Turn your technical expertise into a sellable offer in 4 weeks.
A live 4-week sprint for senior, principal, and staff engineers who want founder optionality: a real, testable path to your own thing. Find a buyer problem, shape an offer around your expertise, and leave with a direction you can actually evaluate.
$1,850 · July 15 – August 11 · Live via Maven
Apply for the Founding CohortNot sure if you are ready? Find out in 8 minutes. → Take the Founder Readiness Scorecard
You know how to build. The business side is the part that feels unclear.
You have shipped systems at scale and can see what AI makes possible. But turning that ability into something people will pay for is a different problem, one most engineers never get taught.
No clear buyer or offer
You have ideas, but nothing anchored to a real buyer or a sellable offer you can put in front of someone.
Speed without direction
You can build fast, but not necessarily on the right thing, or for someone who would actually pay.
Optionality, not a reckless leap
You want a real, testable path to your own thing, without gambling the career capital you have already built. You need to know which problem is worth solving, who would pay for it, and how to shape your expertise into an offer that feels real.
Founder optionality starts with a real offer, not a finished product.
A real, testable path to building your own thing while staying employed: not a leap, not a vague side project, not entrepreneurship-in-theory.
- 01
Vague founder interest
You can see what AI makes possible and want something of your own, but it is still an idea, not a direction.
- 02
Buyer clarity
Identify a real buyer problem worth solving, and learn to talk to the people who would actually pay for it.
- 03
Sellable offer
Shape your expertise into an AI-enabled offer someone can understand and evaluate, before you build the wrong thing.
- 04
Testable business direction
Leave with a credible direction and a 30-day plan you can test in market, without leaving your job or career capital behind.
Here is what you will build inside the sprint.
Apply for the Founding CohortWhat You Will Build in 4 Weeks
- Week 1Expertise map01
Map your expertise
Map what you know and the problems you are best positioned to solve, before chasing random ideas.
- Week 2Buyer discovery02
Validate the problem
Pressure-test whether a real buyer problem exists and learn to talk to buyers without pitching too early.
- Week 3Offer design03
Shape your offer
Scope your AI-enabled solution and package it into an offer someone can understand and evaluate.
- LiveBuild breakdown04
Learn from live builds
See USL Systems, USL Creative Studio, and Exelita being built in real time, decisions and all.
- Week 4Ship + plan05
Ship your offer page
Leave with a buyer-facing offer, a landing-page draft, and a clear 14–30 day plan to test in market.
Learn from the transition while it is actually happening.
Most founder education teaches from finished stories, polished frameworks, or outside-in startup examples. USL Academy is different. You will study the live work behind USL Systems, USL Creative Studio, and Exelita as they are being built, including the problem choices, offer decisions, product tradeoffs, buyer assumptions, and execution lessons behind the scenes.
- Microsoft
- 11,000+ on LinkedIn
- USL Systems
- USL Creative Studio
- Exelita
- Former Microsoft operator building outside the corporate path
- 11,000+ LinkedIn audience around AI, business, and founder transition
- Active company-building through USL Systems
- Active creative and offer-building work through USL Creative Studio
- Exelita as a live AI-enabled software-product build
- Behind-the-scenes breakdowns of real founder decisions
- Founding cohort format with direct access and live working sessions
- Practical guarantee: complete the work and leave with your first sellable offer, or USL works with you 1:1 until you do
Learn directly from Irewole.
Irewole Akande, MBA
USL founder and former Microsoft PM with AI, software, and hardware experience.
Connect on LinkedInI build things where trust is not optional. Founders and operators work with me when they want a builder in the room, not a consultant.
Over the past decade I have built across hardware, software, AI tools, and business formation. The gap between what AI can generate and what real building experience can judge is where many new businesses fall apart.
- Co-founder, City Health Tech, Exelita, and Unified Signature Language (USL)
- Product Manager at Microsoft: led vision and strategy to increase verified organizational knowledge in Viva Engage
- EB-1A US Extraordinary Ability Visa recipient (Public Health Technology and Responsible AI)
- Future Texas Business Legend Award, Texas Business Hall of Fame
- Lewis Latimer Honoree, Edison Awards (Modern Black Innovators)
- Poets & Quants MBAs To Watch, 2022
Join the Founder Optionality Sprint
Four weeks from now, you could have a real answer.
Not a vague plan. Not another side project you have not started. A validated problem, a buyer you have talked to, an AI-enabled offer shaped around your expertise, and a 30-day plan for testing it in market.
Most senior engineers know they could build something. The part that stays unclear is what, for whom, and whether anyone would pay for it. That is exactly what this sprint resolves.
Founding cohort access is limited by the live format, direct feedback, and depth of review. No artificial countdowns. No fake urgency. Just a clear choice: keep entrepreneurship vague, or spend 4 weeks turning it into something you can evaluate seriously.
- Three executor products to validate the problem, shape the solution, and build the offer
- Weekly live working sessions through Maven for structure, feedback, and momentum
- Claude Code-supported homework so your work turns into actual buyer-facing assets
- Live USL build breakdowns from USL Systems, USL Creative Studio, and Exelita
- Landing page or offer page draft so your idea becomes something a buyer can understand
- Final offer review and 14 to 30 day execution plan so you leave with a clear next test
Complete the work and leave with your first sellable offer, or USL will work with you 1:1 until you do.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to already have a business idea?
No. The sprint is built for engineers who have founder interest but not necessarily a clear idea. You will start by mapping your expertise, identifying credible problem areas, and validating which direction is worth testing.
If you are not sure where you stand, the Founder Readiness Scorecard takes 8 minutes and gives you a concrete starting point.
How much time does this take each week?
Plan for 4 to 6 hours per week. That includes a live working session, buyer conversations or homework on your offer, and a short review window. The sprint is designed to fit around a full-time engineering job, not replace it.
Is this only for people ready to quit their job?
No. The point is founder optionality, not reckless transition. You are building a serious business direction you can test while staying employed.
Why would I pay for this when free startup content and AI tools already exist?
Free content can give you concepts. AI tools can help you move faster. This sprint gives you structure, feedback, buyer-facing outputs, and live founder execution examples so you are not piecing the business side together alone.
What makes this different from a generic startup course?
USL Academy is built for senior, principal, and staff engineers, not a broad founder audience. This is not a general entrepreneurship class. The cohort is shaped for engineers who have already shipped at scale. The work centers on turning technical expertise into a validated, sellable AI-enabled offer, with live breakdowns from USL Systems, USL Creative Studio, and Exelita.
What do I actually leave with?
You leave with a validated problem direction, a scoped AI-enabled solution, a sellable offer, a landing page or offer page draft, and a 14 to 30 day plan for testing it in market.
What if I complete the work and still do not have a sellable offer?
If you complete the work and do not leave with your first sellable offer, USL will work with you 1:1 until you do.
Build your first serious path to founder optionality.
You do not need the perfect idea or a finished product. You need a clear problem, a real buyer, a sellable offer, and a plan you can test.
For senior, principal, and staff engineers ready to stop keeping entrepreneurship abstract and spend 4 weeks turning it into something they can actually evaluate.