START · LOBBY Foundations
Before you build the place, build the idea.
Starting a hospitality project is exciting. It is also the moment the most expensive mistakes are made. Foundations is a four-week sparring program for independent founders who want a concept that holds up, before spending money on branding, architects or a lease.
Apply for Foundations →- Weeks
- 4
- One-to-one sessions
- 4
- Per project
- €2,900
- Projects per month
- 3
A useful contradiction
We are a branding studio telling you not to hire a branding studio.
Not yet, anyway.
Most founders spend their first €30,000 on a name, a logo, a designer and a lease, then discover the concept underneath was fragile once the money is gone. We know because we are often the ones handed the brief. A brief built on a weak idea produces beautiful work that does not sell a single coffee.
Before you brief anyone, us included, the project itself has to be strong enough to deserve it. Foundations is where we find that out. Together, and cheaply.
The guarantee
If, after the first session, we believe the project should not exist as it stands, we will tell you plainly and refund half the fee.
Who is it for?
This is for you if
- 01You are starting your first hospitality project: a hotel, coffee shop, restaurant, guesthouse, members' space or a hybrid of them.
- 02You have conviction and some capital, but not yet a concept that survives a hard question.
- 03You are about to hire an agency, a designer or an architect, and you want to be sure the brief is right.
- 04You are leaving a career, a company or a role, and this place is the next chapter.
- 05You have a building, a site or a family property and no idea what it should become.
This is not for you if
- 01You want a name, a logo or a visual identity. That is LOBBY Studio, and it comes later.
- 02You want us to build your financial model or your investor deck.
- 03You want unlimited access, weekly calls, or someone to run the project for you.
- 04You want validation. We will challenge the idea, not applaud it.
- 05You are already open and operating. That is a different conversation. Write to us directly.
Who the f is Lorena?
Fair question. She answers it herself.
35 seconds, straight from her, no script.
The 4 sessions
4 weeks. 4 one-to-one sessions. Work between each one. The sessions are where we push; the work between them is where it becomes real.
- 01
Challenge
What the project really is. Why it should exist. Who it is actually for. And whether the initial vision is genuinely differentiated, or a version of something that already exists on the next street.
- 02
Position
Audience, offer, experience, competitors, price level. Where you sit and, more importantly, what your point of view is. A place without a point of view is a room with chairs.
- 03
Story
The concept statement, the narrative, the key messages, the tone. The foundations any future brand, designer or architect will be briefed on.
- 04
Move
Priorities, budget allocation, launch sequence, the partners you will need, and precisely what happens over the next three to six months.
Between sessions you receive exercises and decision-making templates from the LOBBY Compass, the same frameworks we use on the projects we brand ourselves. Sessions do not move forward until the work is done. That is the point.
What you leave with
The PFD = Project Foundation Document.
A single, concise document you can put in front of an architect, a landlord, a bank, a partner or an investor without apologising for it.
It is a decision document.
- 01The concept, stated in one paragraph anyone can repeat
- 02Positioning and point of view
- 03The audience, precisely, not ‘everyone who likes good coffee’
- 04The founding story and narrative
- 05Experience principles
- 06The initial offer and price logic
- 07Key differentiators, and how they hold under pressure
- 08A reality check on the business logic: covers, average spend, revenue logic and order-of-magnitude capex
- 09A launch roadmap for the next three to six months
Boundaries
What Foundations is not.
We are precise about this because a program that promises everything delivers nothing.
Foundations does not include naming exploration, logo or visual identity, interior design, architectural work, a full financial model or investor deck, or unlimited consulting.
We will sanity-check your numbers. We will not build your model. We will define what your brand must stand for. We will not design it.
When you need those, they exist. That is LOBBY Studio, but only once the foundation is solid.
Investment
€2,900
The full €2,900 is credited against any LOBBY Studio engagement started within six months of the program.
- 4 one-to-one sessions over four weeks.
- Exercises and templates between each session.
- Your Project Foundation Document.
- Three projects accepted per month.
For the price of a logo you would probably have got wrong.
Apply for Foundations →Apply for Foundations
We accept three projects per month. Tell us what you are trying to build. If it is a fit, we come back to you within five working days with a call.
Questions
Frequently answered honestly.
Why an application, and not just a payment link?
Because three projects a month is a real limit, and because a program built on challenge only works if the founder actually wants to be challenged.
Is this coaching?
No. It helps you tell whether the project is ready, not whether you feel ready. Those are not the same thing.
What if I already have a name and a logo?
Bring them. We will pressure-test whether they are serving a concept that holds up. Sometimes the honest answer is that they are not.
Isn't it strange that a branding studio tells me to wait before branding?
It would be stranger to take your money for a brand built on an idea that does not hold. Good branding cannot rescue a weak concept. It can only make it fail more expensively.
Can it lead to more?
Often. Some founders stop here with exactly what they needed. Others continue with LOBBY Studio for naming, brand and storytelling. Nothing is bundled and nothing is assumed.
Is it remote or in person?
Sessions are one-to-one, remote by default. In person in Paris if that suits you better.
What language?
English or French.