Courses / Live bootcamps
AI Founder Bootcamp
Go from idea to a launched AI product with paying users in twelve weeks.
- weeks, live on Zoom
- 12
- hours a week
- 15
- deployed projects
- 6
- minutes 1-1, every week
- 30
Who it is for, and what you receive.
People with an idea, or the willingness to find one in block one, who want to go from idea to a launched AI product with paying users in twelve weeks.
Before you start
An idea, or the willingness to find one in block one.
Skills
- customer discovery
- AI prototyping
- payments
- growth
- unit economics
- pitching
A week, about 15 hours
- Live on Zoom
- 4h
- Recorded lessons and exercises
- 6h
- The project
- 5h
- 1
Six deployed projects
Each graded by Nova against a published rubric and signed off by the instructor at the gate.
- 2
The recorded lessons
The track's lessons and exercises, graded line by line, open for twelve months after the cohort ends.
- 3
Live on Zoom every week
A 90-minute live code review, a 60-minute squad lab, 60 minutes of office hours, and a 30-minute 1-1 with your instructor.
- 4
Your hiring plan
Opened in week 1 and reviewed in every 1-1: target roles, the gap map, the proof list, weekly actions, an interview log, the outcome.
- 5
The record
Every grade and every project with its repository at square1ai.com/u/{handle}, and the recording of your viva, verifiable by any employer.
- 6
The certificate
A credential ID that resolves at square1ai.com/verify to the real completion.
- 7
The hiring sprint
Weeks 11 and 12: CV and portfolio from graded work, applications, mock interviews scored against the role, demo day.
- 8
Nova for twelve weeks
A tutor with every submission of yours in its memory, at 2am as well as in class.
Twelve weeks in six blocks.
Each block teaches for a week, then you build and deploy a project, then a gate checks it before the next block opens. The project and its gate are the block's record entry.
Live time each week on Zoom: a 90-minute class where the instructor reviews real submissions, a 60-minute squad lab, 60 minutes of office hours, and your own 30-minute 1-1. Nothing is lectured live; the recorded lessons do that.
- 1
The problem
Weeks 1 to 2Week 1
The problem
- Finding a problem people pay to solve
- Customer conversations
- Sizing and positioning
You build: Twenty customer conversations
Week 2
Project 1: the problem statement
- Synthesising conversations
- Willingness to pay
You build: A written problem statement three people said they would pay for
Project 1, the gate at week 2
The problem statement
Twenty conversations and one problem three people said they would pay to solve.
You hand in
- Conversation notes
- Problem statement
- Positioning
The gate
Three people said they would pay.
- 2
The prototype
Weeks 3 to 4Week 3
The prototype
- Building with AI tools
- The smallest product that proves it
- Pricing
You build: A prototype
Week 4
Project 2: in front of users
- Activation
- Watching users
You build: A prototype five users completed the core action in
Project 2, the gate at week 4
In front of users
The smallest product that proves the problem, in front of real users.
You hand in
- Prototype
- User sessions
- Activation data
The gate
Five users completed the core action.
- 3
The product
Weeks 5 to 6Week 5
The product
- From prototype to product
- Auth, payments, support
- Reliability for a one-person team
You build: Payments in build; squads form
Week 6
Project 3: a real payment
- Launch
- Support
You build: The product with payments live
Project 3, the gate at week 6
A real payment
Make it a product and take money.
You hand in
- Auth
- Payments
- Support
- Reliability basics
The gate
One real payment.
- 4
Growth
Weeks 7 to 8Week 7
Growth
- Distribution channels
- Content and outbound with AI
- Measuring what works
You build: Growth experiments
Week 8
Project 4: the experiment log
- Repeatable signal
- Killing what does not work
You build: A growth experiment log with results
Project 4, the gate at week 8
The experiment log
Find a channel that works and prove it.
You hand in
- Experiments
- Results
- The channel with repeatable signal
The gate
One channel shows repeatable signal.
- 5
The company
Weeks 9 to 10Week 9
The company
- Unit economics
- Fundraising or not
- Legal, hiring, operations
You build: The numbers and the pitch
Week 10
Project 5 and the viva
- The launched product and the numbers
- Defending the business
You build: The launched product, the numbers and a pitch; the viva
Project 5, the gate at week 10
The business
The launched product, the numbers and the pitch.
You hand in
- Unit economics
- Pitch
- Legal and operations basics
The gate
The viva: defend the business to a panel.
- 6
Demo day and next steps
Weeks 11 to 12Week 11
Demo day preparation
- Pitch preparation
- Investor and partner introductions
- The next twelve weeks
You build: Pitch rehearsals
Week 12
Demo day
- Demo day
- The plan for the next quarter
You build: Demo day; the next-quarter plan written
Project 6, the gate at week 12
Demo day
Pitch to invited investors and partners and write the next quarter's plan.
You hand in
- Demo day pitch
- Next-quarter plan
The gate
The plan for the next quarter is written.
What you can do by week 12.
A launched product with real users and revenue, or a documented, honest reason it did not work, which is worth almost as much to the next attempt.
- 1
Find a problem people pay to solve through customer conversations, and size and position it.
- 2
Build the smallest product that proves it with AI tools, and price it.
- 3
Take a prototype to a product with auth, payments and support, reliable enough for one person to run.
- 4
Find distribution and measure which channel works.
- 5
Model unit economics, decide on fundraising, and handle legal, hiring and operations.
- 6
Defend the business to a panel.
Roles this prepares you for
- Founder
- Technical co-founder
- Product lead at an early-stage company
No placement rate is shown, because there are no graduates to count yet. The roles above are what the projects are built for.
Your record at week 12.
Every exercise and project is graded by Nova against a rubric you can read, and every grade is kept on one page an employer can open and run. This is what the programme writes to it.
- Graded, line by line
- Nova reads every submission against the brief and the rubric and returns a score, what you did well and what to fix.
- Six gates
- A block does not open until the previous project passes its gate. You always know where you are and what is next.
- A weekly 1-1
- Thirty minutes with your instructor, who has already read your code before the call.
- One page an employer can run
- Every grade, project and the viva recording at /verify. An employer opens it, runs the code and watches you defend it.
Record, AI Founder Bootcamp
Example
- Week 2Graded, gate signed
The problem statement
Three people said they would pay
- Week 4Graded, gate signed
In front of users
Five users completed the core action
- Week 6Graded, gate signed
A real payment
One real payment
- Week 8Graded, gate signed
The experiment log
One channel shows repeatable signal
- Week 10Graded, gate signed
The business
A viva: defend the business to a panel
- Week 12Graded, gate signed
Demo day
The plan for the next quarter is written
- Weeks 1 to 12Kept
Twelve 1-1 notes
What your instructor saw in your work each week, and what you agreed to do next.
- Week 12Kept
Your hiring plan and its outcome
Target roles, the gap map, applications, interviews and where you landed.
The entries, not the grades: those are yours to earn. The page lives at /verify and an employer needs no account to open it.
8 entries, twelve weeks. One email when applications open.
How we help you find a job.
The last block is not curriculum. It is the hiring sprint, and the proof you built in the ten weeks before it.
- 1
Your hiring plan, from week 1
Six parts you and your instructor keep: target roles, the gap map from real postings, the proof to send, weekly actions, an interview log, the outcome. Read before every 1-1.
- 2
The hiring sprint
Weeks 11 and 12: CV, portfolio, applications, mock interviews, and demo day in front of hiring partners.
- 3
A record an employer can run
Your six deployed projects and the recorded viva on /verify. An employer opens it, runs the code and watches you defend it.
- 4
The career agent
Paste a real job posting at /career and it maps the role to your graded work and what to do next.
- 5
The roles directory
Every role we prepare people for, what it pays and what it asks, at /roles.
One email when applications open.
Fifty seats, one instructor, twelve weeks. The waitlist hears the date and the price first, and nothing is charged before the cohort exists.