Six months to a real company,
or an honest answer that it isn't one.
Live 1:1 sessions with operators who have actually built and sold companies. A curriculum with deadlines someone checks. We take no equity.
30 seats · ₹499 to be reviewed · ₹12,000/month + GST only if you are accepted
You do not need more information
You have watched the YC videos. You have the Notion doc, the competitor spreadsheet, and three versions of a landing page. You have read more about building companies than most people who have built one.
And the idea is still an idea.
That is not a knowledge problem. It is a structure problem. Nothing is due on Friday. Nobody is waiting for it. And when your reasoning is wrong, there is nobody in the room who has been wrong that way before.
Startup School fixes those three things and nothing else. It is not a course. There is no certificate. There is a person who has done this looking at your work every week and telling you the truth about it.
What you walk out with
Outcomes, not modules completed.
A problem you can prove people have
Not your assumption. Transcripts from real conversations with people who feel it.
A product in front of real users
Small, ugly, and actually used. Shipped in weeks, not perfected for a year.
Your first paying customer
The milestone that separates a project from a company. Money changing hands.
A pitch that survives questions
Ten slides where every claim is backed by something you did, not something you hope.
Clean books from day one
Cap table, entity, founder agreement. The things that are cheap now and expensive later.
Or a clear no
Some ideas should die. Finding that out in month three beats finding out in year three.
Twenty-four weeks, four phases
Every item has a deadline and a mentor who signs it off. You cannot tick your own homework.
Validate
Weeks 1 to 6
- Write the problem statement
- Talk to 10 real customers
- Map what they use today
- Kill-or-continue review
Build
Weeks 7 to 14
- Scope the smallest useful version
- Ship a working prototype
- Watch 5 users struggle with it
- Decide your pricing
Launch
Weeks 15 to 20
- Get your first paying customer
- Build one repeatable channel
- Set up your metrics
- Incorporate properly
Pitch
Weeks 21 to 24
- Write the narrative
- Build the deck
- Practise on strangers
- Demo day
Who is teaching this
Startup School is a new programme. The people and the network behind it are not.
50+
Mentors and operators
25+
Startups accelerated
8
Cohorts run since 2023
50+
Investors in the network
Some of the people you'll sit with
Abhishek Praharaj
Hexagon
Presales, Value Selling
Anandan Kumaran
Tiny Magiq
Sales, Technology Leadership, Product
Balaji Prasad P S
Shell
Program Management, Retail Technology, Enterprise Delivery, PMO
Gowtham Dakshina Murthy
Lifestyle Retail Malaysia
Retail Technology, Enterprise IT, Digital Transformation
Gowthaman I
Updater Services
HR Strategy, Talent Management, Org Development, Hiring
R. Seenivasan
TATA Steel
Manufacturing, Technology
Ramkumar Arumugam
Swiggy
Product Management, GenAI, Consumer Tech, Marketplaces, Startup Advisory
Sakthi Priya Balaji Rangan
JIX Reality & JIX R&D Lab
Interaction Design, UI/UX, XR (VR/AR/MR)
We run an equity accelerator and a startup studio, and we kept turning away good founders who were simply too early for either. Not because the idea was bad, but because there was nothing yet to invest in. Startup School is for those founders. It is the six months that come before an accelerator is even the right question.
What it costs, in full
No hidden fees, and the auto-renewal is stated plainly.
Review fee
One time, non-refundable, paid from your portal after you apply.
₹499
Membership, months 1 to 6
Charged only if you are accepted. Includes 4 live 1:1 sessions a month.
₹12,000/mo
Alumni membership, month 7 onwards
Continues automatically so you keep your sessions and the library. Cancel anytime.
₹3,000/mo
All prices exclude GST, added at the applicable rate. Cancelling stops future charges and your access runs to the end of the period you have paid for. We do not take equity in your company.
Another way to look at ₹12,000
₹3,000
per 1:1 hour with someone who has built and sold a company. Consultants charge multiples of that and are not accountable for your outcome.
₹400
a day. The honest comparison is not another course. It is the cost of six more months where the idea stays an idea.
Be honest about which one you are
We reject people. It is kinder than taking money for the wrong programme.
Apply
- You have an idea, or a half-built product, and no structure around it
- You are building your first company
- You can commit 10 or more hours a week
- You want someone to tell you when your reasoning is weak
Do not
- You want funding this month, not a foundation
- You already have traction and need capital (apply to the Accelerator)
- You want a certificate more than a company
- You cannot make four sessions a month
Startup School or Accelerator?
Two different products. Applying to the wrong one wastes your time and ours.
Startup School
For first-time founders with an idea or early product who need structure and mentorship.
- You pay ₹12,000/month
- We take 0% equity
- No capital invested
- 4 live 1:1s a month
- Idea stage is fine
Accelerator
For startups with traction ready for capital, a dedicated mentor and investors.
- You pay nothing
- We take equity, under 5%
- Capital invested
- Dedicated mentor and investor network
- Traction expected
Founders who do well in Startup School are invited to apply to the Accelerator.
Questions worth asking
Because you have already watched it. Free content has never been the constraint. What it cannot do is look at your specific idea, tell you the reasoning is weak, and expect an answer next week. That is what you are paying for: a person who has done it, looking at your work, on a schedule.
Apply
LVL1 Startup School Application
A selective, online programme for founders building their first company. Live 1:1 sessions with operators, a structured curriculum, and a founder community. We take no equity.
What it costs
- ₹499 one-time review fee, paid from your portal after you apply. Non-refundable, and it is what keeps the review queue serious.
- ₹12,000 per month + GST for 6 months, only if you are accepted. Nothing is charged before then.
- After the 6 months, membership continues at ₹3,000 per month + GST so you keep your sessions and the resource library. You can cancel anytime from your portal, and access runs to the end of the period you have paid for.