How Startup Lab works
A real startup, run like an accelerator
Startup Lab is 90 days on your own idea, on the real calendar. An AI Program Director runs it like an accelerator: a brief every morning, assignments with real due dates, a weekly stand-up, board meetings, timed crunches and a Demo Day.
Your work comes from your real stage and evidence. Nothing is simulated: the interviews, visitors, sign-ups, letters of intent and payments are your own, and they are checked.
The morning brief and the check-in
Each morning the Director writes a short brief: what moved since yesterday, what is due and what matters most today. It can also come by email (switch it off in Program settings).
Check in once a day in a line or two: what you did, what you will do, what is blocking you. Check-ins count toward deadlines and attendance.
Assignments
Assignments arrive from the Director with a real due date. Evidence assignments complete by themselves when your verified numbers get there (for example, 5 confirmed interviews). Written ones are handed in and reviewed; some are files made in the Workbench (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and graded on the server.
Late work counts for half. When work is overdue the Director follows up, then the Mentor, then the board. Ignore a follow-up for two days and it costs a credibility point.
Stand-ups, office hours, board meetings and Demo Day
The weekly stand-up opens on Monday: three questions from the Director. Every two weeks the Mentor holds office hours at a slot your team picks; the Mentor asks questions and never hands you the answer.
Board meetings come on day 30 and day 60: an angel, a seed VC and an accelerator partner push on your weakest verified number, and the commitments you make become assignments. Demo Day is days 88 to 90: hand in your pitch deck, then answer the panel.
Board meetings and Demo Day can be spoken: turn Voice on, press the mic and answer out loud. Your words become your answer, marked spoken. Typing always works, and no audio is stored.
Crunches
About once or twice a week a crunch is offered: a timed challenge of 10 to 25 minutes, such as an angry customer or an investor asking for unit economics. Open it when you are ready; the clock cannot be paused while it runs. Late answers count half, and an offer left for three days expires.
Your AI team and investors
The Director, a Mentor, a domain expert, two practice customers and three AI investors write to you in the inbox. Every one of them is an AI and is labelled as one. Practice customers are for rehearsal only and never count as evidence.
Investors also message first when your numbers move (a first sign-up, a first payment) or when the team goes quiet.
Scoring: 60 / 40
60 points come from verified evidence: the stages you reach and when (25), verified traction against your targets (20), and deadlines and attendance (15).
40 points are judged by AI investors and mentors, twice each, against fixed anchors: interview synthesis and decisions (15), the investor update, board meetings and the Demo Day pitch (15), and professionalism (10; collaboration in a team). You can appeal each judged part once.
Credibility
Like a real board, the Program notices conduct. Unprofessional language costs 3, an ignored follow-up 1, and a stand-up or board meeting missed after it was moved 1. Deductions are capped at 10 per run, and each one says why.
Team play
Up to five founders. Claim an assignment or crunch before you work on it (only the claimer hands it in), hand it off to a teammate, and share notes and files on the team drive. Team chat is checked for conduct like everything else.
In a team, collaboration (how the work is spread, hand-offs and how fast you answer each other) replaces professionalism. Each member gets a certificate with their own contribution.
Sector leaderboard and achievements
Startups on the Program are ranked within their sector, Solo or Team, on the 60/40 score. The sector is tagged in week 1 and locks on day 8. Only verified numbers show as badges.
Achievements mark milestones such as a first sign-up, first revenue, shipping the MVP or a clean record. They are your team's and never change the score.
Pausing and the end
The founder can pause the clock for up to 30 days in total; deadlines move with the pause. After day 90 the startup becomes a read-only record with a debrief, the final score and a certificate for every member.