Founding Cohort · Launches March 23rd

Get paying customers for your startup—with confidence, not guesswork

Stop spinning your wheels. Learn the repeatable, step-by-step process that helps founders find their early customers and build real traction.

Join the Founding CohortLearn more

8 weeks · Live cohort · Lifetime access · Limited to 20 founders

The founder trap

You've built something. Now what?

You know your product could work. You've put in the time, maybe even some money. But when it comes to actually getting it in front of customers who will pay—you're stuck.

The pattern you're stuck in

  • You don't know how to reach your early customers
  • Sales conversations feel awkward and unproductive
  • You're not sure if you're working on the right things
  • Every decision feels like a gamble
  • You need customers to prove this works, but you can't get customers

What happens if you don't fix this

  • You burn through your runway building features nobody wants
  • You waste months (or years) on the wrong customers or wrong product
  • You can't raise capital because you have no traction to show investors
  • You lose confidence and momentum—or worse, give up on something that could have worked
  • You end up as another "failed startup" statistic when the real problem was just not knowing what to do next

The real problem

You're treating customer acquisition like something you just “figure out as you go.” But there's actually a repeatable process for finding your early customers, validating what you've built, and creating momentum—most founders just don't know it exists.

There's a better way

Find your first customers—without the guesswork

The companies that scale aren't lucky. They're systematic. They know how to test, learn, and iterate in ways that generate real evidence about what works.

What you'll learn

  • How to identify and reach your actual early customers (not who you hope they are)
  • The repeatable frameworks for turning conversations into paying customers
  • How to know if you're working on the right things (or wasting your time)
  • The daily habits that separate high-conviction founders from everyone else
  • When to pivot, when to persevere, and how to make that call with confidence

This isn't another sales bootcamp. We're not teaching you to “close deals” or “perfect your pitch.” We're teaching you how to build a business model that works—with real customers and real revenue, not assumptions.

How it works

8-week live curriculum

Weekly cohort sessions teach you the repeatable frameworks that make customer acquisition predictable. (Cohort 1 only—future cohorts may be self-paced.)

Continuous support

As long as you're a member: weekly office hours, hot seat coaching, expert speakers, community access, and all program resources.

Real experiments, real learning

Between sessions, you test what you're learning with your actual business. We give you feedback. You iterate. You learn what works by doing it.

Ongoing momentum

This isn't a course you "complete." It's a system you adopt and a community you stay connected to.

The 8-week transformation

Week 1–2

Get clarity on where you actually are (not where you think you are)

Week 3–4

Build your customer validation engine

Week 5–6

Run experiments that tell you what's working

Week 7–8

Turn what you've learned into momentum

Who this is for

You're a fit if:

  • You've built something but can't figure out how to get it in front of customers
  • You're pre-seed or early pre-seed (idea+ to initial customers)
  • You're willing to do the work, not just consume content
  • You want a repeatable process, not startup theater
  • You're building something with real scale potential

You're NOT a fit if:

  • You're looking for pitch deck coaching or fundraising hacks
  • You want us to do the work for you
  • You're not ready to actually talk to customers
  • You just need validation that your idea is "good"
“Whenever I felt stuck, being able to have experienced mentorship guide me out of my rut was very helpful. Being able to come to them for something as simple as indecision made it so that I could really punch through.”

Founder / Seed-stage SaaS startup

Simple pricing

Two tiers, one focus: your traction

Both tiers include the full curriculum and ongoing community. Plus adds direct access to Traction Lab leadership.

TLVS Standard

$750/ year

Perfect for founders who want the curriculum, community, and group support.

  • Full 8-week curriculum

  • Weekly group office hours

  • Hot seat coaching sessions

  • Guest expert events

  • Startup Challenge admission (entire team)

  • Lifetime access to all materials

  • Community access (ongoing)

  • All founding cohort bonuses

Get Started — Standard
Most Support

TLVS Plus

$3,500/ 6 months

For founders who want direct access to Traction Lab leadership. Includes everything in Standard, plus:

  • Bi-weekly 1:1 accountability calls

  • Quarterly half-day design sprints

  • Subject matter expert network access

  • Portfolio company event invitations

  • Semi-annual investor stress tests

  • High Conviction Happy Hour access

  • Investor readiness prep guide

Get Started — Plus
Founding cohort only

Join Cohort 1 and get...

Founding members get locked-in pricing, direct input on curriculum, and first access to new Traction Lab offerings.
  • Core Program·$2,997 value—8-week live curriculum + ongoing support
  • Startup Challenge VIP Passes·$100+ value per founder—Guaranteed admission for your entire founding team—skip the application
  • Traction Toolkit·$497 value—Every template, framework, and tool we use with our portfolio companies
  • Office Hours Vault·$297 value—Searchable archive of all past sessions—learn from other founders' challenges
  • Founder Anti-Pattern Guide·$197 value—The mistakes we've seen hundreds of founders make—and how to avoid them
  • Founding Member Lock·Priceless—Your rate never increases

Total Value: $3,988+

Founding Member Price: $750/year

Plus Members: $3,500/6mo (includes Investor Readiness Prep)

Join TLVS StandardJoin TLVS Plus
Why Traction Lab

We've seen what works—and what doesn't

We've seen this before

We've worked with hundreds of founders. We know what works, what doesn't, and more importantly—we can spot the patterns that predict success or failure months before most founders see them coming.

Real traction over startup theater

We don't care about your pitch deck. We care about whether you're building something people will actually pay for. Success might mean failing fast with less waste—and we won't blow smoke just to keep you moving in the wrong direction.

Repeatable process, not magic

High-conviction startups aren't built on luck or hustle. They're built on systematic customer discovery, validated learning, and knowing what to work on next. That's what we teach.

Your guides

Traction Lab Venture School is brought to you by the team behind Traction Lab—Sacramento's accelerator for founders who want to build with evidence, not assumptions. Since 2024, we've worked with hundreds of early-stage founders, helping them cut through the noise and find real market traction.
  • JDM

    JDM

    Venture Scientist & Startup Strategist

    A venture strategist and founder coach, JDM has spent years helping early-stage founders figure out what actually matters. Known for his direct, no-BS approach, he's guided hundreds of founders through the messy work of finding customers and building businesses that work—not just ideas that sound good.

  • Cameron

    Cameron

    Ecosystem Builder & Community Architect

    An ecosystem builder and community architect, Cameron has supported thousands of entrepreneurs through programs that connect founders, accelerate learning, and help them avoid the mistakes that sink most startups. He knows how to spot high-potential founders—and how to help them become high-conviction ones.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about Traction Lab Venture School.

Still have questions? Get started and ask us directly.

How is this different from YC Startup School or other programs?
We focus on getting you to your first paying customers through repeatable processes, not on perfecting your pitch or chasing investors. Success here might mean learning fast that you need to pivot—we're not invested in keeping you building the wrong thing.
Do I need to be in Sacramento?
No. The program is fully remote.
What if I'm not technical?
Perfect. You don't need to code. You need to talk to customers and figure out what they'll actually pay for. That's what we teach.
Can I join if I already have some customers?
Yes, if you're still figuring out how to make customer acquisition repeatable and predictable—not just one-off wins.
What's the time commitment?
1 hour/week for live sessions, plus time between sessions to actually test what you're learning with your business. You'll get out what you put in.
Do you take equity?
No. TLVS is pay-to-play. (High-performing members may be invited to apply to our equity-based Traction Lab accelerator.)
What if I can't make it live?
All sessions are recorded. But live participation is where you get the most value—real-time feedback, peer learning, and pattern recognition you can't get from a recording.
How long is my membership?
Standard: $750/year, auto-renews annually (cancel anytime). Plus: $3,500/6 months, auto-renews every 6 months (cancel anytime).
What happens if I cancel?
You keep lifetime access to all recordings and materials from your cohort. You lose access to ongoing office hours, hot seats, community, and live events. You can rejoin anytime to regain full member benefits.
Is there a refund policy?
Yes. If you show up, do the work, and don't learn anything useful, we'll refund your tuition. (See terms for what "doing the work" means.)
“Without the team from The Traction Lab, our product wouldn't exist — or, at least, it wouldn't be very good. You guys always know the right questions to ask.”

Founder / GovTech Startup

Stop guessing. Start building.

The difference between founders who find traction and those who spin their wheels for years? A repeatable process for getting real customers.

Founding Cohort launches March 23rd. Applications close March 15th. Limited to 20 founders.

Join nowBook an intro call