David Gaynor and Patrick Coleman

Build an app with ChatGPT

Andela

Replit

PeopleGrove

David Gaynor

Engineer and exited founder, ex Andela and Twitter

Patrick Coleman

Former first business hire and early leader at Replit and PeopleGrove

Discover ways to use AI tools from ideation to coding to content

How we built our language learning startup Yaya

A hands-on demo of using the ChatGPT API to build an app

Working with the ChatGPT API

Talk to users early, iterate quickly, and don't overbuild

Mistakes to avoid

If you are :﻿✔️ An aspiring entrepreneur who wants to build a world class technology product✔️ An existing founder who wants to maximize their runway✔️ A startup founder who is building a tech startup but lacks technical background✔️ A startup founder who wants to explore outsourcing This is the single most valuable resource for you. In my career spanning 17+ years I have been fortunate to have played the role of a startup founder who wants to build his MVP as well as of a technology consultant who works with startup founders to help them bring their startup dream to fruition. I have used this unique mix of experience from both sides of the table to assist multiple startups successfully traverse their 0 to 10 startup journey. I have now distilled all of this experience in to a concise and actionable learnings in the form of this course. This course is specifically built keeping in mind the needs of a new startup founder who if bogged down with huge amount of content telling them the theory of building their startup and MVP but does not provide them the tools and actionable items which they can start using immediately. Once you have completed this course you would have learned how to : 🏆 Clearly define a truly lean and minimal MVP.🏆 Get feedback from your ideal customer profile without needing to write a single like of code.🏆 Take key technical decisions about your product which have the potential to make-or-break your startup.🏆 A framework to identify the correct partners for you, be it hires or outsourcing agencies.🏆 Avoid common mistakes/gotchas that could end up as a huge drain of your time, money and effort.🏆 Have complete ownership over your IP while working with multiple third parties🏆 Actionable checklists, frameworks, templates and references to jumpstart your startup journey. I want you to immediately get to work towards building your startup MVP as soon as you finish this course. That is the guiding principal of how this course has been designed.

Jumpstart your startup journey by building your MVP the right way. 

Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

Course syllabus

The course will be conducted over a span of 2 days with 4 hours sessions on both the days.

Thursday and Friday

The next cohort goes live on Oct 3rd 2024 and will start at 8:AM EST

Oct 3, 2024

We will practice all that we learn, as we learn, in the form of a do-along case study. In this we take existing popular, complex startup product and go through the complete journey of building the MVP together.

Do-Along Case Study

Course schedule

Aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build a technology product by do not know where to start.

Existing startup founders, bootstrapped or funded, who want to maximize their runway.

Non technical founders who want to build, manage and scale a successful technology product.

Dreamers who are planning to build their startup soon.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

This course is much more than explanation of concepts and dos and donts. My goal is to equip you with tools that you can start using the very same day to start building your dream startup. I will provide you with actionable checklists, frameworks, legal templates and contacts.

Get actionable checklists, frameworks, legal templates and references to supercharge their startup product building journey

What used to take weeks can now be done in days (any many times hours) using the powers of GenAI. I will tell you how you can use AI tools to significantly speed up your MVP development without breaking the bank

Use GenAI to significantly speed up all aspects of MVP development

You will not have to wait for the final MVP to be built before you can get feedback from your target customers. I will teach you how you can build prototypes quickly so that you can collect valuable feedback quicker and course correct faster. Without writing a single line of code

Learn to get feedback on your idea without spending a single dollar on development

Converting ideas in your mind to actionable specs is an art that I have perfected over the last 17 years. I will teach how you too can build specs that are extremely cost and time efficient and will be loved by your designers, developers, contractors and you.

Convert ideas to actionable specs faster without ambiguity. Specs that your developers and partners will love.

A new founders journey is full of decisions, all of which can make or break the startup. I will teach you the framework using which you will maneuver decisions like which contractors to choose and how to hire your team making sure that you do not lose valuable resources and time.

Learn to Identify the correct partners to build your startup. Make informed decision on whether to hire devs or find agency.

Working with others is hard. Its even more challenging when you are a new fonder with not enough time and funding. I will simplify and codify the process for you so that you can ensure a smooth working relationship with partners while maintaining complete indemnity and onwership

Learn to avoid the common pitfalls when working with third parties, safeguard your IP and avoid unnecessary hiccups in your startup journey

MVP is just the beginning. You want to build a product that will scale with time as you grow. Something that will make prospective investors comfortable when choosing to invest.

Build a scalable and investable business.

I will teach you how you can maximize your capital efficiency by simply tweaking some product development decisions and significantly improve your runway. This is even more crucial if you are a bootstrapped founder.

Increase your runway significantly

Leverage GenAI to fulfil your startup dream by learning to validate your idea, translate idea to MVP & find right partners for your startup

Akhil Gupta

Cohort 2

Cohort 3

The challenge: most people who don't have a technical background do not understand the reasons why products like ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor respond the way they do. Because of this, they also don't understand how to get what they want and need out of AI tools. A quick story: my sister is a physician-scientist. She has an MD-PhD. She does cutting edge scientific research and works with data on the daily. Last year, we were on a video call where she mentioned being unimpressed with ChatGPT's response to her work question. She told me what she was trying to do, and I went, "wait, AI could definitely handle this - what did you type?" I flipped the screen, pointed it at my monitor, and proceeded to have a conversation with ChatGPT that got her all the answers she needed in just a few minutes. This "capability unlock" has gone on to save her at least an hour in her work every day. DAILY. And she was mere seconds away from having given up on it, thinking AI wasn't yet good enough to get the job done. And this is when I realized, every non-technical user needs to understand not just "prompt engineering," as you've heard described elsewhere.It's more fundamental than that. It's...• The reasons and treasons of why AI does or doesn't give you a good answer• The nuances of technical limitations (safety, length, 'correct' output)• The incredible power of chain of thought &amp; reflective techniques This 3-day intensive will cover the above, and so much more, with the outcome of getting you to become fluent in talking to AI systems, including large language models (like ChatGPT/GPT-4o out of OpenAI, Claude out of Anthropic, LLaMA out of Meta) and image generation models (like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion). And when I say "fluent," I mean something very specific. Just as language fluency isn't about memorizing phrases from a travel guidebook, AI fluency isn't about collecting prompts from Twitter. True fluency means understanding the deeper patterns of interaction -- knowing when to push, when to pivot, and most importantly, why. Consider this: most courses teach you what to say to AI. This course teaches you how to think about AI conversation. It's the difference between learning to order coffee in French versus understanding why French speakers structure their thoughts the way they do. What you'll get out of the 3 day intensive - Day 1Mental Models &amp; Mechanics• What AI knows versus what it can do; how AI reads, thinks, and speaks, + biases and limits• The hidden landscape of latent space, embeddings, and vectors - what does it all mean for your usage?• Differences in AI paradigms, LLM models, genAI models, and the applications that sit on top of them Day 2Conversations &amp; Debugging• Ask the unaskable: form questions that inspire LLMs to answer you; learn the DRIVE context framework• Use layered prompting and multi-turn conversations for your most advanced queries and topics• Get AI to "think out loud," giving you more data, more insights, and the ability to iterate over time Day 3Advanced Applications• Use reflective and agentic techniques + products to get AI "working for you" - soon, you'll have a team• Get multi-modal - combine models, model types, and apps to generate fast, impactful outputs• &amp; more: analysis, tools, fine-tuning, hallucinations, ethical considerations, and real world use And more• retrieval augmented generation (RAG), code use, integration + extensions, voice-based nuances• chain of thought, reflection, context windows, and other AI concepts explained• how do apps make use of LLMs, how is AI being integrated by companies across tech At the end of this 3-day intensive, you'll...• be able to transform vague ideas into incredible outputs, whether you're brainstorming, working with data and statistics, coding with AI, using it for workflow, asking it knowledge questions, utilizing it for research, adopting it as a content companion, or using it in an academic setting• troubleshoot and debug AI responses - you'll know when you've hit a real limit versus a bug or user error, unlocking the boundaries of what AI can do before anyone else -- no matter the field you're in• future-proof your skills - because you're going to have a deep understanding of how these products work, you'll remain capable of using them as the models are continuously updated and evolved, even as the rapid pace of AI development continues It's about harnessing the power of this transformative technology to amplify your own creativity, productivity, and impact on the world. Get ready to go beyond "prompt engineering" and embark on a journey to truly master the art and science of communicating with AI. Are you ready to unlock the conversation?

You're probably bad at talking to AI. I'll make it your smartest friend.

3 days of live classes

Can't make it to the live classes or want to watch them again later? We'll make each day's content available same-day for all students.

Access recordings forever

There will be several projects and optional group workshops to turn the content into usable muscle - attend live for instructor feedback, or access projects, examples, and templates at your own pace - including permanent access after the course ends.

Daily projects (optional)

Non-technical or semi-technical professionals (throughout knowledge work) looking to gain an upper hand in this AI moment.

Anyone who has felt the gap between AI's potential, what they hear about what it can do, and their ability to access the upside.

NOT for engineers who already use LLM copilots every day. NOT for people looking for quick prompt templates.

You'll learn about the cognitive architecture that underpins not just LLMs, but the way that products and apps are built around them. These patterns will work across AI models and will continue working as systems evolve.

Instead of AI prompt templates, learn conversational design patterns

It's hard for even the most AI-passionate people to integrate and reliably, consistency use AI products. I'll give you systems, shortcuts, and methods for making it second nature -- we'll build your AI muscle.

Instead of treating ChatGPT like a magic answer box, you'll make it a constant companion

"Why does it hallucinate here, but not there? When should I restart a conversation versus redirect it? Why does it sometimes forget what we just discussed? How does its sourcing work? When is more context good versus bad?" You'll know. And you'll know what to do next.

Instead of getting frustrated, you'll know how to iterate your way to results

You'll master the art of progressive refinement, building complex outputs and systems, and be able to leverage all of this to be top .5% in your field -- whether that's at work, with a hobby, with a side project, or with something personal.

Instead of being left behind, you'll get and stay ahead of the AI curve

Develop a foundational understanding of how AI & LLMs see, hear, and read your input, + how to use them to 10x your output speed and impact.

Sherveen Mashayekhi

Founder & CEO @ Free Agency; Product Leader @ Stella (AI job matching), Toptal

Cohort 1

People who can code get farther in life by solving problems with software. It is even more rare and impactful if your role is not as a developer but you can also code, for example a product manager who can code, a marketer who can code, or a sales person who can code, etc. The ability to code is a super power. These developer combos don't need to go talk to another developer in order to get something done, they can just make the thing themselves. Benefits for people who code: 1) Save time and money by building tools that automate tasks for themselves or others.2) Get promotions at work for technical contributions OR grow a business as an entrepreneur. So, why aren't you building your own software? Because learning to code is hard, and even if you know how to code, coding takes a long time. But, what if you didn't have to be the one to actually write the code? What if you could tell someone else what code to write and they did whatever you said (really fast) and never slept? This is exactly what AI can do. AI is now so good that it not only can help you code, it can even code for you. It's like having your own engineer who will build anything you want, at any hour of the day, and they just cost $20/month. What would you build if you knew how to do this? Knowing how to tell an AI to build software is the most high value skill you can learn today. Most people don't know how to do it, simply by learning a little bit you will already be one of the most skilled in the world. This course will teach you everything you need to know in order to build anything simply by telling the AI what to code. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: - All of the tips and strategies- How to overcome issues and roadblocks- How to setup your developer environment- What AI to work with- How to build user sign in, save and pull data from a database, and integrate with services like OpenAI and Stripe- How to deploy your app for others to use WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BUILD: - Internal tools- An entire social network- AI apps- iPhone apps- Literally anything, no matter how complex or ambitious YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE IF: - You are excited to be able to build things- You are ok with getting frustrated WHY LEARN FROM ME: I have been building software since 2007 when I moved to Silicon Valley at age 19. I learned product management from Josh Elman, one of the most successful product managers in tech (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Robinhood, Apple). I've been working with AI specifically since 2016 as CEO of Octane AI, an AI company where we power AI for millions of people. I was one of the first people to get access to OpenAI's technology, years before ChatGPT was released. And more specifically... Over the past 90 days I have used AI to build at least one new app a day. I do speedruns where I see how much of an app I can build in 30 min, 60 min, etc. Just like going to the gym, but for coding with AI. I’ve also watched hours and hours of videos of developers screen sharing themselves building with AI, I’ve watched interviews with the founders of these AI tools where they give insights into their own tips and tricks, I’ve looked through forums, and chatted directly with anyone and everyone who is building this skill. Over the past three months I have gone&nbsp;very&nbsp;deep on learning everything there is to know about coding with AI. And I want as many people in the world to be able to do this too. Creating is just so fun and rewarding, my brain craves to create and coding with AI is one of the most amazing creative experiences. I’m here to deliver one very clear message to you:&nbsp;You can now build anything you ever wanted simply by telling an AI to build it for you. Social networks, cooking apps, iPhone apps, games, anything. ANYTHING. How does coding with AI work? What have people used AI to build? How exactly can you use AI to code an app? How can you copy my strategy for learning to code with AI? What does the future of coding with AI look like? I’m going to answer all of these questions for you in this course. I’m going to show you how to build an entire app. Yes you. Let’s do this.

Learn to Solve Problems With Your Own Software

Learn step by step how to start a new project, how to tell the AI what to code, and all the tips and strategies you need to build anything.

5+ Hours of Coding Lessons

Two one hour sessions a week for 3 weeks dedicated to Q&amp;A + Hands on trainings where we will code with AI together and get updates from all students on how their apps are progressing.

2x Weekly Live Coding + Q&A

You will work on your app outside of class as you learn to code with AI.

Weekly exercises and projects

Non-technical founders &amp; entrepreneurs&nbsp;who want to build their own MVPs quickly without depending on developers. Perfect for those with idea

Product Managers, Designers, Marketers, &amp; Business folks&nbsp;who want to increase their technical capabilities and build their own tools and pro

Engineers &amp; technical professionals&nbsp;looking to 10x their productivity by mastering AI-powered development workflows and tools.

It might sound intimidating, but you will learn to do this in your sleep.

How to setup your AI development environment, even if you've never coded before

This is an emerging skill and you will know all of the most current tips and strategies.

Real world tips and strategies for getting AI to code exactly what you want

You will make an actual app with NextJS, Tailwind, Supabase, and OpenAI. It will have signup/login, a database, and even AI.

You will successfully code an app, and you will be surprised at how fast you will be able to do it

You will be so good at coding with AI that you will be able to create apps and tools for work and personal use, and it will be just as easy as writing an email.

You will be able to solve problems with software

Hands on class where you will build any app you want, simply by telling AI what to do. No coding experience needed.

Matt Schlicht

If you’re a software engineer or data scientist, chances are you’ve built or seen a proof of concept (POC) for a generative AI app. It’s exciting at first—an impressive demo that showcases the potential of large language models. But here’s the problem: that’s where it usually stops. These POCs often fail to scale into reliable, production-ready applications. The result? Endless iteration cycles, unreliable outputs, and frustration as teams struggle in what we call “POC purgatory.” It doesn’t have to be this way. With the right tools, principles, and processes, you can move beyond POCs and build LLM-powered applications that work—reliably, robustly, and at scale. In this course, we’ll show you how. You’ll not only learn the technical skills to design, test, and deploy generative AI applications but also develop the product mindset needed to iterate and improve rapidly. This isn’t just about building something cool—it’s about creating systems that deliver real value, solve real problems, and scale with confidence. What to ExpectThis is a highly interactive course designed to get you results. Across live workshops, discussions, and hands-on projects, you’ll build your skills while solving real-world challenges. Expect: •	Live coding sessions to design and refine LLM applications.•	Iteration exercises to explore how small changes can dramatically improve reliability.•	Discussions on user-centric development and integrating feedback loops.•	Expert-led Q&amp;As to help you tackle your toughest challenges. What You’ll Learn •	How to transform POC demos into production-grade applications.•	Strategies for managing non-determinism and optimizing outputs through prompt engineering.•	How to monitor, log, and debug AI systems to ensure reliability and performance.•	Best practices for handling structured outputs and integrating function calling into your applications.•	Building workflows for iterative development and experimentation.•	Practical skills through hands-on app development, including creating a Generative AI app to query PDFs. Bonus Perks All students will receive $1,000 worth of Modal credits to help power their AI applications, with more API credit announcements coming soon. Who This Course Is For This course is designed for: •	Data scientists and machine learning engineers who are sick of unreliable POCs and want to ship reliable LLM applications.•	Software engineers who want to learn how to build generative AI systems and master the LLM software development lifecycle. Who This Course Is Not For This course is not for those who are: •	Looking for an introductory course in AI—some programming knowledge is required.•	Expecting ready-made solutions for AI problems without active participation.•	Unable to commit to hands-on projects, live discussions, and iterative development exercises. Why Take This Course By the end of this course, you’ll: •	Understand the first principles of generative AI development.•	Gain hands-on experience building robust, scalable applications.•	Learn how to troubleshoot, monitor, and optimize AI systems for production.•	Develop workflows to iterate and refine AI applications effectively.•	Leave with the confidence to deploy reliable AI systems at scale.

Ground principles that underpin successful GenAI app development

Live in person sessions. We'll finalize session times by mid-November.

Mondays and Wednesdays

To ensure hands-on practical time, there will be project work to complete throughout the course.

Weekly projects

Data scientists, machine learning engineers who are sick &amp; tired of seeing and building prototypes &amp; want to ship reliable LLM applications

Software engineers who want to learn how to build Generative AI systems and learn the LLM software development lifecycle.

You’ve seen impressive generative AI demos—but how do you take them to production? In this course, you’ll learn the exact workflows, tools, and engineering practices needed to turn concepts into reliable, scalable applications that deliver real value.

Move beyond POCs and build production-ready AI systems

Struggling with inconsistent outputs? Through interactive exercises, you’ll explore proven techniques for optimizing prompts and ensuring your AI delivers actionable results in production settings.

Master prompt engineering for reliable results

When your AI application breaks, you’ll know exactly how to fix it. We’ll walk you through real-world debugging sessions, monitoring techniques, and tools to ensure your systems stay reliable at scale.

 Learn to debug and monitor AI systems like a pro

Want your AI to produce precise, usable results? You’ll learn how to handle structured outputs and function calls, making your applications smarter and more user-friendly.

Build smarter applications with structured outputs

Stop wasting time in endless iteration cycles. Through guided projects, you’ll discover how to set up workflows that refine your applications faster and with less frustration.

Accelerate your development process with iterative workflows

Tired of theoretical knowledge? You’ll build a fully functional app that uses text and image models to query PDFs, giving you practical experience solving complex real-world problems.

Develop hands-on expertise by building GenAI and LLM apps

Whether you’re looking to lead AI projects, impress stakeholders, or level up your technical expertise, this course gives you the tools to stand out as an AI/ML practitioner.

Advance your career with practical, proven techniques

These aren’t just skills for demos—they’re skills for delivering scalable, production-ready systems that solve real-world business challenges.

Solve Real Problems at Scale

Leave the course with a project you can add to your portfolio, demonstrate to your boss, or use to showcase your ability to deploy reliable AI systems.

Showcase Tangible Results

Build LLM-powered software reliably & from first principles. Learn the GenAI software development lifecycle: agents, evals, iteration & more

Lightning Lessons

Build an app with ChatGPT