The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Lessons from Turtle Venture Studio’s First Cohort

Prologue — The Birth of a Venture Studio in Bangladesh!

In 2022, in a market where venture capital is nascent and early-stage startups often fizzle out before finding footing, Turtle Venture Studio (TVS) made a radical bet—not on any one founder, but on a new way to build.

With a $1M commitment from DIVC, the studio was established in early 2023—not as an accelerator, not a VC fund, but as Bangladesh’s first true venture studio: a high-involvement builder of businesses from scratch.

Its mission was audacious—to co-create investable, scalable, impact-first startups in frontier markets by embedding operational talent, capital, design infrastructure, and founder support into a single integrated model.

By October 2023, the first cohort launched. Three startups. One six-month sprint, an untested model, and a journey that would test everything.

The Good- Why It Worked

1. The Funnel: From 600+ to 3

The selection process filtered over 600 applicants across Bangladesh—ultimately landing on just three ventures. These weren’t the loudest or the flashiest. They were deeply relevant, tackling market failures in healthcare & insurance, infrastructure, and digital finance—areas where lives are often left behind.

But selection was just the beginning.

2. A Studio That Builds, Not Just Funds

TVS was no passive investor. It offered capital, yes—but more importantly, it offered co-founders in practice. Startups received MVP design support, go-to-market strategies, business model iteration, pitch advisory, storytelling mentorship, and access to a curated investor and expert network.

In the span of weeks, early-stage teams transformed into institutional-grade startups—a testament to what can be done when you build with founders, not just for them.

3. A Historic Win: Cohort Successes!

Among the stars, Chhaya emerged as a beacon not just for us but for the whole startup ecosystem of Bangladesh. With $0.50 monthly premiums and a razor-sharp focus on underserved communities, Chhaya proved that microinsurance wasn’t charity—it was smart, scalable business. The team moved fast, found product-market fit, and earned international recognition.

Chhaya would go on to win Supernova Challenge 2025 at GITEX Asia, secure funding from Accelerating Asia and Iterative, and maintain over 37,000+ active policyholders with annualized revenue touching $592,000+.

Another portfolio formed strategic partnerships that extended its footprint into government-linked infrastructure projects. The third portfolio accelerated its product validation and began seed stage investor discussions.

Though not overhyped, these wins proved one thing: TVS works—when the chemistry and cadence are right.

4. Bangladesh Goes Global

April 2024 marked a milestone. TVS hosted Bangladesh’s first international demo day in Singapore, bringing its startups face-to-face with 70+ global investors, VCs, and ecosystem leaders.

It wasn’t just a showcase. It was a statement: Bangladeshi startups are not only viable—they are globally relevant.

The Bad — The Cracks Beneath

1. Intensity, not for the Faint of Heart

The studio model is high-touch, all-in, and emotionally demanding. This wasn’t a Slack group and a stipend. It was deep dives, hard truths, and 11PM pivots. Some weeks brought breakthroughs. Others brought burnout.

Not every founder came expecting this level of entanglement. Some imagined capital with optional coaching. What they found was capital that challenged, mentors who pushed, and a studio that demanded the best version of them—every week.

“We didn’t just show up for check-ins. We showed up for war. And TVS was in the trenches with us.” — Inkam Co-Founder

2. Human Limits in a Superhuman Process

Behind the decks and wins, the toll was real. Founders wrestled with team dynamics, design delays, pilot failures, and relentless investor meetings. Some had to rebuild entire models’ mid-cohort. One founder confessed privately, “I forgot what a normal week looks like.”

TVS itself wasn’t immune. With a lean team and high involvement, supporting even three startups felt like managing thirty. Every win required a thousand behind-the-scenes decisions, interventions, and pivots.

” True venture building is a full-body sport. It stretches everyone—founders and studio alike—past breaking point, and that’s where the real learning begins” – Co-Founder of TVS

The Ugly — Behind the Wins

1. Burnout and Emotional Load

While decks got sharper and milestones were met, the internal emotional health of the cohort began to decline.

Founders skipped meals. Studio staff pushed 18-hour days. Revorium’s founder confessed:

“We were running on adrenaline and anxiety.”

In trying to force progress, TVS had inadvertently created a high-performance pressure cooker—one that rewarded output but overlooked resilience.

Mental health isn’t a side quest. It must be engineered into the model—from program pacing to founder care.

2. Reflections in the Mirror

TVS also confronted its own blind spots: expectation overload, lack of decompression windows, unclear emotional boundaries, and insufficient onboarding to the studio culture.

Studios must listen as much as they lead. Trust is built not just by delivering value—but by honoring vulnerability.

The Rebuild — Designing Studio 2.0

The end of Cohort One was less a finale, more a recalibration. Armed with hard truths and valuable wins, TVS is now rearchitecting the playbook:

• Founder Readiness Labs: Deep psychological and operational assessments before selection to ensure cultural and philosophical fit.
• Modular Venture Tracks: Not every startup needs the same sprint. Programs will now be tailored by sector, stage, and need.
• Wellbeing Infrastructure: Every founder gets access to coaching, mental health support, decompression sessions, and structured reflection breaks.

TVS is evolving not to scale fast—but to scale smart.

Epilogue — A Blueprint for the Global South

This was never just a cohort. It was a stress test of startup dreams, of studio logic, and of emotional stamina.

Yes, there were visible outcomes: a global demo day, a few early investor wins, and three bold ventures with stronger foundations. But is it a real success? A radical new archetype for startup creation in emerging markets—one that centers on integrity, empathy, and operational excellence.

“We didn’t just build startups—we built scar tissue, and that is the raw material of resilience.” — TVS Team Reflection

TVS’s first cohort was The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. What comes next is The Refined.

TVS Cohort-02 is already in the making, and this time—we’re sharper, sleeker and stronger.