Ship It by Lunch
By minute 90, every student has a working page on the internet, a way for a stranger to say yes, ten real sends, a first read of the numbers, and a public post about what they built.
Outline
-
0 to 10
One customer, one problem
Each student names one specific person and the one problem that person would pay to fix. No "everyone" answers. I push until it is a real name or a real job title.
Domain Expertise · Communication & Intellect -
10 to 20
Argue with Claude
Students have Claude play their customer, interview it, then rewrite their offer in one sentence. They learn to push back on AI, not just ask it.
AI as Thinking Partner -
20 to 40
Build the page
A landing page built with an AI app builder. One headline, one promise, one button. I walk the room and cut anything that takes more than five minutes to explain.
AI Augmented Building · Building -
40 to 50
Add the yes
A waitlist form, or a payment link set up on a parent or school account, since payment platforms require adult account holders. The page is not done until someone can act on it.
AI Tool Literacy · Financial Thinking -
50 to 65
Sell it and publish it
Every student sends the link to ten real people and logs each reply. Then they post the build in their daily "what I'm building" stream.
Selling · Courage & Discipline -
65 to 80
Evaluate
Students read their first signals (visits, signups, replies), ask Claude what the numbers suggest, then decide for themselves. One change goes live before tomorrow's standup.
Rapid Iteration · AI Automation & Agents -
80 to 90
Shipped or not shipped
Each student shows the live link, one number, and one thing AI got wrong today. No partial credit. Anyone who did not ship tells the room what stopped them and what they will finish by standup.
AI Ethics & Judgment · Integrity & Humility
The follow up
Replies get logged in FounderOS and reviewed at the next morning standup. The strongest result becomes a slide in the parent attended Build capstone.
What students bring
A laptop, one idea, and the phone numbers of ten people who are not their parents.
Two grades, one standard
The ship standard
Pass or not yet. A live link, ten sends, and one public post. Polish is optional. Shipping is not.
The skill rating
Each student is rated on the five AI core skills using the Founders School four level scale.
Ashley Gross
Ashley Gross is the founder and CEO of The Alliance, an enterprise AI advisory and implementation firm, and the Wiley published author of The AI Workweek . A Forbes recognized AI consultant and keynote speaker, she has trained more than 2,500 professionals at Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Visa, Abbott, and Unilever, and has been deploying AI into enterprise workflows since 2020.
She speaks from deployments she has shipped herself, and is candid about the programs that did not work as well as the ones that did. A working mom who got her evenings back with AI, she teaches busy professionals simple, no code workflows that cut hours and automate the busywork.
