ShipAcademy — How To Make Apps and Influence Customers

Writing code used to be the hardest part of shipping software. It isn't anymore. Learning to code is no longer enough, and learning to prompt isn't enough either. Both are table stakes now.

The hard part is building something people actually want, and then getting those people to find it, understand it, trust it, and pay for it. That is a different skill entirely. And it's one nobody teaches, and very few people have. In short: you need to learn how to influence customers.

That's what this course teaches. Most courses are written by engineers for engineers, and they stop where the code stops. This one keeps going: the taste, judgment, and positioning that decide whether what you build ever reaches anyone. You'll still learn to build fast with agentic AI. You'll also learn the other half that turns a working product into a profitable business.

What you'll learn

Learn how to use AI to make beautiful software, and how to get people to pay for it.

Who am I?

I've been shipping software for over twenty years.

I founded Standard Notes, a security-oriented product acquired by Proton in 2024. More recently, I launched an AI-centric YouTube channel which I grew from 0 to 150,000 subscribers in five months — as well as 72,000 X followers in the same amount of time.

This end-to-end course will teach you all the hard-earned lessons I've acquired over the years. It will save you from making years of mistakes and give you the concentrated wisdom that's proven to lead to results.

Since selling my company, I've advised countless people on how to start and grow their software business, and I always get the same feedback:

This is some seriously good advice.You need to write a book.

Of course no one reads anymore, which is why this course is 84 exclusive lessons, designed to be entertaining as well as informative.

Join the course

What members say.

In their own words, from inside ShipAcademy.

Pricing

The full course library on every plan.

I've never written a line of code. Is this for me?

This is exactly who the course is built for. We start from a blank slate, in plain English, and I explain every term the first time it comes up. You'll install Claude Code or Codex together with me, and by the end you'll have shipped a real product that people can pay for. Not knowing how to code is no longer the thing standing in your way.

I'm already a senior engineer. Won't a lot of this be obvious?

Not at all. The building material covers agentic AI workflows that are new to almost everyone, and the course goes well beyond code into branding, storytelling, customer acquisition, and the business decisions that come after launch.

Do I have to do the building part to get anything out of this course?

The building lessons are optional, and plenty of people will get their money's worth without opening an AI agent or editor once. Positioning, branding, storytelling, customer acquisition, SEO, pricing, turning free users into paying customers: none of these assume you built the product yourself. It works just as well on something you already sell, something a contractor built for you, or a business with no software in it at all. Skip straight to the Selling track and you'll still be getting the expensive half of the course (the part most builders never learn).

I'm not interested in software. Does any of this apply to a normal business?

Yes. Software is just the example I build in front of you. How you position a product, the story you tell about it, what you charge, how you find the first hundred customers, what you do when they show up and leave again: all of that works the same whether you sell an app, a service, or something you make with your hands. I use a product I built because it's the one I can show you end to end. Bring your own business and follow along with it instead.

Do I have to watch all 84 lessons to get value?

It's a bit of both. Most of the lessons are meant to be followed in order, and together they take you from having nothing but an idea all the way to a product people actually pay for. The rest cover things like payments, databases, each social platform, etc., and you'll want those on the day you actually run into the problem they solve.

What format is the course in?

Over 60% of the lessons are videos. The rest are written guides in queue to be filmed that I research, test against real projects, and rewrite until they clear a high bar. These will get a video too over the coming weeks. That's 84 lessons at over 68,000 words (a full-length book).

Which AI tools do I need?

Just Claude Code or Codex, and the course covers both. You don't need to have used either before. You also get my own Skill files, the ones I use on real projects, so your agent starts out working the way it takes most people months to figure out.

What if I don't like it?

Then you get your money back. I'll refund any payment made in the last 30 days, no questions asked.

Do you offer discounts for students or regional pricing?

You can apply for financial assistance using this form if you face unique economic circumstances. You'll hear back in 48-72 hours if approved.

Is the content finished, or still being added to?

Both. All 84 lessons across 8 classes are yours today, and it keeps growing: when members hit a problem the course doesn't cover yet, I go and write that lesson. Every update is included on every plan, so the course you buy today is worth more a year from now.