Expa operates as an "institutional co-founder" that originates ideas, builds the first product, and then pairs it with a CEO, rather than just funding external deals like typical venture funds. The studio is run by repeat founders like Garrett Camp (Uber) and Naveen Selvadurai (Foursquare) who provide hands-on company building through small class sizes and a full-stack pipeline covering everything from ideation to go-to-market, positioning itself for founders who want deeper involvement than traditional accelerators offer.