Help & FAQ

It's not a course you sit and watch. It's an AI venture coach that makes you do the real work of building a business, gives you honest feedback on it, and won't let you move on until your thinking genuinely holds up.

You work through seven stages, from raw idea to launch-ready. At each one you do a short piece of real work, submit it, and your Founder Coach scores it and tells you exactly what to sharpen.

Start at Stage 1 from your dashboard. Read the four short lessons, then fill in your Founder Venture Brief — your best, specific, honest take on your idea. That's it.

Every stage also has a "New to this stage? Here's exactly what to do" panel at the top — tap it any time you're unsure.

A rough one is plenty. You don't need it fully formed — Stage 1 is where you get honest and clear about it. If you've only got an itch, try the free First Look on the homepage: type any idea and the Coach reflects it back at you.

It's paced by your own work, not by a fixed course length. The lessons are short reads, but some stages — like talking to real customers in Stage 2 — take days because they involve the real world, and that's the point. Go at your own pace; your progress is always saved.

This is the part that stops most people, so Stage 2 has a whole lesson for it — lesson 2.5, "Finding your five". It shows you where your customers already gather and who you already have a reason to talk to.

Right under it there's a "Copy-and-send openers" card — ready-made messages for a DM, an email, or an in-person ask, plus the four questions to ask. Swap in your details and send. Keep your idea in your pocket; you're there to learn about their world, not to pitch.

Yes — open founderlaunchstudio.com in your phone's browser and log in the same way. It works on a phone, though the longer writing stages are a bit more comfortable on a bigger screen if you have one to hand.

Yes. Once you've done a stage or two, open "Your Founder Plan" and use Download / print as PDF — it pulls all your stages and your Coach's summaries into one document you can save, print, or show a partner or the bank. When you finish all seven stages there's a link to it from your finish-line page.

Everything is also saved in your account, so you can reopen and revise any stage anytime.

A signal that costs the customer something and is hard to fake — an email signup, a booked call, a deposit, a pre-order — not a like or a "looks great". Stage 5 is about what actually happened when you put your offer in front of people, not a plan (that was Stage 4).

Even a small, disappointing result is real evidence: an honest "I asked 30 people and 2 replied" beats an untested plan every time.

You reach your finish line — a completion page that pulls your whole journey together, shows how far your Founder Growth has come, and lets you download your Founder Plan as one document. And you're genuinely launch-ready: the point now is to go and do the first real thing on your plan.

No — and this matters. A low first score is the system working, not you failing. Most founders don't pass on the first try, and that's expected. The Coach isn't grading you as a person; it's showing you the one or two things that would make your thinking stronger.

Read the feedback, make those changes, and submit again. Watching your score climb across attempts is the whole point — that's you getting genuinely better.

Your submission is scored out of 100 across a few weighted dimensions (each stage shows them). You need 70 to pass and unlock the next stage — except Stage 1, which passes at 60 to keep the first step welcoming.

One thing to know: each stage has a single most-important dimension. If that one is weak, you won't pass on a high average alone — because that dimension is the part that actually matters for that stage.

Because polished writing doesn't build a business — clear thinking, real evidence, and good decisions do. The Coach rewards a sharp, honest answer over a beautifully-worded vague one. Keep your answers tight; clarity beats length every time.

Yes. Revise and resubmit as often as you like — your previous answers are kept and pre-filled, and the Coach shows you what improved each time.

They're optional bonus steps between the main stages where the Coach helps you shape and evolve your concept — unscored, no pass or fail, just a chance to think out loud with your coach. Skip them if you're in a hurry; they're there to help, not to gate you.

Five capability rings — Customer, Offer, Commercial, Evidence, Execution — that fill in from your real evaluation results as you go. It's a picture of you becoming a more capable founder, not just ticking off stages. Find it on your dashboard.

Almost never. Finding out an assumption doesn't hold is the whole point of Stage 2 — that's the system working, not a failure, and it's far cheaper to learn it now than after you've built something.

You don't lose your progress. You fold what you learned back into a sharper version of the idea (Stage 2.5 "Evolve your concept" is built for exactly this) and carry on. Changing your mind in light of real evidence is the founder skill, not a setback.

Your work is private to your account — other members can never see your submissions or your Idea Vault.

Your submissions are processed to generate your Coach feedback, via our AI provider (Anthropic). For the Idea Vault specifically, we can see that you've parked ideas and how many — never what they actually are. We don't sell your information. Full detail is in our Privacy Policy.

Removing hides it, it doesn't destroy it — right after you remove one you'll see an "Undo", so a mis-tap costs you nothing. Nothing in the Vault is meant to be lost.

A free taste: type any business idea and the Coach gives you a genuine reflection on it, before you even sign up. It's the quickest way to feel what the coaching is like — and it's free to try.

There is — a little retro game you unlock as a breather once you're a few stages in. Building a business is hard work; a moment to blow off steam is allowed. It's entirely optional.

Yes. While we're in early access you can work through the stages at no cost. When paid plans launch, Stage 1 stays free and you subscribe to unlock Stages 2–7.

Standard is $99/month. Founding members pay $49/month — half price — for as long as their subscription stays active. The founding rate is available for a limited window; if you join during it and later cancel, the rate goes with you.

You can cancel anytime from your billing portal. You keep access until the end of the period you've already paid for, then the paid stages simply lock again — nothing is deleted.

There's a 7-day "not for me" full-refund window on your first payment, and nothing here affects your rights under Australian Consumer Law. See the Refund Policy for details.

Lemon Squeezy, our payment provider and merchant of record. They handle the card details and any local taxes securely — we never see your card number.

Check your spam/junk folder first, and add us to your contacts. The email comes from noreply@founderlaunchstudio.com. Still nothing after a few minutes? Email us and we'll sort it out.

When you submit, the Coach takes up to a minute to read your work and write real feedback — please keep the page open while it thinks. If it errors, your answers are still saved; just submit again.

Tap the "New to this stage? Here's exactly what to do" panel at the top of the stage — it walks you through it step by step and shows what a strong answer looks like. If you're still stuck, email us; a real person (John) reads it.

The Coach is AI and, like any coach, isn't infallible — occasionally it can misread a submission. Try rephrasing your answer more specifically and resubmit. If something's clearly off, tell us — that feedback genuinely helps us improve it.

Use the "forgot password" link on the login page to reset it via email.

Building something takes a real toll, and sometimes what's going on isn't a business problem. If you're struggling, talking to a person is worth more than anything we can offer here — your work is saved and there's no clock on any of it.

findahelpline.com will find a free, confidential service in your country, wherever you are. If you're in immediate danger, call your local emergency number — 000 in Australia.

In Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 · Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 · 13YARN 13 92 76.

And if there's someone you trust — a friend, your GP, family — that's often the better first call than anything on this list.