Build Academy: 3-Week AI App Cohort (23 Jun, 30 Jun, 7 Jul)
Three live online sessions: Tuesday 23 June, 30 June and 7 July (6:00–8:00pm AEST). Plus a free 45-minute setup clinic on Saturday 20 June.
Founding cohort. 15 seats only at the introductory price. Build and deploy a real AI-powered web app over three Tuesday evenings. No coding experience needed.
"Blown away with what we could have accomplished in just a couple of hours. Had a little working model that does the core of it." — Paul, past attendee
This cohort is built for non-technical founders, business owners, and curious builders who have an idea sitting in a notes app and want to actually ship something. No lectures. No watching someone else code. Just a clear, follow-along system that gets you from zero to deployed, with live support the whole way.
Everyone builds the same application together, step by step. We move as a group so no one gets left behind, and everyone walks out with the same result — a working app on the internet that they built themselves.
What you'll build
An AI-powered outreach email generator. Type in a prospect's name, company, and pain point, hit Generate, and get a personalised cold email and LinkedIn message back in seconds. Save results to a database. View your history. All running on your own URL.
It's a real app with a real AI feature, not a toy. And by the end of week three, you'll understand exactly how it works.
Why three weeks and not a single day
Across three previous buildDays, the most consistent feedback was that one Saturday wasn't enough. Past attendees said it directly:
"Yes I think running a longer program with more time and detail will be useful." — Kevin
"It would be valuable to have follow-up sessions, deeper dives, and structured networking opportunities." — Hinc
"Further time in troubleshooting or customisation." — Kat, University of Melbourne
"Ongoing support would be great Callum." — Kem
So this cohort is built around what they asked for. Three two-hour evenings means more time on the parts everyone got stuck on (planning, troubleshooting, deployment), homework between sessions so you can build at your own pace, and a Discord community for unblocks between Tuesdays and after the cohort ends.
What we'll cover across the three evenings
Plan like a developer: Scope the app, design the database, and turn a rough idea into a buildable spec. This is the step most people skip when they try building alone, and it's the reason most vibe-coded projects fail.
Build with Cursor: Use the AI-powered code editor to build the app on your own machine. You describe what you want in plain English, and the AI writes the code. No terminal commands, no syntax to memorise.
Connect the backend: Set up Supabase as your database so the app can store and retrieve data. Learn how real apps handle secrets, environment variables, and data persistence.
Add AI features: Integrate a large language model via OpenRouter so your app actually does something smart. Not a wrapper around ChatGPT. A structured AI feature with a proper prompt, JSON output, and error handling.
Ship it live: Push to GitHub, deploy to Vercel, and watch your app go live on the internet. Test it on your phone, send it to a friend.
What we'll teach you that YouTube won't
We researched 80+ sources on why non-technical builders fail with AI coding tools. Three problems came up in nearly every one:
The fix spiral. You ask the AI to fix a bug. It fixes it but breaks something else. You fix that and break a third thing. We teach you the Reset Rule: revert, re-prompt, and try again cleanly. Never chase a spiral.
The planning gap. Vague prompts produce garbage. We start with a complete blueprint before anyone touches Cursor. You'll know exactly what you're building, what the database looks like, and what the AI prompt should say.
The deployment cliff. Building locally is easy. Getting it live is where everyone stalls. We walk through environment variables, GitHub, and Vercel step by step so you actually ship.
About your instructor
Callum Holt is a senior full-stack engineer at Shopfront, an AI-powered resale platform processing thousands of items per day across eBay, Depop, Grailed and Shopify. He runs 13Labs (an AI agency and consultancy), is Head of Partnerships at MLAI, and runs buildClub Melbourne. Across three buildDays and an automation workshop, attendees consistently describe him the same way:
"Great educator! Really easy to understand, deep knowledge and approachable!" — Kat, University of Melbourne
"Outstanding, totally suited for the job. Friendly and encouraging. Doesn't assume any prior knowledge." — Marcus
"Passionate presenter with deep domain knowledge." — Paul, Regional Rising
The difference: most people teaching AI coding are content creators or coaches. Callum ships production AI every day at his actual job. You learn the same patterns he uses for real work, not influencer demos.
What past attendees and alumni have built
In the cohort, everyone builds the same AI-powered outreach generator together — that's how we go deep on the framework. After the workshop, alumni have applied the same patterns to their own ideas:
A resume helper that matches bullet points to job descriptions
QAMEL — a test question generator for students
A content-creation planning tool
A digital wardrobe that generates daily outfits
An academic research collaboration form
A property documentation and maintenance platform for homeowners
A powerlifting movement analysis app
If you want to apply this framework to your own idea after the cohort ends, we offer 1:1 coaching as the next step. We'll mention it briefly at session 3.
What's included
Three live 2-hour cohort sessions on Tuesday evenings
A bonus 45-minute setup clinic the Saturday before week 1 — we get your laptop ready so we don't waste Tuesday night on installs
Small cohort (15 people max) with live 1:1 support when you get stuck
All workshop materials, templates, and starter code
Recordings of every session, so missing one doesn't mean falling behind
Private Discord community for questions between sessions and ongoing support after the cohort ends
What's out of scope
This cohort focuses on getting something real shipped. We won't cover authentication, payments, or multi-user systems. Those are beyond what we can tackle in six hours of live teaching, but we'll explain what they are and when you'd need them. You'll leave with a solid foundation to explore them on your own.
Perfect for you if you are
A non-technical founder with an idea you've been sitting on
A business owner who wants to stop paying agencies for things you could prototype yourself
An operator or marketer who wants to speak technical fluently
Someone who has tried Cursor or v0 alone, got stuck, and wants accountability to finish
Not for you if you are
Looking for free content — there is plenty on YouTube
Hoping to be carried through without doing the work — this is hands-on, you build it yourself with help
Hostile to having your camera on during sessions — this is a cohort, not a lecture
What you'll need
A laptop (Mac or Windows) with a stable internet connection
A webcam and working microphone (cameras on during sessions — it's a cohort, not a lecture)
Accounts you'll set up
We'll send detailed setup instructions a week before the event and cover any issues at the Saturday clinic. Everything takes about 15 minutes total.
Cursor — Pro plan ($20/month, your subscription)
OpenRouter — $5 of credits
GitHub — free
Vercel — free
Supabase — free
Schedule
Saturday 20 June, 10:00–10:45am AEST — Setup Clinic (free, recorded). Install checks, account creation, first successful Cursor connection. Join live or catch the recording.
Tuesday 23 June, 6:00–8:00pm AEST — Session 1. Welcome, finished-app demo, plan the build, scope the database, design the AI prompt, project setup, first form rendered.
Tuesday 30 June, 6:00–8:00pm AEST — Session 2. Supabase connection, save and retrieve data, OpenRouter integration, first real AI output, history page.
Tuesday 7 July, 6:00–8:00pm AEST — Session 3. Debugging workshop using live attendee bugs, deploy to Vercel, environment variables in production, final polish, what to build next.
What you'll walk away with
A deployed app you built, live on the internet, that you can show anyone
The complete project code and all workshop materials
A clear understanding of how modern apps are made: Cursor, GitHub, Vercel, Supabase, AI integration
Three habits that will save you every time you build: checkpoint before changing, revert instead of chasing fixes, plan before prompting
An invitation to ongoing 1:1 work if you want to keep building
15 seats only. First come, first served.
Reserve your seat now.