layer)
  7. 07AI cost scenarios
  8. 08Market research
  9. 09Competitor marketing
  10. 10Gap check
  11. 11Science to build on
  12. 12How Factory Zero powers it
  13. 13Next steps
  14. 14Sources

All third-party costs are estimates and are checked before signing. Where a figure is uncertain, the plan says so.

VERSIONS

Built in versions

  1. Version 1

    A complete service

    A complete service on its own. You can launch with it, serve paying customers and learn what works.

  2. Version 2

    The AI layer

    Built on what Version 1 collects. Every human action in Version 1 becomes knowledge the AI draws on later, so the AI grows out of your own expertise. It is always labelled as AI, and you keep the final say.

  3. Version 3

    Native iOS and Android apps

    Built once the model is proven.

Why a web app (PWA) first

  • One build, every device

    One version works on iPhone, Android and laptop.

  • Installs like an app

    It installs to the home screen and sends push notifications.

  • Updates reach everyone at once

    No waiting for app-store review. Every user gets the new version together.

  • No store commission

    No app-store approval and no 15–30% store commission. Payments go straight to your own Stripe account.

PILOT

A pilot before scale.

8–12

weeks

10–20

paying customers

An 8–12 week pilot with 10–20 paying customers. We measure response time, renewals, churn and satisfaction before we scale.

DASHBOARD

Your dashboard in three parts

The dashboard follows within 2 weeks of delivery.

Example screen with fictional data. Parts 1 to 3 are marked on the screen.

  • Part 1

    KPIs

    • Active customers per plan
    • Sign-ups
    • Renewals and churn
    • Volume and response time against your promise
    • Satisfaction

  • Part 2

    Finance

    • Revenue per plan
    • Payment fees and net income
    • Hosting and AI costs
    • A monthly export for your accountant

  • Part 3

    Company management

    • Customers, with plan and payment status
    • Work queue by deadline
    • Consents and refunds
    • Pilot waiting list
  • Payments from Stripe

    Payment data comes straight from Stripe, so nothing is entered twice. Later, Ledgers (ledgers.sh) can take over the bookkeeping.

  • Run it with AI

    Ask questions, pull numbers, and have actions carried out.

  • MCP for agents

    MCP servers let your own AI agents work with the platform safely.

CARE PLAN

After launch: the care plan

A monthly fee keeps the venture running after launch. The price is agreed per project.

  • i

    Red-team tests

    Two a month. AI hacking agents try to break in. Our agents fix what they find.

  • ii

    Dependency updates

    Outdated or insecure packages are patched automatically.

  • iii

    Staging environment

    Every change goes to a test version first. You move it live yourself, with one button.

  • iv

    Testing

    Each change is tested on a set of cases first. You do the final check on staging, so nothing reaches customers without your approval.

  • v

    Backups

    Encrypted daily backups of the live site and the staging environment, kept in your own account. We test restoring them, so a backup is known to work.

YOUR DATA

Your data stays yours

  • We can't access it

    Your data and your customers' data are encrypted and live in your own account. Only anonymised, non-personal statistics reach us.

  • Export any time

    Export everything, in open formats, in one click. Backups are yours too.

  • No lock-in

    If you stop, you take everything. Code and data keep working without us.

  • The source code is yours

    It lives in a GitHub account in your name. We work in it with your permission.

  • How we build

    We build with Chinese and American AI models. We may use non-personal data, such as anonymised usage statistics and error reports, to improve our agents and models. Never personal data.

PEOPLE

People stay in charge.

Factory Zero assigns a named person to every venture. You own your content and have the final say.

1

named person for every venture

You

own your content and have the final say

LAYERS

Five factory layers

The five factory layers, what each covers, and an example
LayerCoversExample
DiscoverResearch, strategy, analyticsMarket and competitor research, pilot metrics
BuildProduct, engineering, design, QAWeb app, admin dashboard, tests
OperateInfrastructure, security, support, financeHosting, privacy, customer support, bookkeeping
DistributeGrowth, content, salesCampaigns, referrals, content
LearnLegal, knowledge, optimisationDraft terms and consent forms for human review, playbooks

REUSE

What we reuse

A client build typically uses some of these Factory Zero ventures. Each lane says when it comes in.

V1

  • Cratefield
    FZ-004 · Validation

    Backend for accounts, uploads and storage, in your own Cloudflare account.

  • Owlpost
    FZ-013 · Validation

    Transactional email, reminders and consent emails.

  • SupportGenius
    FZ-008 · Validation

    Answers customer questions from your docs.

  • Colonizer
    FZ-006 · Prototype

    Coding agents build features and fixes; we review and merge.

    V1 onwards

  • Sealbin
    FZ-016 · Validation

    Safe handoff of keys and sensitive data.

V2

  • Living Brain
    FZ-018 · Validation

    Your expertise as a knowledge base the AI draws on.

    V1 collects, V2 uses

  • Ghostwritin'
    FZ-022 · Validation

    AI output in your voice.

  • promptdecode
    FZ-009 · Validation

    Protects the AI against hidden instructions.

  • Tokker
    FZ-020 · Validation

    Tracks falling AI costs behind the cost scenarios.

Care plan

  • VibeCaddie
    FZ-005 · Validation

    Code check before every release.

  • Keep Shipping
    FZ-012 · Validation

    Staging to live, live only after your click.

Marketing

  • release.show
    FZ-017 · Validation

    Promo clips.

  • Shoal
    FZ-019 · Validation

    Launch-copy testing.

  • Squeezin
    FZ-023 · Validation

    Share links.

Later

  • Ledgers
    FZ-021 · Validation

    Bookkeeping agents you approve.

MEASURE

Measure first, write second.

We ground AI features in research: each plan cites the relevant arXiv papers. We also measure before we generate. Your own archive of work is the scarce ingredient, so it is stored in structured form from day one.

NEXT STEPS

Next steps

  1. Decide the business model together

  2. Approve the plan

  3. Sign a short agreement: payment schedule, scope, code in your GitHub account, care fee

  4. Set up your payment account; your accountant checks VAT

  5. Check name, domain and trademark

  6. Build Version 1 (typically 4–6 weeks); dashboard within 2 weeks of delivery

  7. Run the pilot

  8. Collect data for the AI layer and price it

  9. Kick off Version 2

Payment: 50% at the start, 50% on delivery.

A NOTE ON STAGE

Build your venture with Factory Zero.

Apply via Parallel Entrepreneur Register interestRead the thesis