Zenith's co-founder studio for people who want to start a business — not learn about startups. AI agents collapsed the cost of building a company from $500K to under $50K. That's why we don't write big checks — we co-found instead. You bring the drive. We bring the playbook, the infrastructure, and the network.
Yes, we teach you to be a founder. But we only work with people who already want to be one. We're not here to help you decide if entrepreneurship is right for you — we're here to compress the path for people who've already decided.
Jane is who this program is built for. She's not a coder. She's not a domain expert. She saw a problem, partnered with someone who knew the industry, and used AI agents to replace what would have been a CTO and a full dev team.
Jane spent her career as a product manager. When she saw the opportunity in B2B quote processing, she didn't have a technical co-founder, didn't know the lending industry, and had never shipped a product solo. What she had was conviction and the willingness to talk to customers before the product was ready.
She partnered with Ernest — a domain expert who actively opens doors to lenders and brokers — and used AI agents as her engineering team. Today she's running product and closing deals.
Most programs make you learn first, then apply. We don't. The most important skill for a founder isn't building — it's talking to customers before you're ready. You'll do both at the same time, because that's how real startups work. Week 6 is Customer Day — where customer evidence takes center stage.
A working AI agent — or team of agents — that demonstrates your idea. It doesn't have to be polished. It has to be real enough to show a potential customer and get a genuine reaction.
Real conversations with real potential buyers — not friends who say it sounds cool. Come back with quotes, signals, objections, and a clear answer to: "Would they pay?"
Why both, simultaneously? Most programs make you learn first, then apply. We disagree.
The most important skill for a founder isn't building — it's talking to people before you're ready. We force you to do both at the same time because that's how real startups work. Tight deadlines, incomplete information, parallel execution.
This is how we find the right people. Not the ones who follow instructions perfectly. The ones who move anyway.
Group sessions give you the shared playbook, peer momentum, and accountability that comes from building alongside other founders. 1-on-1 office hours sharpen the work to your specific business — the same way Sze works with founders inside our portfolio companies. Both, not either.
Most programs end with Demo Day — a polished pitch to investors. We end with Customer Day — a focused, evidence-first session where each founder presents what real customers actually said. Quotes. Objections. Signals. Money on the table or money refused. The bar isn't pitch quality; it's truth quality.
Anyone can build a prototype in six weeks. The harder thing — the thing this program is actually training — is whether you can put it in front of real buyers, hear what they say, and come back with evidence instead of excuses. Customer Day is where that gets visible to the rest of the cohort and to Zenith.
Traditional accelerators write big checks because you need to hire a team. We pay $10K because you don't. AI agents compressed what used to cost half a million to build. That's the entire premise of Zenith — and the reason our number looks small. It's small on purpose.
Accelerators give you a class and a small check. Studios co-found the company with you — daily work, infrastructure, network, the whole apparatus of starting up. We're the second one. The equity reflects three to four months of founder-level work, not the size of the check.
This is the work the equity is for. Not a class. Not coaching. Co-founder work, done daily, for three to four months.
Three to four months of working together on product, customer development, and GTM. Not weekly check-ins. Daily rhythm.
Entity setup, banking, legal foundation, equity structure. The unglamorous infrastructure that takes founders months to figure out alone.
Accounting, payroll, contracts, vendor setup. We hand you a running company, not a to-do list.
The AI agent stack, deployment pipeline, and engineering foundation that lets one person ship like a team.
Warm intros, pilot conversations, advisor introductions. The network that took us 17+ years to build, applied to your company.
When you're ready to raise external capital, we set you up — investor intros, pitch prep, terms guidance. We've done it.
Zenith works in four phases. The incubation program is Phase 1 — the filter. Founders who get through unlock everything that follows: a real company, real capital, and a path to scale.
6 weeks. Build a prototype + prove demand. Ends with Customer Day.
Zenith reviews your Phase 1 output. Go / no-go decision on co-building.
Zenith joins as your co-founder. We invest, we set up, we work daily. Goal: first paying customer.
After first dollar, raise $100K externally. Path to $1M ARR.
People who came in without a technical background and built something real — using AI agents as their team.
Non-technical PM. Replaced what would have been a CTO and full dev team using AI agents. Now leading product and closing deals in B2B lending.
Seasoned trader with no coding background. Built an investment research platform from scratch — never written a line of code or used AI before joining.
Built a guitar pedal design tool for the DIY community he's part of. Built for himself first, then for people exactly like him.
Applications close May 9. Info session May 9. Cohort starts May 11. Customer Day June 20. Free to apply.
Apply →