The Path and the Firsts

Why it matters

Twelve weeks is one semester. That isn’t a coincidence — it’s built to fit around school, not compete with it. Five to eight hours a week is a part-time job’s worth of time, not a second full-time life. If you treat those hours like a class you actually signed up for, they add up to something real by the time the semester ends.

The path has six stages, and each one ends at a gate — a specific, checkable thing you either did or didn’t do. Spark ends with a one-liner and 10 real people who have your problem. Make ends with something live at a public URL. Launch ends with strangers actually using it. Sell ends with your first dollar from someone you’ve never met. Grow ends at $1,000 in cumulative gross profit — money in, minus what it cost to make and sell. Run ends at $10,000, with the business running in under 10 hours a week.

Each gate earns you a “First”: First Idea, First Build, First User, First Dollar, First $1K, First $10K. These aren’t participation trophies. Nobody hands them to you — you either have the evidence or you don’t.

Today you’re not building anything yet. You’re deciding, on a real calendar, when the work happens. A pledge without calendar time is just a wish.

What to watch for

Sam Altman - How to Succeed with a Startup

• Watch for the emphasis on focus — doing one thing well beats doing five things halfway.
• Notice how he talks about speed and momentum, and translate “team” in his examples to “you, working solo, with AI help.”
• Skip the fundraising-specific advice; you’re not raising money, so that part doesn’t apply to you.

Start with Claude

Paste the prompt below into Claude. Its job is to help you turn “5-8 hours a week” into actual days and times on your calendar, and to sanity-check your Scoreboard setup — not to build the calendar or spreadsheet for you without your input.

I'm starting a 12-week program (Make First) where I'll work 5-8 hours a week to build and ship a real small business, alongside school. There are six stages, each ending in a gate: Spark, Make, Launch, Sell, Grow, Run.

Help me plan my actual weekly calendar — ask me about my school schedule, sports, and other commitments before suggesting times. Then help me think through what a simple Scoreboard sheet should track (one row per gate, with a date and an evidence link) — ask me what tool I want to use before describing how to set it up. Don't build the calendar or sheet for me; help me work out my own schedule.