Put AI to work for your business
Free. Six sessions. October 11 to Nov 1. Mandrem, North Goa. In partnership with Edge City, ModuleXero, NomadGao, and Collective Impact Labs
A international team of builders from (Europe, Africa, Asia, and the United States) is coming to Mandrem for three weeks to work with local Goan small businesses. You bring one real problem in your business. We set up AI with you, connect it to the apps you already run, and build alongside you.
You do not need to know anything about AI to attend the event. We just ask you bring curiosity and openness to collaborate and connect with our builders and other businesses.
What you get
Claude, the AI tool, free for one month. Anthropic covers the cost. We set it up with you and connect it to the apps you already use, so you do not throw anything out.
A builder beside you. One builder for every five or six businesses, for three weeks. They teach you in the room, then come to your business and build it with you.
Six sessions of two hours each, plus open build hours if you want more time with a builder.
More free tool credits. We are lining them up now, and we will tell you exactly what landed before the first session rather than promising it today.
The room on the last day. You show what you built in front of a interested group of founders and researchers who are in Mandrem for three weeks.
It costs nothing, now or later. Sponsors pay for this. You keep what gets built.
The calendar
Two hours a session, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10am to 12pm in Mandrem.
Tue Oct 13 · Using AI safely, setting up Claude, connecting the software you already run
Thu Oct 15 · Find the one manual job eating your week, and automate it
Tue Oct 20 · Your public face. Website, listings and content
Thu Oct 22 · Your public face, continued
Tue Oct 27 · Open build session. You tell us what to build
Thu Oct 29 · Open build session
Fri Oct 30 · Demo day. You show what you built, four minutes, no slides
What we ask of you
Come to all of the six sessions. About four hours a week for three weeks.
Let a builder work alongside your business during the month.
Take ownership of what gets built. It is yours to run after we leave.
Two short check-ins later, in late October and in January, so we can see what stuck.
How a seat works
Seats are limited and a person reads every request. Answer the questions when you register, and we reply on WhatsApp. Registering also puts your business on the Goa small-business list, so you get the Goa report first whether or not you get a seat this round.
Questions people ask
What does it cost? Nothing. No fee, no ticket, nothing later.
What if I am not technical? That is exactly who this is built for. Most of the room will never have used these tools.
Do I have to come to all six? Come to one and see. The full version asks for all six, and you can step up after your first session.
How much time is it? Two hours a session, twice a week, for three weeks. About four hours a week.
What language is it in? English in the room. Tell us on the form if you would rather work in Konkani, Hindi or Marathi, and we will match you with someone who can.
What are the last two sessions about? You tell us. We write them from what owners say and publish them here before the first session.
I am in Panjim or South Goa. Is it worth the ride? For one session, honestly, probably not. For the full three weeks, yes, because your builder comes to you between sessions.
Does my business information go anywhere? You see your own numbers. Everyone else only ever sees group totals. Nothing that identifies you or your business reaches a technology company or a government office.
Will it cost money to keep it going afterwards? Some tools are free forever and some are not. We tell you exactly which is which before the sessions end, so nothing surprises you in December.
What happens when you leave? Everything is already in your name. Paid local people are trained to help, and we come back in January to see what is still running.
Where exactly is it? Mandrem, North Goa. We send the exact venue to everyone whose seat is confirmed.
Who is behind this? Ground Floor Labs, a small research organization. In June we ran the first version of this in Healdsburg, California, with the local Chamber of Commerce, and sixty businesses came through. We write down what works and publish it free, including the parts that did not work.