Launch Like a Veteran — Even If You're 23
24-week cohort for under-25 AI-first founders who want PMF twice as fast, warm intros that actually reply, and a fundraising story investors repeat for you.
Next cohort opens 1 July 2025 – 10 seats only
Why Speed Matters for Born-AI Teams
Differentiation is Execution
Everyone can wield GPT-4. Differentiation is execution discipline, not tech access.
Capital is Impatient
Pre-seed rounds now last 12–15 months; VCs expect signals inside 6.
First-Mover Myths are Dead
The winner is the startup that becomes indispensable first, not the one that hacks a demo first.
Skip Three Pivots
Skip three pivots and two burn cycles. Build your unfair advantages in 24 weeks.
Is This You?
| Growing Pain | Translation |
|---|---|
| Prototype & pitch fatigue | Demo days love you, real customers ghost you |
| Tiny network | Cold emails, zero warm intros, no "turn back the clock" mentors |
| Fundraising fog | Don't know which metrics prove you're inevitable |
| No scar-tissue operator on the team | Hard to spot the landmines you've never walked through |
If at least two boxes are ticked, you belong in the room.
What You'll Do Inside 10× Forge-AI
| Phase | Weeks | Hard Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Forge #1 – Product & ICP | 1-8 | Customer-discovery sprint • Hard-yes / hard-no ICP ⟶ "nobody in the messy middle" • Vibe-coded PoC in prod |
| Forge #2 – Go-to-Market & Signals | 9-16 | Growth-agent bundle (outbound sequencer, clip repurposer) • ≥ 3 paying design-partners • Warm CIO/CTO intro list |
| Forge #3 – Fundraising & Ops | 17-24 | Investor-ready narrative • Target-round metrics dashboard • Org chart & rituals that scale at 5× head-count |
Live Rhythm
Weekly 2-3 h cohort call (Tues 16:00 CET) where code, decks, and blockers go on screen.
Async Backbone
Slack + Notion OS, < 24 h Loom feedback, unlimited SOS sessions before every critical pitch.
Founder Scorecard & 90-Day Guarantee
During onboarding we capture three baselines:
Paid PoCs / design partners
Weekly customer feedback calls
Investor-readiness score
Attend ≥ 80% of live calls.
If any one metric fails to improve by ≥ 20% in 90 days, we refund your Q1 fee. Full stop.
Investment
| Step | Fee | What You Lock In |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit (day 0) | €1,000 | Personal audit & 12-week plan (credited) |
| Quarter-1 Cohort | €2,000 / mo (6,000 total) | 12-week sprint + guarantee |
| Stay Quarterly | €6,000 / quarter | Pause/cancel before next start |
| Pay Annual Up-front | €18,000 | Best effective rate (save €6k) |
All SOS sessions, community access, and AI-agent libraries included.
Proof You Can Copy-Paste
| Company | Before | After | Win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bevel | Vision, no traction, zero network | Clear ICP, 5 paid PoCs, oversubscribed seed round | < 10 weeks |
| Swish.AI | Confused value prop, shallow pipeline | New AI story vs ServiceNow, €3m pipeline, acquisition interest | 90 days |
(Deep-dive case files on request / NDA.)
Who's Got Your Back
Heiko Burdack
Active CTO/CIO; 30 yrs shipping regulated-fintech stacks; leads 6,500 engineers; €2B budgets
Danny Holtschke
Startup exit & product strategist; 15 yrs founder; ex-Silicon Valley PM; global network of AI angels
Co-hosts of the "Agiler Senf" podcast. Dual-stack coaching: deep-tech × go-to-market.
FAQs
The Fast Lane Closes Soon
Next cohort launches 1 July 2025.
Ten seats — first come, first formidable.
Rotate ⟳ — Giving AI-born founders the scar-tissue playbook before they bleed for it.