BUILDACADEMY
3-Week AI App Building Cohort. Online. Live.
Three live Tuesday evenings. Build and deploy a real AI-powered web app you own - without waiting on a developer. No coding experience needed.
6 hours of live teaching
Tuesday evenings, AEST
Live 1:1 support
We teach non-technical builders to ship real AI apps in three weeks.
3 Tuesdays. 15 seats. One working app on the internet that you own.
No coding experience needed. Live support the whole way.
THE THREE WALLS NON-TECHNICAL BUILDERS HIT
“Anyone can build an app with AI now.”
You've heard it everywhere. So you opened Cursor or v0. You followed a YouTube tutorial. You got something working… kind of. Then it broke. You asked the AI to fix it, and it made things worse.
We researched 80+ sources on why non-technical builders fail with AI coding tools. Three problems came up in nearly every one.
WHAT KEEPS PEOPLE STUCK
- 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. Soon nothing works and you don't know how to get back.
- The planning gap. Vague prompts produce garbage. Without a clear blueprint of what you're building, the database, and the AI prompt, the AI just guesses.
- The deployment cliff. Building locally is easy. Getting it live is where almost everyone stalls. Environment variables, GitHub, Vercel — without a guide, this is where projects die.
buildAcademy is built around solving these three problems. Three Tuesday evenings, 15 people, live support the whole way.
WHAT YOU'LL BUILD
This cohort, you'll build an AI-powered outreach generator - type in a prospect's details, hit Generate, and get personalised emails and LinkedIn messages back in seconds. Saved to a database. Running on your own URL.
But the app is not the point. The patterns are. Database design, AI integration, deployment pipelines, systematic debugging - these apply to any AI-powered app you want to build next. CRM tools, content generators, client portals, internal dashboards. Same patterns, different inputs.
You leave with a working app AND the knowledge to build your own.
WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH
- ✓ A deployed AI-powered app, live on the internet, that you built yourself
- ✓ The patterns to build any AI app: database design, API integration, prompt engineering, deployment
- ✓ A systematic approach to working with AI coding tools that scales to any project
- ✓ Three habits that save you every time: checkpoint before changing, revert instead of chasing fixes, plan before prompting
- ✓ The confidence to apply these patterns to your own idea after the cohort ends
- ✓ Ongoing support community and all workshop materials
WHY THREE WEEKS AND NOT A SINGLE DAY
Across three previous one-day workshops, the most consistent feedback was that one day wasn't enough. We listened. Here's what changed.
| One-day workshop | buildAcademy | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 6 hours, one Saturday | Three Tuesday evenings + Saturday setup clinic |
| Time to digest | None — everything in one day | A week between sessions to build at your own pace |
| When you get stuck | Move on with the group | Private Discord between sessions, live 1:1 in session |
| Troubleshooting | Time runs out | Whole session 3 dedicated to debugging real attendee bugs |
| What you ship | A working prototype | A deployed app on your own URL |
| After it ends | You're on your own | Ongoing support community |
“Yes I think running a longer program with more time and detail will be useful.”
“It would be valuable to have follow-up sessions, deeper dives, and structured networking opportunities.”
“Further time in troubleshooting or customisation.”
“Ongoing support would be great Callum.”
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Three Tuesday evenings, a Saturday setup clinic, and everything you need to ship — included.
3 Live 2-Hour Tuesday Sessions
Three live evenings on Google Meet. Not lectures — we build the app together, step by step, with live 1:1 support when you get stuck.
- → Session 1: Plan the build, scope the database, first form rendered
- → Session 2: Supabase, save and retrieve data, AI integration
- → Session 3: Debugging workshop, deploy to Vercel, final polish
- → Cameras on — it's a cohort, not a lecture
Free 45-min Setup Clinic
The Saturday before week 1. We get your laptop ready so we don't waste a Tuesday evening on installs.
- → Install checks for Cursor and Node
- → Account creation walk-through
- → First successful Cursor connection
- → 1:1 fallback calls if you can't make Saturday
Private Discord Community
Get unblocked between sessions and stay connected after the cohort ends. Alumni keep showing up here too.
- → Ask questions between Tuesdays
- → Share what you're building
- → Ongoing support after the cohort ends
- → Where alumni post what they shipped next
Materials, Templates & Recordings
You leave with everything we used — and recordings so missing one session doesn't mean falling behind.
- → All workshop materials and templates
- → Starter code and prompts
- → Recordings of every session
- → A deployed app on your own URL
THE STACK YOU'LL LEARN
The same tools real engineers use to ship AI apps — explained for a non-technical audience.
OpenRouter
A single API for large language models. We use it to integrate AI into your app with proper prompts, JSON output, and error handling.
GitHub
Where your code lives. We cover the basics — commits, version history, connecting to Vercel — without the terminal noise.
THREE TUESDAYS. ONE WORKING APP.
A clear follow-along system that gets you from zero to deployed — with live support the whole way.
Setup Clinic (45 min, free)
Install checks, account creation, first successful Cursor connection. Join live, or book a 1:1 fallback call if Saturday doesn't work. We get your laptop ready so we don't waste Tuesday evening on installs.
Plan & Scaffold
Welcome, finished-app demo, plan the build, scope the database, design the AI prompt, project setup, first form rendered. The planning step most people skip — and the reason most vibe-coded projects fail.
Database & AI
Supabase connection, save and retrieve data, OpenRouter integration, first real AI output, history page. By the end of the night, the app is doing real work.
Debug & Ship
Debugging workshop using live attendee bugs, deploy to Vercel, environment variables in production, final polish, and what to build next. You leave with an app on the internet that you built yourself.
PERFECT FOR YOU IF…
buildAcademy is for people who are done waiting on developers. In three weeks you build and deploy a real AI app - one you own and can keep building on.
Non-Technical Founders
You've been sitting on an idea, waiting to find a technical co-founder or save up for an agency. In three weeks you build and deploy it yourself.
- → Ship a real, working app - not just a prototype
- → Stop waiting on devs or giving away equity
- → Own your code on your own domain - no lock-in
- → A repeatable way to build the next idea too
Product Managers & Designers
Tired of your ideas dying in the dev team's backlog? Take them from concept to a live app yourself - to validate, demo, or just ship.
- → Go from writing specs to shipping the thing
- → Validate an idea without an engineering ticket
- → Walk into reviews with a working demo, not a doc
- → Build the internal tools your team actually needs
Business Owners & Operators
You depend on an agency or IT team for every change, and the tools you actually need never make the queue. Build them yourself.
- → Build the dashboard, form or tool you keep requesting
- → Direct your own builds instead of outsourcing
- → Know what is quick vs costly before you brief anyone
- → Ship without an ongoing agency retainer
Tried a No-Code Tool & Hit a Wall
You tried Lovable, Bubble, Cursor or v0 on your own, hit a wall when something broke, and want to actually finish a project.
- → Live help the moment it breaks - no more Googling errors for hours
- → A real stack you own, not a platform you can outgrow
- → A clear follow-along system that gets you to shipped
- → Discord support after the cohort
WHAT THE COMMITMENT LOOKS LIKE
6:00-8:00pm AEST, live on Google Meet
Saturday June 20, 10:00am AEST
Not for you if:
- ✗ You're looking for free content — there is plenty on YouTube
- ✗ You want to be carried through without doing the work
- ✗ You're hostile to having your camera on — this is a cohort, not a lecture
What you'll need:
- ✓ A laptop (Mac or Windows) with stable internet
- ✓ A webcam and working mic
- ✓ Cursor Pro, OpenRouter credits (~$5), free GitHub/Vercel/Supabase
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Callum Holt
Callum 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.
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.
“Great educator! Really easy to understand, deep knowledge and approachable!”
“Outstanding, totally suited for the job. Friendly and encouraging. Doesn't assume any prior knowledge.”
“Passionate presenter with deep domain knowledge.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes. buildAcademy is built specifically for non-technical people. You won't learn to "code" in the traditional sense — you'll learn to direct AI tools to build for you, and to understand enough to maintain what you create. Zero programming background assumed. If you can write a clear email, you can prompt an AI to build software.
Three weeks. Three live 2-hour sessions on Tuesday evenings (6:00–8:00pm AEST), plus a free 45-minute setup clinic on the Saturday before week 1. Dates and registration are on Luma.
Online. All three sessions run live on Google Meet. Cameras on — it's a cohort, not a lecture. The Saturday setup clinic runs during a co-working session Callum hosts; you can join in person or get a 1:1 fallback call.
An AI-powered outreach email and LinkedIn message generator. Type in a prospect's name, company and pain point, hit Generate, and get a personalised cold email and LinkedIn message back. Results save to a database, you get a history page, and the whole thing runs on your own URL.
Cursor Pro (about $20/month, your subscription), about $5 of OpenRouter credits, and free accounts on GitHub, Vercel and Supabase. We send detailed setup instructions a week before the event and cover everything at the Saturday clinic. About 15 minutes of setup in total.
You can learn individual pieces, yes. But you'll spend months piecing together fragmented tutorials, hitting walls with no one to help, and probably giving up before you ship anything real. buildAcademy gives you a structured path, expert guidance, and a cohort that keeps you accountable. The question isn't whether the information exists — it's whether you'll actually finish.
Every session is recorded so you can catch up. The private Discord lets you ask questions between sessions, and Callum runs live 1:1 support during the sessions themselves. That said, the live sessions are where the biggest breakthroughs happen — come if you can.
This cohort focuses on shipping a real AI-powered app in three weeks. We don't cover authentication, payments or multi-user systems — those are beyond what we can tackle in six hours of live teaching. We'll explain what they are and when you'd need them so you have a foundation to explore on your own.
RESERVE YOUR SEAT
15 seats only. First come, first served. Register below and we'll send setup details the week before week 1.
Questions? Email callum@13labs.au