Schedule
Tuesdays, 10:10am to noon.
The schedule is subject to change. Listed guest dates are confirmed; guest topics are planned.
| # | Day | Date | Session | Assignment / due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue | Open recruiting session, before admission. Why agent startups die: the gap between a demo and something people rely on. | Nothing. | |
| 2 | Tue | Onboarding for the admitted cohort. Idea vetoes, deep dive draw, how the round works. Then: how to talk to users, and picking a number you can fail. No round yet; the weekly cadence starts in week 3. | Project and team introAfter admission | |
| 3 | Tue | Picking the wedge. One task, one persona, one workflow. First round. Regular session | User conversationsDue | |
| 4 | Tue | Evals before features. Measure whether the agent did the job and the cost per successful task. Mandatory 1:1s. Regular session | ProposalDue | |
| 5 | Tue | Apoorv Agarwal (Arata AI), Ketan Jog, and Marina Senderos. Planned topic: customer discovery and finding the first paying customers. Read: launch checklist. Guest session | EvalsDue | |
| 6 | Tue | Neil Kachappilly (August). Planned topic: using coding agents, what works and what doesn't. Two team deep dives on launch readiness. Guest session | Launch readinessDue | |
| 7 | Tue | Learning from launch and distribution. Use early feedback to improve adoption and reach the next users in their existing workflows. Three team deep dives. Regular session | LaunchDue | |
| 8 | Tue | Mock diligence with visiting investors. Full period; no talk or deep dives. | Mock diligenceDue | |
| 9 | Tue | No class. Election Day, university holiday. Your metric may change here, once. Decisions are discussed in week 10. | Pivot or persevereDue | |
| 10 | Tue | Pricing and unit economics. Token, retry, and human fallback costs against what customers will pay. Pricing per seat, task, or outcome, and why agents break seat pricing. Mandatory 1:1s. Three team deep dives. Regular session | DistributionDue | |
| 11 | Tue | Trust and the enterprise objection. Permissions, prompt injection, audit logs, what a buyer asks before letting your agent touch their data. Last deep dive week. Regular session | Cost and pricingDue | |
| 12 | Tue | Rehearsal Demo Day. 3 minutes per team, hard clock, full-class critique. No talk or round. | Rehearsal deckDue | |
| 13 | Tue | Mandatory calendar-booked 1:1s all day. No class session. | Revised deckDue | |
| 14 | Tue | Demo Day with outside judges. 3 minutes plus 2 minutes of questions. | Demo Day deckDue Final submissionDue |
Session formats
Regular and guest sessions use the schedules below. Mock diligence, rehearsal, and Demo Day follow their schedule entries.
Regular session
Regular sessions have two deep dives, except October 20 and November 10, which have three.
| Usual time | Oct 20 / Nov 10 | Block |
|---|---|---|
| 10:10–10:25 | 10:10–10:25 | Talk. One idea, timed to where teams are that week. |
| 10:25–11:05 | 10:25–10:45 | The round. Every team, 4 minutes each including questions and transitions. Your number and its change, what you shipped, your one blocker. No slides. On Oct 20 and Nov 10, only the five teams without a deep dive take part in the round. |
| 11:05–11:45 | 10:45–11:45 | Deep dives. Two teams, or three on Oct 20 and Nov 10, 20 minutes each. On those two dates, include your usual update at the start of your deep dive, within the 20 minutes. Real grilling from the instructor, visiting mentors, and the class. |
| 11:45–11:55 | 11:45–11:55 | Commitments. Every team states next week's target out loud. Logged, and checked against next week's written update. |
| 11:55–noon | 11:55–noon | Buffer. |
Guest session
The written weekly update replaces the oral team round and commitment round on guest days.
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 10:10–10:55 | Guest talk. Practical cases and lessons. |
| 10:55–11:10 | Discussion. Questions from the class. |
| 11:10–11:50 | Deep dives. Two teams, 20 minutes each, applying the talk's ideas to their current decisions and experiments. |
| 11:50–11:55 | Takeaways and next steps. Lessons the whole class can use. |
| 11:55–noon | Buffer. |
Guests may stay for the deep dives when their schedules permit. The instructor leads the deep dives when the guest cannot stay.
Each of the eight teams presents two deep dives. The first cycle runs in weeks 3–6, with two teams each week. The second runs in weeks 7, 10, and 11, with three, three, and two teams respectively. There are no deep dives in week 8 (mock diligence) or week 9 (Election Day). The instructor assigns and posts the team rotation on Ed. Teams may trade slots as long as each team keeps two appearances.
Meetings and office hours
To book a meeting, send the instructor a private note on Ed with your team name and several available times. The instructor will confirm the appointment.
Office hours are where depth happens. By appointment with the instructor, and separately with visiting mentors when they are available. Any team can book 30 minutes. Teams that are stuck should be booking every week. Teams that are moving may go a month without booking. Class time is for what everyone benefits from watching; your specific problem is for office hours.
Two mandatory 1:1s with the instructor, 20 minutes, calendar-booked, in weeks 4 and 10. Week 13 has additional mandatory 1:1s for Demo Day preparation.