Intros & Problem-Solution Fit
Founders meet the cohort. We frame the semester, set the bar, and take the first pass at problem-solution fit.
Syllabus
Thirteen weeks of workshops, guest speakers, and pitch development — all building toward one night on stage.
Format
Class meets every Wednesday morning at Wesleyan. Each session opens with a student-led portion — lessons, updates, presentations — then transitions into a hands-on workshop and a guest speaker who's built it before. The semester builds toward one final performance: live pitches in New York City.
Season 2 — Spring 2026
Founders meet the cohort. We frame the semester, set the bar, and take the first pass at problem-solution fit.
AI tools every founder should be running, paired with a deep dive into who you're actually building for.
Go-to-market strategy and the mechanics of how startups actually raise money.
Personal brand fundamentals plus a marketing intensive — content pillars, paid ads, and distribution.
Cohort working session. Written pitches get sharpened with line-by-line feedback.
What founders should take from leadership theory — and how it translates into running a company at any stage.
Pricing your company. Building the room. Walking investors through the deck.
Five-year models, burn-rate analysis, and why investors care about your unit economics.
An accelerator's view of deal flow, plus an exercise on building an investor-relations funnel.
Stage presence, voice, body, eye contact. Founders record themselves and watch the tape.
An investor's view of pitch night — what gets a yes, what gets a polite no.
Last polish on every pitch. Open Q&A with a founder operating in the trenches.
Live pitches to alumni Sharks at Merkin Hall. Capital committed in the room. The night the program goes live.
Watch the Final Event →