Operating Partners
Bring the expertise. We bring the company.
Operating Partners are domain experts who lead a Cyshel company and hold equity in it. Cyshel supplies the engineering, payments, legal and operations, so the business is operational from the first day.
The offer
A fully operational company, and a stake in it.
01
Equity in what you lead
A defined ownership stake in the company you run, with the instrument, vesting and departure terms set out in writing before day one.
02
A company from the first day
Engineering, payments, legal and operations are live and staffed from the first week. You never incorporate, open a merchant account or hire a team.
03
Speed to market
Portfolio companies launch in weeks and sell from the first day, on infrastructure already proven across the portfolio.
04
A partner for the long term
Cyshel operates alongside you after launch. The platform, the operating team and the wider portfolio stay with the company as it grows.
The model
Cyshel runs the company. You lead the business.
Cyshel operates
Engineering & AI
Design, build and operation of the product, on the shared platform.
Payments & Billing
Processing, subscriptions, invoicing and settlement.
Legal & Compliance
Entity, contracts, privacy and tax-ready books.
Operations
Onboarding, support, vendors and the daily running of the business.
The Operating Partner leads
Direction
What the company builds, for whom, and in what order.
Market
The customers, the relationships and the reputation in the field.
Growth
Sales, pricing and the plan for where the company goes next.
Ownership
A stake in the company, and a share in the value it creates.
Ownership
A real stake, agreed in writing.
Operating Partners hold equity in the company they lead: ownership of the operating business itself, not a bonus scheme or a revenue share.
The instrument, the percentage, the vesting schedule and what happens on departure are agreed per company and set out in writing before any work begins. When the company earns, you share in it. As it grows in value, so does your stake.
Who we partner with
The standard we hold.
01
Recognised depth in a specific field, earned by working in it.
02
A clear view of the product that field is missing, and who would pay for it.
03
The ambition to lead a company and be accountable for its growth.
04
A preference for building now over spending a year raising and hiring.
Process
From first conversation to launch.
01
Introduction
A first conversation about your field, the opportunity you see, and why you are the person to lead it.
02
Thesis
We pressure-test the market, the product and the economics together, and agree what the first version must prove.
03
Terms
Ownership, roles, vesting and what happens on departure are agreed in writing before any work begins.
04
Build and launch
The company is built on the Cyshel platform and taken to market, with Cyshel operating the layers underneath.
Questions
What Operating Partners ask us.
Neither, precisely. You lead the company the way a founder would and hold equity in it, while Cyshel carries the corporate, financial and operational load that a founder would otherwise carry alone.
Equity in the company you lead, documented before you start. You see the instrument, the percentage and the vesting schedule up front, and they are agreed per company.
Your agreement sets it out before day one: what has vested, what happens to the company, and what you leave with. We walk through it in the first conversation.
Neither. There is no cheque and no debt. Cyshel contributes what capital is usually raised to buy: a company that already works, and the team that runs it.
You trade part of the ownership for speed and certainty. Instead of a year spent incorporating, raising and hiring, you start with a fully operational company and spend that year selling.
Apply to partner
Start the conversation.
Tell us about your field and the company you would build. The partnerships team reviews every application personally and replies to each one.