Build a startup in six weeks.
Go from an idea to your first paying customer with AI tools, in a room of twelve, in person in New York. You do not need to know how to code.
- Oct 27 to Dec 10Tuesdays and Thursdays
- 6 to 8 p.m.12 live sessions
- 12 seats10 left
- 6weeks
- 12live sessions
- 12seats, no exceptions
- 0lines of code required
- 1demo day, Dec 10
Not a certificate. A real attempt at a business.
You choose a buyer and a problem, test the offer with real people, build it with AI tools, set a price, and take it to market. The target is a first paying customer. Some people reach it in six weeks and some do not; everyone leaves with a tested offer and the evidence to decide what comes next.
Three things you did not have on October 27
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 to 8 p.m., October 27 to December 10
Save to calendar
Pick a buyer and a problem worth solving, and start talking to real people in the first week.
Decide what is worth building. Name the promise, narrow the scope, and choose a product, a service, or both.
Use AI tools to build the one thing a buyer would pay for, and learn to review AI-assisted work before you trust it.
Put the offer on the web, set a price, and test it with the people you have been talking to.
No live sessions, but the work keeps going. Keep building your app on your own schedule, send your offer to more buyers, and bring anything that is stuck to office hours, which stay open that week. Come back December 1 with progress to show. Take the holiday too.
Take payments, deliver what you sold, and automate the steps that would otherwise eat your week.
Go to market for your first paying customer, then show what you built at demo day on December 10.
Two confirmed. Ten seats left.
$3,500, in full or in 2 or 4 payments. Full refund up to 14 days before October 27.
Built for people who know something and want to sell it
- Experienced professionals and operators.You know an industry from the inside. That knowledge is the start of the business.
- Consultants and creatives.Turn what you sell by the hour into an offer that can sell without you.
- Founders and domain experts with an idea.Stop waiting for a technical cofounder. You will build it yourself, and you do not need to be technical.
- Looking for a certificate.There is no certificate. The proof is the offer you put in front of buyers.
- Hoping to watch from the back.Every session, you build. Plan on a few hours of work between classes too.
- Waiting for the perfect idea.Bring a rough one. Week one is about testing it with real people.
Taught by Lauren Proctor
Founder of Storyworlding. More than 15 years building growth systems, from LVMH brands to a marketplace that reached 208 countries. Head of Product at a startup acquired by Twitter. Former Developer in Residence at General Assembly and Division I coach at Columbia, which is to say she has taught people to do hard things before.
- 15+years building growth systems
- 208countries reached at Jobbatical
- 7xinbound leads at NielsenIQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Many people in the room are not technical. You need to describe what you want, check whether it works, and reach the people who would buy it. We teach the rest.
When and where?
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern, October 27 to December 10, 2026, in person in New York. 12 live sessions of 2 hours each. Thanksgiving week has no live sessions. It is a build week: you keep working on your app on your own schedule, with office hours open for anything that is stuck, then come back December 1 for the final two weeks and demo day on December 10. Plan on a few hours of work between classes.
Is there help between classes?
Yes. Office hours are flexible. We set them around everyone's schedules once the cohort is enrolled, and use them for your build, your offer, or anything that is stuck.
What tools will I use?
Claude Code, Next.js, Supabase, Stripe, n8n, and Vercel plus our templates. You pay for your own accounts, roughly $100 to $150 for the six weeks.
What do I need to bring?
Your own laptop, to every session. You build on it in class and between classes.
What does it cost?
$3,500. Pay in full, in two payments of $1,750 (when you enroll and on October 27), or in four payments of $875 (when you enroll, then October 27, November 3, and November 10). To reserve a seat, choose a plan at the bottom of this page and pay the first payment through Stripe, then fill in a short form so we can get you ready. On the two and four payment plans, we charge the rest to the same card on the dates above. That covers 12 live sessions, office hours, and demo day. 12 seats, no exceptions, so the room stays a room.
Is there a version for teenagers?
Yes, as its own cohort. Build Lab Teens is for students 13 and up, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m., January 5 to February 11, 2027, after school in New York. See Build Lab Teens.
What happens after demo day?
Your project is yours. Some projects may be invited to keep building with Storyworlding Ventures as a co-build. It is an option, not part of the program, and Cohort 01 is the first chance for it to happen. See how Ventures works.
What if I do not make a sale in six weeks?
That happens, and it is still useful. The goal is a first paying customer, not a guarantee of one. If it does not happen by demo day, you leave with evidence from real offers and objections, and a clear next move.
Request your seat.
- Your seat is held once the first payment clears.
- Every plan costs the same $3,500 in total.
- Full refund up to 14 days before the start.