Starvard
CEO Training at Starvard
Learn to run a company by running one.
A digital CEO training program for people who want to be founders and start their own tech companies. For one full week you take the CEO chair on a real project, with an experienced mentor beside you, clear checks every single day, and a public record of everything you ship.
Built for future founders of tech startups, websites, apps, games, and online tools. Bring a project you want to build. We bring the chair, the rhythm, and the mentor.
Who this is for
For founders at the very start
Most founder training is videos and theory. This is different. You do the real job, on a real project, in public, for one week, and a mentor who has done it watches how you work and tells you the truth about it.
You want to start a tech company
You have an idea for a startup, a site, an app, a game, or a tool, and you want to learn how a founder actually spends a week: setting the vision, shipping daily, reading the numbers, and answering for the result.
You can build, now learn to lead
You may already code, design, or make things. CEO Training teaches the other half: planning the day, running a meeting, keeping a scoreboard, making the call when something breaks, and reporting honestly.
You learn best by doing
No long lectures. You get a handover, a mission, and a week of real work with real people watching. By Day 7 you will know, from experience, whether you love the CEO chair. Most people find out fast, and that knowing is the point.
Mentorship
Experienced mentors, in your corner
Every founder in training is paired with an experienced mentor: a founder who has built real companies, shipped real websites and products, hired real people, and carried the numbers. Our lead mentor is Dave, the founder behind Starvard, E2, and The Studio, and the mentors around him run live projects of their own.
A real handover on Day 0
Your mentor walks you through the project, the mission, the scoreboard, and the standard for the week. You leave that call knowing exactly what winning looks like, in writing.
Feedback every day
Your mentor reads your morning plan, sees your daily ship, and reads your blog posts. You get direct, honest feedback while there is still time in the week to use it, not after the week is over.
Help when you are stuck
Stuck happens in every real week. Say so early that day and your mentor helps you get unblocked: a call, a pointer, or a smaller next step. Asking early is a CEO skill, and we treat it as one here.
A Day 7 review that tells the truth
After your presentation, your mentor reviews the whole week with you: your ships, your blog posts, and your judgment calls. You leave with clear next steps for your own company, written down.
The program
One week CEO training
Seven days. One project, one scoreboard, one standard. The shape of the week is fixed, so you can compare your week with every founder who sat in the chair before you.
The handover
Meet your mentor, receive your project and your mission, set up your scoreboard and your CEO blog, and agree the targets for the week. Nothing is vague after this call.
Your all hands
You set the vision in public: a morning plan post, a kickoff message to the community, your goals for the week, and your first visible ship before the day ends.
Move everything forward
One big move a day. A morning plan every morning, one visible ship every day, and a blog post at least once every two days.
Present your work
You present the week to the community: what you set out to do, what shipped, what the numbers did, and what you learned. Then your mentor review, your written next steps, and your CEO Training record, complete if every check below is green.
The clear checks
No guessing. The checks are the checks.
This is the heart of the program, and we are very clear about it. Your mentor verifies each check on the day it is due, not at the end of the week. A week counts as complete only when every check is done.
Six things we expect from you during the training
During the training, these are the things we expect from you. All six, every time. If a check is going to slip, you say so early that day. Silence is the only real failure here.
You met your mentor, received the mission, and agreed the scoreboard and targets in writing.
Before work starts, each day: what you will ship today, in one short public post.
Something real that people can see, click, play, or use. Plans and progress notes do not count as a ship.
Published on your own CEO blog, in your own voice. At least four posts across the week. See the blogging section below.
You presented the week live to the community and answered questions about your own numbers.
Stuck is fine. Quiet is not. Every day of the week has a plan post and a ship, even the hard days.
The blogging system
Every CEO in training keeps a blog
Writing in public is part of the training, not homework on the side. Your blog is your proof of work: a daily record a future cofounder, customer, or employer can read in five minutes and trust.
That is the minimum, all week, no exceptions. At least four posts in your training week, and most founders in the chair end up posting daily, because a short post is the fastest way to close the day.
Your own CEO blog
We stand up a simple, clean blog in your name at the start of your week. Plain title, a few honest paragraphs, a real screenshot when you have one. No hype, no clutter, no filler.
What you write
What shipped today. What the numbers did. What you learned, including what broke. Founders write like builders, in plain words, and they sign their own work.
How the drafting works
Your AI assistant can draft from your notes for the day. You edit it into your own voice, check the facts, and approve it. Nothing posts that you have not read yourself.
What you leave with
A week you can point to
Proof, not a certificate alone
A shipped project people can use, at least four public blog posts, a morning plan from every day, and a recorded Day 7 presentation. Anyone who wants to know what kind of founder you are can just read the week.
The founder rhythm
Plan in the morning, ship during the day, write it down in public. Founders who keep that rhythm after the week tend to keep building. That habit is the real graduation gift.
A mentor who knows your work
Your mentor has watched you work for a full week, not for a thirty minute interview. Founders who earn it leave with an honest written review and clear next steps for their own startup.
A door that stays open
Strong weeks get noticed. Graduates are first in line for longer paid projects, community roles, and introductions across the Starvard, E2, and Studio network as their own companies grow.
Good questions, answered plainly. The training is fully digital and runs online, so you can do it from anywhere with a computer and an internet connection. You bring one project idea you care about. You do not need a company, a team, or funding to apply. You do need to be ready to work in public for one full week, and to write honestly while you do it.
Apply
Apply for CEO Training
Seats are small on purpose, because every founder gets a real mentor and a real review. Tell us who you are and what you want to build. We read every application ourselves.
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Your email app should have opened with everything filled in. Just press send there, and we will write back. Thank you for wanting to build.