How to work here

This is not a school course and there are no grades. But the work is not optional once you commit to the cohort. The goal is to gradually become more independent, not to be left alone from day one. A useful default loop is: think → attempt → ask AI → challenge the answer → improve your own model → build Do not use AI only to make work disappear. Use it to understand unfamiliar things, generate options, debug, research, prototype, and attempt work that would otherwise feel out of reach. You are responsible for deciding whether the result is good. At any point you should be able to answer:

• What am I making now?
• What is the next concrete action?
• What is blocking me?
• What does done look like?

If the next action feels vague, make it smaller until you can start it. Do not wait until something looks impressive. Bring rough work to the group. Explain what you are trying to achieve, what you are uncertain about, and what kind of feedback would help. Good feedback is not "I like it." It helps you see a problem, assumption, tradeoff, or possibility that you missed. Being stuck is normal. Disappearing is not. If you have been stuck for more than 30 minutes:

• Explain the problem to AI and ask it to help you break it down.
• Ask the cohort.
• Ask a mentor.
• Shrink the task.
• If you need to pause or leave the program, say so explicitly.

You never need to pretend that everything is going well. Asking for help is part of the work. There will be moments when we ask you to write, sketch, reason, research, or make a decision before opening an AI tool. This is deliberate. The point is not maximum AI usage. The point is becoming someone who can think, judge, create, and use powerful tools deliberately. We care about curiosity, effort, judgment, follow-through, openness to feedback, and evidence that you learned something. We do not care whether your first project looks like a startup, becomes a business, or uses the newest technology.