Inception Studio
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 990855558
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
- Location
- Fremont, CA, USA
- Rating
- 59
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $107,406
- Expenses
- $20,556
- Assets
- $86,850
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- John Whaley (President)
People named in this filing
- John Whaley (President)
- Michael Morris (Treasurer)
- Monisha Perkash (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Inception Studio is a nonprofit organization that supports early-stage entrepreneurs through educational retreats community-building programs and peer mentorship to foster practical experience and long-term collaboration among under-resourced founders.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization conducted seven immersive educational retreats in 2024 designed to support early-stage entrepreneurs through structured programming peer mentorship and collaborative business development activities. A total of 88 new and unique founders participated in these retreats. Each retreat concluded with a public Demo Day event to showcase participant progress and foster broader community engagement. Approximately 1,000 individuals attended Demo Day events across the year with an estimated 500-600 unique attendees.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 29
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 81
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 11%; rating input score 11
- Program expense ratio: 57.7%; rating input score 58
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 80.9%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.23; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 11% of revenue deployed · 57.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 11/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.