AI Pod
Go from “I should learn AI” to shipping with Claude in 4 weeks.
A cohort-based course for non-technical founders and operators. Written lessons, a matched pod of 4-5 builders, a private Slack community, and a Friday live call every week. Co-taught by Batko and Finlay.
Limited to 50 builders per cohort · Next cohort starts 5 May 2026
Built for non-technical builders
Everything you need to go from zero to shipping real projects with Claude Code. No fluff, no theory for theory's sake.
Matched pods of 4-5
Fill a short profile; we match you on timezone, experience, and energy so your pod actually meets — and actually clicks.
Community-driven learning
Every student installs a Claude Code skill that auto-posts one anonymised learning per day to Slack. 50 people × 4 weeks = 1,400 tips.
Live Friday calls
1 hour every Friday with the whole cohort on Zoom. Show-and-tell, Q&A, and the week's big themes.
Written lessons + screenshots
Searchable, AI-friendly, easy to reference forever. Video walkthroughs for the tricky install bits.
Lifetime access
Lessons stay available forever. Future updates to the course are free once you've enrolled.
Real project
You walk away with something live on the internet, built in your workflow, solving a real problem.
4 weeks, locked in
Written + screenshots, async content plus 1 hour live each Friday. Plus a pre-work week to get you set up before Day 1.
Foundation — Your AI co-founder
Get set up, understand the landscape, build your brain, ship something real on Day 1. Terminal basics, CLAUDE.md, first MCPs, first deploy.
Build — Move fast, ship everything
Connect every tool you live in. Deep-dive MCPs. Run parallel workstreams. Ship a dashboard that replaces the enterprise tool you hate.
Automate — Build tools, not dependencies
PRDs, agents, scheduled jobs. Write once, run while you sleep. Ralphy loops, slash commands, the /commit /deploy /review workflow.
Ship — Make it real
Polish, launch, measure. Final cohort demo day. Walk away with a working project, a Claude workflow, and 40 builder peers.
$999 AUD one-off
Full access to all lessons, your matched pod, the private Slack community, Friday calls, and lifetime access to future updates.
- Pre-work week + 4 weeks of lessons
- Matched pod of 4-5 builders
- Private cohort Slack community
- Weekly Friday Zoom call with Batko + Finlay
- Daily community learning digest (via Claude Code skill)
- Lifetime access + all future updates
Questions you're probably asking
Do I need to know how to code?
No. AI Pod is designed for non-technical founders and operators. We teach terminal basics from scratch on Day 1 and you'll be shipping by end of Week 1.
How much time should I block each week?
Budget 5-8 hours per week: ~3 hours of content, 1 hour live Friday call, 1 hour pod catch-up, 1-3 hours building your project.
What do I need before I start?
A Claude subscription ($20/mo Pro or $100/mo Max), a Mac (Windows with WSL works but isn't first-class), and a project idea. We send a pre-work checklist the week before cohort starts.
What's a pod?
A group of 4-5 other students matched to you on timezone, experience level, and energy. You meet once a week for an hour to share progress and unblock each other.
Who's teaching?
Michael Batko (founder, Hourglass Digital) and Finlay. Weekly Friday calls with the whole cohort, asynchronous Q&A on every lesson.
Refund policy?
Full refund within 7 days of cohort start if it's not for you.
Stop reading about AI. Start shipping with it.
Four weeks from now you'll have a working project, a Claude workflow you actually use every day, and 40 peers building alongside you.