First Cohort — Applications Open Online · Turkish —

Build it.
Sell it/

Our programme is Goatstarter's selective venture program. You build your own company from zero — AI-powered product, dashboard, sales flow, subscription billing. By the end of 8 modules, you have paying customers.

Apply now See the curriculum
First Cohort
Selective intake
~10% acceptance
Track Record

The brands we've walked with.

Lamborghini Red Bull Atasay Westwing Sertifier Syntonym Udo Games VRLab Deepsport Heybooster Studio Billion Enqura Magfi Shippn Get Magnus
Idea Build Customer Launch Idea Build Customer Launch
Approach

Don't take a course. Build a company.

You build your own company from zero. An AI-powered product, dashboard, sales flow, subscription billing — all built alongside you.

Small cohort. Selective intake. 1:1 mentor. The output is clear: a live product on your own domain, with paying customers and recurring revenue.

"You're not taking a course. Across 8 modules, you build your own product from zero and land your first paying customer."

Detailed Curriculum

From zero to paying customer.

8 modules · regular live sessions · 1×1 mentor calls · see the full curriculum ↗
Module 01 Setup & find your direction. Live session + 1×1 mentor +
  • Kickoff session — targets, case studies, Q&A
  • Claude Code, terminal and Git fundamentals
  • First project deployed (basic deployment)
  • Sector pick + first customer profile
  • Customer discovery — real-conversation methodology
Module output A founder with a working stack who knows their sector and first customer.
Module 02 First product version. Live session + 1×1 mentor +
  • AI product architecture — Claude API and a fast framework
  • Pick the product type that fits your sector (assistant, automation, tool, mini SaaS)
  • Turn the core value into a working product
  • System behavior + UX fundamentals
  • Hand the first version to a real user
Module output A live first version with an AI feature, tested in the hands of a real user.
Module 03 Landing page & lead capture. Live session + 1×1 mentor +
  • Responsive HTML/CSS landing page
  • Email capture form + API endpoint
  • Message-market fit — copywriting fundamentals
  • Lead management basics
  • Collect first external feedback
Module output A live landing page that captures leads.
Module 04 Email automation. Done-for-you — our team builds it +
  • Our team sets up the SMTP, deliverability and sequence architecture
  • We write the emails — welcome series, nurture, drip campaigns
  • We configure behavior-based triggers and segmentation
  • You approve the messaging and stay involved in the loop
  • By the end of the module, the email engine is yours — turnkey delivery
Module output An automated email engine that nurtures leads while you sleep — handed over turnkey at the end.
Module 05 CRM system. Live session + 1×1 mentor +
  • Customer database design
  • Pipeline view — sales funnel management
  • Lead scoring
  • Conversation and status tracking
Module output A system that tracks every customer relationship — no leads slip through.
Module 06 Payment stack. Live session + 1×1 mentor +
  • Payment integration (subscription or one-off)
  • 3-tier pricing structure
  • Webhook setup — capturing payment events
  • Payment history and invoice flow
Module output A payment system that takes money and manages subscriptions.
Module 07 Lead gen & outreach. Done-for-you — our team runs it +
  • Our team builds the lead list — enterprise/SMB targets matched to your ICP
  • We write the email sequences and run them — segment, A/B test, send
  • Our team reaches out to prospects — you only join the meetings
  • We close the first deals together
  • By the end, the lead gen + email engine is yours — operate it yourself, or keep us running it
Module output A lead gen + email engine we operated, with first paying customers landed — handed over turnkey at the end.
Module 08 Deploy & go live. Live session + 1×1 mentor +
  • Cloud deployment + custom domain + SSL
  • Monitoring and error tracking
  • Final rehearsal — pitch your product in five minutes
  • Stand on the demo stage with the cohort and mentors watching
Module output A product running live on your own domain — monitored, taking payment, ready to scale.
Programme Rhythm

A typical flow.

Regular live sessions · 1:1 mentor · open build channel
Cohort sessionLive, open

Module targets & output share.

Esad, Burhan and a guest mentor in front of the cohort. Module targets are set, everyone shows last week's output — stage rehearsal, accountability cadence.

Hands-on workshopLive coding

Built together.

We build together. Live coding, problem-solving with the mentor, screen sharing, jumping into the work.

1×1 mentorPrivate call

Mentor call.

Private call with a mentor close to your sector. Personal tracking, blockers, next module's targets.

The difference

Not a course. Not a slide deck workshop.

Online course
Other accelerators
Our Programme
Format
Content consumption
Slide deck workshop
Intensive build cohort
Product
Exercises
Prototype / mockup
Live, payment-taking product
Output
Certificate
Slide deck
Product with paying customers
Launch
None
Closed pitch
Final phase
Capital path
None
Vague
Goatstarter Ventures door
Community
Forum
Slack channel
Lifelong alumni network
Founders

The people guiding you walked the same path.

Esad Kılıç
Co-founder · Goatstarter
EK

Rotterdam-based founder. Built ARspar (AI product visualization) — 100K+ users, 70+ enterprise clients including Lamborghini & Red Bull, acquired by Floorplanner (May 2024). Co-founder of DOA. Named on MT/Sprout 25 under 25.

ARspar Exit 100K+ users Lamborghini · Red Bull MT/Sprout 25u25
Burhan Kocabıyık
Co-founder · Goatstarter
BK

Rotterdam-based founder. ARspar Co-Founder & Product Manager (Floorplanner exit). Co-founder of DOA + PrototipAL. Named NL's Best Under-25 Entrepreneur 2022. 145K+ followers across Turkish AI content channels.

ARspar Exit NL Best Under-25 2022 145K+ following Product · Storytelling
active
Mentor pool

Sector-expert mentors running parallel to the cohort.

Founders who've exited or built serious revenue, senior operators in product and sales. 1:1 calls + active role at the programme's final phase.

Active
$5M+
Cumulative revenue
(7 ventures)
100K+
Users reached
(ARspar)
1
Exit
(Floorplanner, 2024)
70+
Enterprise clients
Lambo · Red Bull · Westwing
FAQ

Ask the real questions.

How many founders will you accept?

+
We keep First Cohort intentionally small: 1×1 mentor calls for everyone, direct work with Esad and Burhan, personal stage time at demos. Target ~10% acceptance rate — selective intake.

How much time should I expect to commit?

+
This is an intensive program demanding real focus — cohort sessions, workshops, mentor calls, weekly module deliverables. You'll need to put serious time on it. We discuss your current situation in the intro call and figure out what works.

Can I apply with my co-founder?

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Yes — if you have a co-founder, you can come together. But solo is fine too; most founders in this cohort work solo. We don't run matching as a service — the cohort works for everyone.

What happens at the end of the programme?

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The programme's final phase. Each founder shows their product, how it works, and their first paying customer in front of the community and mentor pool. If something scalable comes out and the founder wants to scale, the Goatstarter Ventures investment conversation opens that day. Optional, never required.

Is the program online or in person?

+
First Cohort is fully online — regular live sessions, 1:1 mentor calls, peer rooms. We'll add physical meetups in Istanbul and European cities for later cohorts, but First Cohort is fully remote and runs in Turkish.

I don't have an idea yet — can I apply?

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Yes. We accept "pre-team, pre-idea" applications — Antler-style. What we look for: builder reflex, a track record of starting things, openness to the program. Idea validation happens inside the cohort anyway.

Who is this program for?

+
For everyone starting from zero. You may have never written code, you may be a freelancer, an agency owner, or someone shipping their first SaaS. We're not looking for technical background — we're looking for the reflex to start and the commitment to stay focused.
Intro Call

Let's meet first.

A 30-minute intro call. We're not looking for a perfect résumé — you can come from zero. Here's what we usually talk through together:

01
What have you started before?

A blog, a small project, a half-finished MVP, even a failed experiment. We want to see the habit of starting — not perfect outcomes.

02
Which direction do you want to build in?

You don't need a clean idea. A sector or problem area is enough — the idea sharpens inside the cohort, with real customers.

03
How much time can you give the program?

We need single focus through the program. If you're going to work alongside another job, this is not the right cohort for you.

04
Who are you?

The more comfortable you feel during the call, the clearer the conversation — already shipping with AI, or starting from zero, both fine.

Goatstarter

Apply for the First Cohort.

Start application Goatstarter Ventures
● Selective intake · Every application read · Quick decisions · First Cohort — Applications open
Network

The ecosystem we work with.

Goatstarter cohorts plug into a network of sector-expert mentors and partner organisations — visiting guests, advisors, and the ecosystem we build alongside.

VG
Reşat Volkan Günel
Lawyer · Investor · Ecosystem Builder

Founding partner of Lima Ventures — an early-stage investor connecting founders to the right networks, the right capital and the right growth playbook. Also the founder of Exelerate, an Amsterdam-based growth platform that brings legal, finance, tech, sales and investment support under one roof. Joins Goatstarter cohorts as a guest mentor and live-session speaker.

Lima Ventures Exelerate
Where we are

Building from Amsterdam.

Goatstarter is headquartered in the Netherlands. Europe's startup capital — where Antler started, where Booking and Adyen grew.

The cohort runs online; the office is open for retreats and in-person meetups.

StartDock · Keizersgracht 452
1016 GD Amsterdam, NL
Get directions ↗
First Cohort Applications open Apply