Lab

Build a startup in 16 sessions.

Free and online, twice a week from 4 December. It ends with a demo day for investors.

Where are you starting?

Find a problem worth solving in two weeks. Pitch it in February.

Notify me when it opens See the sessions
  1. 01 Your why, and a team
  2. 02 Three problems, ranked
  3. 03 An interview script
  4. 04 Your ideal customer
  5. 05 A one-page MVP scope
  6. 06 A clickable prototype
  7. 07 A stack and a build plan
  8. 08 Your moat, on one page
  9. 09 30 target customers
  10. 10 A pricing page
  11. 11 A 30-day growth plan
  12. 12 A financial model
  13. 13 A co-founder agreement
  14. 14 An investor list
  15. 15 Your final deck
  16. 16 Demo day
One block per session. Demo day on top.

The 16 sessions, in order

Each session is 90 minutes to 2 hours: a talk from someone who has done it, a workshop on your own project, then questions. Pick a session to see what you leave with.

Part 1 Find something worth building

01The founder operating system: how startups really get built in 2026

We cover

What changed with AI: tiny teams, weeks instead of months, and bad ideas that also move faster. How strong founders decide what to work on. Default alive and default dead. How the next 8 weeks work.

You leave with

A short note on why you, and why this. A team, or a clear choice to start solo.

02Idea mining: earned secrets, unfair insights and problems worth a decade

We cover

Where strong ideas come from: your own work, gaps in an industry, and "why now" shifts in technology, rules and payments. Ideas that look good and trap founders for years. A scorecard to compare ideas honestly.

You leave with

Three problems ranked, or your current idea scored against the same scorecard.

03Customer discovery without lying to yourself

We cover

Interview questions that don't lead. Finding 20 people to talk to in one week. Telling a compliment from a commitment of time, money or reputation. Making sense of interviews with AI. Knowing when to drop an idea.

You leave with

An interview script and your first five interviews booked. Homework: ten interviews.

04Market reality: sizing, the wedge and the right first market

We cover

Sizing a market from the bottom up. Your ideal customer. The narrow wedge you enter through. Competitors, including "do nothing" and "ChatGPT already does this". Starting in Azerbaijan and Central Asia, or going global from day one.

You leave with

A customer profile, a market size you can defend, and your wedge in one line.

Part 2 Build it

05From insight to product: the smallest thing people will pay for

We cover

Scoping a first version that tests your riskiest assumption. Doing the work by hand before automating it. Finding design partners. Getting letters of intent and paid pilots before the product is done. What to leave out.

You leave with

A one-page scope and five design partner candidates.

06Design that sells: product, UX and brand on a startup budget

We cover

The first five minutes of your product. Designing for trust when nobody knows you yet. A brand that looks credible on day one. Testing designs with people before you build them.

You leave with

A clickable prototype of your main flow, tested with at least three people.

07The AI-native build: choosing your stack and shipping in days

We cover

Build or buy, no-code or code. Model APIs or your own models. What AI costs per user and how it eats your margin. Privacy and security basics. Shortcuts that are fine and shortcuts that sink you. When a non-technical founder needs a CTO.

You leave with

A stack decision, a cost per user, and a two-week build plan.

08Moats in the age of AI: what to build when anyone can copy you

We cover

Why features and design no longer protect you. Where an edge comes from now: deep workflows, your own data, distribution, network effects, the cost of switching. A straight answer to "what if OpenAI ships this?"

You leave with

Your moat on one page, and what you must prove to make it real. Halfway check: a one-page progress update.

Part 3 Sell it

09Founder-led sales: winning your first ten customers

We cover

Why the founder is the whole sales team at the start. Working from warm introductions out to cold outreach. Cold messages that get answers. Running a sales call. Turning a pilot into a paid contract. What to do with "send me a deck".

You leave with

A list of 30 target customers and an outreach sequence. Homework: ten sales conversations.

10Pricing and business models: charging what you are worth

We cover

Pricing on value. Seats, usage or results for AI products. Keeping a healthy margin when every request costs money. Moving pilots to paid. Pricing for local customers and for global ones.

You leave with

A draft pricing page and your margin per customer.

11Distribution is the product: growth channels for the AI era

We cover

Picking one or two channels instead of ten. Content and a founder's own voice. Community. Getting found in AI search. Product-led or sales-led growth. Planning a launch.

You leave with

A 30-day plan with one main channel and a weekly target.

12Startup finance: metrics, the financial model and how much to raise

We cover

Retention and the curve investors look at first. Cost to win a customer, what a customer is worth, and payback, in plain numbers. A simple 12 to 18 month model. Burn and runway. Working out how much to raise. Managing cash, including founder salaries.

You leave with

A financial model, your runway, and a raise amount with a plan for the money.

Part 4 Fund it and grow it

13Team, equity and structure: co-founders, first hires and where to incorporate

We cover

Finding and testing a co-founder. Splitting equity and vesting. The first five hires, across borders. An Azerbaijani company, a Delaware C-Corp or a UAE free zone company. Owning your IP. Tax and bookkeeping basics.

You leave with

A co-founder agreement checklist, a decision on structure, and a short tax checklist.

14How investors decide: the pre-seed bar, SAFEs and valuation

We cover

How an investor reads a company in ten minutes. What the bar looks like now: a working product and real demand, not revenue. SAFEs, caps and dilution with real numbers. Where to raise from this region. Grants and competitions as an alternative. Running a fundraise.

You leave with

A target investor list, the grants that fit you, and your cap table after one SAFE.

15The pitch lab: story, deck and live feedback

We cover

The story behind a pitch that gets funded. The ten slides that matter. Showing traction honestly. Handling hard questions. Live pitches from volunteer teams, with direct feedback.

You leave with

Your final deck and a three-minute pitch.

16Demo day

What happens

The strongest teams pitch to investors from our partner funds. Every team shows what it built in eight weeks.

You leave with

Feedback from investors and a digital certificate. The best teams get a place in the Parvaz program.

Taught by 16 founders, operators and investors from Baku and abroad, one per session. We will share the names soon.

Four rules we will keep

  1. You build the whole time

    From week one you work on your own project. Homework is short and real: interviews, a prototype, a pricing page, an investor list.

  2. Seats are earned

    Miss the first session without telling us and your seat goes to someone on the waitlist. The same happens if you miss two sessions later. It keeps the room full of people who show up.

  3. It is free, once

    We are running this one time. No fee, no equity, no catch. The people teaching are friends of Parvaz who give their time to it.

  4. The finish line is real

    Session 16 is a demo day with investors. Everyone who completes the course gets a digital certificate.

70 seats at the first session.

Applications are not open yet

Leave your email and we will write to you once, when they open. We take 60 to 70 people, and choose by how you answer, not by your CV.

1 About you
Your main strength
2 Your idea
Where are you now?
Team
3 Why you
4 Time and commitment

Questions

Is it really free?

Yes. No fee and no equity. We run it once because we want more good companies to start here.

Do I need to be technical?

No. We want a mix of engineers, designers and people who sell. Many teams form during the course.

Do I need a co-founder?

No. You can start alone and find people in the course, or stay solo.

What time are the sessions?

Tuesdays and Fridays, Baku time. Accepted people get the exact times and the calendar before 4 December.

What happens after demo day?

The strongest teams get a place in the Parvaz program. Everyone who completes the course gets a digital certificate.

Something else?

Write to hello@parv.az.