Factory search
Build a screened supplier field around process capability, equipment, certifications, scale, market experience, geography, and commercial fit.
Why this stage exists
Sourcing is not a search for the lowest unit price. It is a controlled process for matching the product, volume, quality requirements, capital, geography, lead time, and risk tolerance with an appropriate supply path.
The stage is designed to make comparisons real. Quotations are normalized, exclusions are exposed, landed cost is modeled, supplier claims are tested, samples are controlled, and quality expectations are defined before production pressure erodes judgment.
Important boundary: Supplier checks and quality controls reduce risk; they do not eliminate it. Final contracts, inspections, compliance obligations, and payment protections should be reviewed by qualified professionals appropriate to the transaction.
01 Workstreams
What the team
works through.
Six connected workstreams, sequenced around the evidence and decisions this stage must produce.
Quotations
Issue consistent RFQ packages, clarify assumptions, and normalize quotes so price comparisons include comparable scope.
Tooling
Define ownership, life, maintenance, change control, location, payment milestones, and retrieval rights before committing funds.
Samples
Control sample versions, specifications, inspection results, approvals, deviations, and corrective actions.
Landed cost
Model unit price with tooling amortization, freight, insurance, duty, packaging, inspection, warehousing, rejects, and working-capital effects.
Quality plan and verification
Set critical-to-quality characteristics, inspection points, acceptance logic, records, and an appropriate verification plan for the supplier and product.
Field view
The work behind
Source.
Inventor Forge keeps the decision, the evidence, and the people doing the work in the same frame.
02 Integrated team
One stage.
Specialist depth.
Wealth Synergy coordinates the program while the operating companies contribute only where their expertise advances the stage.
White Lion
Leads supplier discovery, RFQs, quotation normalization, commercial negotiation support, samples, logistics inputs, supplier verification, and quality planning.
Aurea Engineering
Provides the technical package, reviews supplier questions, confirms manufacturability, and defines product-level acceptance criteria and controlled design changes.
Wealth Synergy
Keeps sourcing decisions aligned with cash, demand, funding timing, risk concentration, and the broader venture plan.
Virtuous Virtual Assistants
Supports supplier communication, document follow-up, quote matrices, sample records, logistics coordination, and recurring administrative workflows.
Fire Quark
Can configure data capture, supplier portals, inventory workflows, dashboards, or integrations when the sourcing operation needs a digital backbone.
Media Phoenix
Connects packaging, claims, channel requirements, launch timing, and customer expectations to the production brief.
03 Tangible output
Deliverables you can
inspect and use.
The exact scope varies by invention. The stage is still expected to end with decision-ready artifacts rather than a collection of meetings.
- A screened supplier longlist and documented shortlist
- A complete RFQ package and normalized quotation matrix
- A tooling and sample plan with ownership and approval controls
- A landed-cost model with sensitivity ranges
- A product-specific quality plan and inspection logic
- A supplier risk and verification record with recommended commercial next steps
The exit gateReady for the next stage means…
- The shortlisted supplier demonstrates relevant process and capacity fit.
- Quotes are comparable and material exclusions are resolved.
- Landed cost supports the target economics under realistic assumptions.
- Samples meet documented acceptance criteria or deviations are formally understood.
- Quality, tooling, payment, lead-time, and concentration risks have named owners and controls.
What the founder brings
The program works
with you, not around you.
- A controlled and sufficiently complete technical package
- Clarity on target volumes, timing, price, cash constraints, and acceptable risk
- Participation in commercial decisions that affect ownership, exclusivity, and long-term supply
The connected path
Next: Fund.
Match the capital to the stage and evidence.