Your First Board Seat. Without Giving Up a Board Seat.

The exit-focused operating system no one teaches technical founders. Work backwards from your exit before you vest the wrong co-founder, build for the wrong buyer, or lock into a cap table you can't undo.

10 weeks of board-level thinking. No equity.

 

Most founders waste 6-12 months on wrong hires, wrong features, wrong cap table decisions. You'll know which ones to avoid in Week 1.

 

Apply for Q1 2026 Cohort →

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

TRUSTED BY FOUNDERS GRADUATED FROM

Who's Behind Capital Catalyst?

I'm Vivian Chan, PhD — an exit-focused board adviser across deeptech and healthtech companies (metabolic medical devices, next-gen biofuel cells, microbiome therapeutics, AI clinical platforms). I've spent 18+ years as a VC, 3x founder, and board member watching brilliant technical founders make governance decisions that close off their best exit paths before they even realise it.

Most technical founders think there are 2 exits: acquisition or IPO. In reality, there are 7+ options — and each requires different metrics, roadmap priorities, and team composition. The founders I sit on boards with get someone asking “how does this decision align with your definition of success?” before every major move. That clarity is why founders who plan their exit see 40% better valuations than those waiting for opportunistic offers.

Capital Catalyst is how I teach that same operating system to earlier-stage founders before their cap table dictates their path. It's 18+ years of board-level strategic thinking, distilled into 10 weeks. No equity.

Cambridge PhD • Former VC at Uniseed • 3x Founder
Board Advisor to deeptech & healthtech companies

Connect on LinkedIn

You've Got Breakthrough Tech and Funding—But Something Feels Off

 

REACTIVE CEO

You’re building what investors suggest, what pilots request, what conferences say is hot—but you have no idea if any of it makes you more acquirable. Every pivot costs you 6 months.

CHAMELEON FOUNDER

You change your pitch based on who you're talking to. You don't know which metrics actually matter. When investors ask “what's your exit strategy?” you freeze.

MAKING BIG DECISIONS ALONE

Should you vest your co-founder now? Which customer segment makes you more acquirable? How do you structure equity for your first 3 hires? Your peer founders don't know. Your academic advisors don't know. You're making board-level decisions without anyone who's actually been there.

BUILDING FORWARD, NOT BACKWARDS

You're adding features hoping they add up to something valuable. But you have no idea what a strategic buyer actually looks for when they write a $20M check.

You Don't Have a Board Yet. But You're Already Making Board-Level Decisions.

Who to hire. What equity to offer. Which customers to chase. Which features to build. These are the decisions that make or break your exit in 3-5 years — and right now, you're making them alone.

Most founders don't get board-level thinking until Series A or B. By then, the expensive mistakes are already locked in.

Why Think About Exit Strategy When You're Pre-Series B?

Because every decision you make now—who you hire, which customers you target, what features you build, how you structure your cap table—either makes you more acquirable or locks you into a path you didn't choose.

Saved $1M+

A femtech founder was about to vest a CTO who would've cost her over $1M at exit. She restructured her cap table before it was too late.

10x Faster Funding

A wearables CEO was pitching 'here's our tech' to investors. Now she pitches 'here's the exact ROI your CFO cares about.'

Built for Buyers

A biotech founder was building features for grant applications. Now he knows which capabilities strategic acquirers actually pay for.

You're not planning to sell tomorrow. You're making sure someone will actually want to buy what you're building.

What Does Board-Level Thinking Actually Look Like?

It's not about fancy decks or jargon. It's a different way of seeing every decision you make.

What You're Thinking:

"I need to hire a CTO"

What Your Board Asks:

“Does hiring a CTO make you more or less acquirable? Will you need to fire them before exit? How does their equity affect your cap table in 3 years?”

$ Real Cost:

One founder almost vested a CTO who would've cost $1M+ at exit.

What You're Thinking:

"We need more features to compete"

What Your Board Asks:

“Which features make you harder to integrate into a strategic buyer's platform? What are you building that they'll immediately shut down?”

$ Real Cost:

6–12 months building features that reduce your acquisition value.

What You're Thinking:

"This pilot customer wants us to customize"

What Your Board Asks:

“Does this customer make you look more or less like a platform play? Are you becoming a services company disguised as a product company?”

$ Real Cost:

Locking yourself into a business model that’s unfundable and unsellable.

Most founders learn these questions after they've already made the expensive mistakes. You'll start asking them in Week 1—and never stop.

 

Is Capital Catalyst Right for You?

This IS for you if:

  • You're a technical founding team (solo or 2-person)
  • You want board-level thinking now — not in 3 years when you finally "deserve" a board
  • You're pre-Series A but have commercial traction or pilot customers
  • You can invest $3,835 without needing to fundraise for it
  • You've raised or generated revenue of $250k–$5M (or secured grant funding like Innovate UK/UKRI or equivalent)

This ISN'T for you if:

  • You haven't raised or received grant funding of at least $250k (or equivalent revenue)
  • You're post-Series A with an established board already (refer to later stage companies in section below)
  • You need to raise funding just to pay for this program
  • You're looking for a large peer cohort (we cap at 8–10 for high-touch support)
  • You want to “figure it out yourself” without outside perspective

 

 

From Confused to Confident in 2 Weeks.
From Reactive to Strategic in 10.

Exit literacy isn't just knowing your options—it's a fundamentally different way of operating your company. You don't just leave with a deck. You leave thinking like a board member.

★★★★★

"Before Capital Catalyst, I had what I thought was a solid pitch and a clear roadmap. But in our first two weeks, I realized I was building the wrong thing for the wrong buyer. We completely flipped my value prop—and my messaging went from 'here's our tech' to 'here's the exact ROI your CFO cares about.'

What really changed wasn't just my deck. It was how I thought about my company. I stopped reacting to investor feedback and started working backwards from what a strategic buyer actually wants to acquire. I went from chameleon CEO—changing my story for every conversation—to laser-focused founder.

The cap table restructuring alone saved me over $1M. That's 400x ROI in 10 weeks."

— Femtech Founder & CEO, Women’s Health Wearables

★★★★★

"Every biotech startup wanted to keep her and we still use her thinking every day. The value Viv brings goes way beyond the sessions, her thinking shaped how we operate."

— Clinical Trial Prediction Platform Founder

★★★★★

"She brings strategic clarity that translates into real results. Viv helped us hit key inflection points and raise funding 10x faster."

— Data Insights for CRO Founder

Exit Literacy Becomes Your Operating System

Most founders build forward—adding features, chasing pilots, hoping it all adds up. But without knowing what your endgame looks like, you waste time on the wrong metrics, the wrong stakeholders, and the wrong story. Capital Catalyst flips this—and changes how you think about every decision.

01

EXIT LITERACY

Understand your options (acquisition, IPO, strategic partnership) and choose the one that works for YOU.

02

WORK BACKWARDS

Once you know where you're going, we build your value driver roadmap.

03

SHARPEN YOUR STORY

Your exit clarity becomes your competitive edge.

04

BUILD STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

Stop networking randomly. Engage 3–5 warm relationships in the ‘could-buy-us or fund-us’ category.

Exit Literacy = Your Competitive Advantage

10 Weeks. $384/week. The Questions That Save You $50,000+ in Mistakes.


This isn't a promise of a sale in 10 weeks. This is a new way of thinking about your company—one you'll use long after the program ends.

WEEKS 1–2

EXIT LITERACY & STRATEGY

OUTCOME:

Understand acquisition, IPO, and strategic partnership paths

DELIVERABLE:

Exit thesis deck (first draft)

WEEKS 3–5

VALUE DRIVER MAPPING

OUTCOME:

Identify what makes you acquirable (not just fundable)

DELIVERABLE:

Value driver roadmap + governance checklist

WEEKS 6–8

STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

OUTCOME:

3–5 warm introductions to potential acquirers/investors

DELIVERABLE:

Intro strategy + warm connection paths mapped

WEEKS 9–10

BOARD-READY PACKAGE

OUTCOME:

Walk away with professional assets investors expect

DELIVERABLE:

Exit thesis deck (final), CEO role clarity document

Why Founders Say This Changed Everything

We're not promising a sale in 10 weeks. We’re giving you something more rare: a completely different operating system for your business.

Most programs teach you what to do. This teaches you how to think — the way boards think when they’re protecting decades of capital and reputation.

What that actually means:

  • The mental models that prevent $50k–$500k mistakes before you make them
  • Strategic frameworks you’ll use through every funding round, pivot, and exit negotiation
  • The strategic assets and frameworks that prevent the “oh crap, I’m not ready for this conversation” moment when investors or acquirers start asking board-level questions — saving you 12–18 months of scrambling to catch up while deals cool off
  • Direct access and introductions you literally cannot buy

This isn’t a program you complete and move on from. It’s a new operating system — once you see your business through this lens, you can’t unsee it. Every board meeting. Every investor conversation. Every strategic decision. You’ll think differently.

What This Level of Strategic Thinking Requires as an Investment

Accelerators (YC/Techstars) $100k–$140k in equity
Board advisors $10k–$30k + 0.25–1% equity
Executive coaches $8k–$15k
Strategy consultants $10k–$25k
Capital Catalyst $3,835 (or $1,285/month × 3) — no equity ✓

That’s $384/week for board-level strategic thinking. Less than a single hour with most consultants — and you keep 100% of your company.

Payment plans available: $3,835 upfront or $1,285/month for 3 months.

The real question isn't whether you can invest this. It's whether you can keep making ÂŁ800k decisions without this level of thinking.

Apply for Q1 2026 Cohort

Small cohorts, high-touch support. We only work with 8-10 founders per cohort to ensure you get the board-level attention your company deserves.

Next cohort launches

March 9, 2026

Application deadline

March 1, 2026

Investment

$3,835 (equity-free)

(Pre) Series A founders: Apply for the full 10-week experience.
Later-stage companies/investors: Get board-level audits for your portfolio or company.

Apply Now →
Board Audits (Later-Stage) →

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

100% Equity-Free

Small Cohorts

Board-Level Expertise

Your First Board Seat. Without Giving Up a Board Seat.

The exit-focused operating system no one teaches technical founders. Work backwards from your exit before you vest the wrong co-founder, build for the wrong buyer, or lock into a cap table you can't undo.

10 weeks of board-level thinking. No equity.

 

Most founders waste 6-12 months on wrong hires, wrong features, wrong cap table decisions. You'll know which ones to avoid in Week 1.

Apply for Q1 2026 Cohort→

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

TRUSTED BY FOUNDERS GRADUATED FROM

Who's Behind Capital Catalyst?

I'm Vivian Chan, PhD — an exit-focused board adviser across deeptech and healthtech companies (metabolic medical devices, next-gen biofuel cells, microbiome therapeutics, AI clinical platforms). I've spent 18+ years as a VC, 3x founder, and board member watching brilliant technical founders make governance decisions that close off their best exit paths before they even realise it.

Most technical founders think there are 2 exits: acquisition or IPO. In reality, there are 7+ options — and each requires different metrics, roadmap priorities, and team composition. The founders I sit on boards with get someone asking “how does this decision align with your definition of success?” before every major move. That clarity is why founders who plan their exit see 40% better valuations than those waiting for opportunistic offers.

Capital Catalyst is how I teach that same operating system to earlier-stage founders before their cap table dictates their path. It's 18+ years of board-level strategic thinking, distilled into 10 weeks. No equity.

Cambridge PhD • Former VC at Uniseed • 3x Founder
Board Advisor to deeptech & healthtech companies

Connect on LinkedIn

You've Got Breakthrough Tech and Funding—But Something Feels Off

 

REACTIVE CEO

You’re building what investors suggest, what pilots request, what conferences say is hot—but you have no idea if any of it makes you more acquirable. Every pivot costs you 6 months.

CHAMELEON FOUNDER

You change your pitch based on who you're talking to. You don't know which metrics actually matter. When investors ask “what's your exit strategy?” you freeze.

MAKING BIG DECISIONS ALONE

Should you vest your co-founder now? Which customer segment makes you more acquirable? How do you structure equity for your first 3 hires? Your peer founders don't know. Your academic advisors don't know. You're making board-level decisions without anyone who's actually been there.

BUILDING FORWARD, NOT BACKWARDS

You're adding features hoping they add up to something valuable. But you have no idea what a strategic buyer actually looks for when they write a $20M check.

You Don't Have a Board Yet. But You're Already Making Board-Level Decisions.

Who to hire. What equity to offer. Which customers to chase. Which features to build. These are the decisions that make or break your exit in 3-5 years — and right now, you're making them alone.

Most founders don't get board-level thinking until Series A or B. By then, the expensive mistakes are already locked in.

Why Think About Exit Strategy When You're Pre-Series B?

Because every decision you make now—who you hire, which customers you target, what features you build, how you structure your cap table—either makes you more acquirable or locks you into a path you didn't choose.

Saved $1M+

A femtech founder was about to vest a CTO who would've cost her over $1M at exit. She restructured her cap table before it was too late.

10x Faster Funding

A wearables CEO was pitching 'here's our tech' to investors. Now she pitches 'here's the exact ROI your CFO cares about.'

Built for Buyers

A biotech founder was building features for grant applications. Now he knows which capabilities strategic acquirers actually pay for.

You're not planning to sell tomorrow. You're making sure someone will actually want to buy what you're building.

What Does Board-Level Thinking Actually Look Like?

It's not about fancy decks or jargon. It's a different way of seeing every decision you make.

What You're Thinking:

"I need to hire a CTO"

What Your Board Asks:

“Does hiring a CTO make you more or less acquirable? Will you need to fire them before exit? How does their equity affect your cap table in 3 years?”

$ Real Cost:

One founder almost vested a CTO who would've cost $1M+ at exit.

What You're Thinking:

"We need more features to compete"

What Your Board Asks:

“Which features make you harder to integrate into a strategic buyer's platform? What are you building that they'll immediately shut down?”

$ Real Cost:

6–12 months building features that reduce your acquisition value.

What You're Thinking:

"This pilot customer wants us to customize"

What Your Board Asks:

“Does this customer make you look more or less like a platform play? Are you becoming a services company disguised as a product company?”

$ Real Cost:

Locking yourself into a business model that’s unfundable and unsellable.

Most founders learn these questions after they've already made the expensive mistakes. You'll start asking them in Week 1—and never stop.

 

Is Capital Catalyst Right for You?

This IS for you if:

  • You're a technical founding team (solo or 2-person)
  • You want board-level thinking now — not in 3 years when you finally "deserve" a board
  • You're pre-Series A but have commercial traction or pilot customers
  • You can invest $3,835 without needing to fundraise for it
  • You've raised or generated revenue of $250k–$5M (or secured grant funding like Innovate UK/UKRI or equivalent)

This ISN'T for you if:

  • You haven't raised or received grant funding of at least $250k (or equivalent revenue)
  • You're post-Series A with an established board already (refer to later stage companies in section below)
  • You need to raise funding just to pay for this program
  • You're looking for a large peer cohort (we cap at 8–10 for high-touch support)
  • You want to “figure it out yourself” without outside perspective

 

 

From Confused to Confident in 2 Weeks.
From Reactive to Strategic in 10.

Exit literacy isn't just knowing your options—it's a fundamentally different way of operating your company. You don't just leave with a deck. You leave thinking like a board member.

"Before Capital Catalyst, I had what I thought was a solid pitch and a clear roadmap. But in our first two weeks, I realized I was building the wrong thing for the wrong buyer. We completely flipped my value prop—and my messaging went from 'here's our tech' to 'here's the exact ROI your CFO cares about.' What really changed wasn't just my deck. It was how I thought about my company. I stopped reacting to investor feedback and started working backwards from what a strategic buyer actually wants to acquire."
— Femtech Wearables Founder & CEO
★★★★★
"Every biotech startup wanted to keep her and we still use her thinking every day. The value Viv brings goes way beyond the sessions, her thinking shaped how we operate."
— Clinical Trial Prediction Platform Founder
★★★★★
"She brings strategic clarity that translates into real results. Viv helped us hit key inflection points and raise funding 10x faster."
— Gut Microbiome for Clinical Trials Founder

Exit Literacy Becomes Your Operating System

Most founders build forward—adding features, chasing pilots, hoping it all adds up. But without knowing what your endgame looks like, you waste time on the wrong metrics, the wrong stakeholders, and the wrong story. Capital Catalyst flips this—and changes how you think about every decision.

01

EXIT LITERACY

Understand your options (acquisition, IPO, strategic partnership) and choose the one that works for YOU.

02

WORK BACKWARDS

Once you know where you're going, we build your value driver roadmap.

03

SHARPEN YOUR STORY

Your exit clarity becomes your competitive edge.

04

BUILD STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

Stop networking randomly. Engage 3–5 warm relationships in the ‘could-buy-us or fund-us’ category.

Exit Literacy = Your Competitive Advantage

10 Weeks. $384/week. The Questions That Save You $50,000+ in Mistakes.


This isn't a promise of a sale in 10 weeks. This is a new way of thinking about your company—one you'll use long after the program ends.

WEEKS 1–2

EXIT LITERACY & STRATEGY

OUTCOME:

Understand acquisition, IPO, and strategic partnership paths.

DELIVERABLE:

Exit thesis deck (first draft).

WEEKS 3–5

VALUE DRIVER MAPPING

OUTCOME:

Identify what makes you acquirable (not just fundable).

DELIVERABLE:

Value driver roadmap + governance checklist.

WEEKS 6–8

STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

OUTCOME:

3–5 warm introductions to potential acquirers/investors.

DELIVERABLE:

Intro strategy + warm connection paths mapped.

WEEKS 9–10

BOARD-READY PACKAGE

OUTCOME:

Walk away with professional assets investors expect.

DELIVERABLE:

Exit thesis deck (final), CEO role clarity document.

Why Founders Say This Changed Everything

We're not promising a sale in 10 weeks. We’re giving you something more rare: a completely different operating system for your business.

Most programs teach you what to do. This teaches you how to think — the way boards think when they’re protecting decades of capital and reputation.

What that actually means:

  • The mental models that prevent $50k–$500k mistakes before you make them
  • Strategic frameworks you’ll use through every funding round, pivot, and exit negotiation
  • The strategic assets and frameworks that prevent the “oh crap, I’m not ready for this conversation” moment when investors or acquirers start asking board-level questions — saving you 12–18 months of scrambling to catch up while deals cool off
  • Direct access and introductions you literally cannot buy

This isn’t a program you complete and move on from. It’s a new operating system — once you see your business through this lens, you can’t unsee it. Every board meeting. Every investor conversation. Every strategic decision. You’ll think differently.

What This Level of Strategic Thinking Requires as an Investment

Accelerators (YC/Techstars) $100k–$140k in equity
Board advisors $10k–$30k + 0.25–1% equity
Executive coaches $8k–$15k
Strategy consultants $10k–$25k
Capital Catalyst $3,835 (or $1,285/month × 3) — no equity ✓

That’s $384/week for board-level strategic thinking. Less than a single hour with most consultants — and you keep 100% of your company.

Payment plans available: $3,835 upfront or $1,285/month for 3 months.

The real question isn't whether you can invest this. It's whether you can keep making ÂŁ800k decisions without this level of thinking.

Apply for Q1 2026 Cohort

Small cohorts, high-touch support. We only work with 8-10 founders per cohort to ensure you get the board-level attention your company deserves.

Next cohort launches

March 9, 2026

Application deadline

March 1, 2026

Investment

$3,835 (equity-free)

 

(Pre) Series A founders: Apply for the full 10-week experience.
Later-stage companies/investors: Get board-level audits for your portfolio or company.

Apply Now →
Board Audits (Later-Stage) →


---------------------------------------------------------

100% Equity-Free

Small Cohorts

Board-Level Expertise