Ben Lang

How to find and join the next breakout startup

Notion

atSpoke

Formerly early team at Notion. Serial community builder and angel investor.

The story behind how I discovered Notion early and joined the company, without formally interviewing.

A case study: how I joined Notion

Tactics on how to find interesting companies before others and best practices on evaluating the right company for you.

Finding and evaluating breakout startups

Non traditional strategies you can use to get your foot in the door.

Creative ways to get in the door

Take control of your job search. Implement a proven system to get you interviews, win you the next round, and land you a high-paying offer.

Founder of Free Agency; $400M+ in offers

OpenAI

NVIDIA

YouTube

SpaceX

Ramp

Sherveen Mashayekhi

Founder & CEO @ Free Agency. Clients have won >$400M in job offers since 2019.

Cohort X

Cohort 13

Don't wake up wondering what to do every day. Know that you've got an engine of job search working for you.The problem:Tech hiring has changed dramatically. AI displacement, mass layoffs, shrinking headcounts, and decreasing venture capital has changed the math. There are more candidates than ever competing for a small number of roles. The competition is intense.The solution:Since 2019, our strategies have helped tech professionals secure over $400,000,000 in job offers. These clear, actionable systems get people more interviews, help candidates pass those interviews with flying colors, and land people top-of-market offers, even in this rough market.80% of our clients choose between multiple offers.Proven results:• Hundreds of placements every year in product, engineering, design, marketing, and more• $400M+ in total offers since 2019, with &gt;80% of clients picking between multiple offers• $15.35M raised from industry-leading investors, executives, and 30+ of our own clients

Redesign your job search process and interview strategy to compete and win.

An entire job search engine, from your resume to your final offer

Behind-the-scenes previews of what it all looks and feels like for employers

Advanced coaching to make you a STELLAR storyteller and interviewee

And even in 2024 and 2025, there's room to ensure you win...

Ambitious individual contributors, managers and directors, and VPs already in tech. Minimum 3+ years of experience.

We'll cover the foundations and nuances for roles across tech, incl. product management, engineering, design, marketing, operations, &amp; more.

You're actively job searching in tech or are planning a move in the next 6 months.

Talk to customers. Test assumptions. Build with conviction.

Fractional CPO | x-Oracle, Autodesk

Oracle

Autodesk

Stanford University

National Peace Corps Association

Arup

Moiz Kapadia

Fractional Head of Product | ex-Oracle, Autodesk, Stanford alum

Cohort 4

Cohort 5

Most PMs are stuck shipping a roadmap they don't own. It's reactive, based on Sales or Engineering requests, rather than proactive based on customer needs.You can't build the product that defines your career if you don't own the roadmap.The PMs who shipped great products didn't do it by magic.They ran customer discovery sprints to build their case, de-risked the product and launched with conviction.There are many great books on customer discovery out there.But reading about it isn't enough. You need a repeatable process that you can practice, tailor and make it your own. This course teaches you a structured, AI-Powered Discovery process using Claude — applied to whatever you're building right now.Over 3 weeks of live lessons + ongoing office hours:Learn discovery fundamentals and set up your Claude Skills workflowRun a sprint to interview customers about your product idea, using your Agent.Finally, we'll make sense of your interviews together. By the end you'll know: Build or Pivot?

Bring your product idea. In 3 weeks, you'll know if it belongs on your roadmap.

Master Fundamental Discovery Skills

Build Claude Skills to run discovery end to end

Present your roadmap to your leadership with conviction

You will be interviewing Customers in the course. This is a critical skill in Discovery, not to be outsourced to AI.

Must be able to schedule at least 1 Customer Conversation

Product Managers at a company without a structured discovery practice

Founders who need validation before investing time and money in product development.

UX Researchers who are overloaded with discovery work and are looking for a system to speed up their workflows

Learn how to become an entrepreneur by acquiring a small business & achieve financial independence.

Bought a Business. $1.3B P&L. CEO & CPO.

The Home Depot

U.S. Army

Cadence

Unilever

Rocky - ProductLedCEO

Acquired a 45 year old small business | Led $1.3B P&L at Home Depot | CEO & CPO

August 2026

Most employees are one reorg away from a job search. But there's another path: buying a small business that already has customers, cash flow, and proof.Rocky did exactly that — acquired a 45-year-old business with zero savings. No VC. No co-founder. No startup risk.In 4 weeks, you'll learn the exact playbook he used — from finding the right deal to running it with AI.AI isn't just changing products — it's eliminating the jobs that build them.If you're a Business or Product Manager (PM) who's watched colleagues get laid off, wondered how long your role is safe, or just realized you're building someone else's wealth — this workshop is for you.Entrepreneurship by Buyout is the path most Business Managers and Product Managers don't know exists: acquiring a small business that already has customers, revenue, and cash flow — then running it as the CEO.Rocky did it. He acquired a 45-year-old business with no personal savings, converted it into an AI-native company, and now teaches PMs how to evaluate if this path is right for them.

How I Bought a 45-Year-Old Business With No Savings — And How You Can Too

ACQUIRE: Find & close your first deal with confidence

OPTIMIZE: Cut waste & run leaner than the previous owner ever did

GROW: Add revenue without adding headcount

INNOVATE: Future-proof your business before competitors do

CAPSTONE: Leave with a real acquisition plan — not just a certificate

This course moves fast. A business background means you'll apply frameworks immediately instead of learning basic concepts from scratch.

You have 3+ years in a product, operations, sales, or finance role.

Small business ownership requires influence and accountability. If you've done this at work, you're already ahead of most first-time buyers.

You have led a team, project, or stakeholder group without direct authority.

This course is built for the AI era. Owners who adapt fast win. A low ego and curiosity for new technology will determine your success.

You are open to AI tools, new frameworks, and unlearning old habits.

<code>Ambitious Product Manager: You've mastered the PM craft. Now apply it to something you own — with real financial upside and no ceiling.</code>

Risk-Aware Product Managers: Layoffs happen to great PMs too. A cash-flowing business gives you income no hiring manager can take away.

Side-Income Product Managers: Not ready to quit yet? Learn to evaluate real deals now so you're ready when the right opportunity appears.

You will leave this program with the confidence and capability to create 10x more impact than you thought you could.

300+ Projects/ Mastercard, Oracle & more

Mastercard

Reuters

Stanley Black & Decker

Saurabh Gupta

Design Leader. 20 years of experience. Led 300+ transformations.

Cohort 1

Articulation, Big Picture Thinking, Clarity, and Disruption. These aren't soft skills.. these are the skills that decide your impact as a product leader. Most programs teach you what to think. This one changes how you think. Across four weeks, every live session is packed with frameworks you can apply immediately, exercises that force the concepts into muscle memory, and enough lightbulb moments that you'll leave wondering why no one taught you this sooner. Leaders who go through this ship faster, build more defensible products, win harder rooms, and make breakthroughs repeatable, not accidental.

You will leave this program creating 10x more impact than you thought you could

Articulation

Big Picture Thinking

Clarity

Disruption

Founders and Co-founders Every delay, missed target, and failed launch starts with a decision made poorly upstream. This program fixes that

Product Leaders and Senior PMs Better decisions upstream mean higher success rates, stronger revenue, and increased market leadership.

Design Leaders Getting stakeholders aligned, selling the vision upward, and making sure the right problem gets solved before anyone starts

Agentic AI

Coding with AI

AI Workflows

Claude Code

OpenClaw

Vibe Coding

AI Evals

AI Transformation

RAG & Search

AI for PMs

AI for Engineers

AI for Designers

AI for Marketers

AI for Founders

Product Sense

Product Discovery

User Research

Prototyping

Growth

Analytics

Tech Foundations

Strategy

Influence

Leadership

Career Growth

Machine Learning

LLM Ops

Context Eng

Security

System Design

Figma

Design Systems

Visual Design

Design Strategy

Automation

Content Marketing

Demand Gen

Go-to-Market

Product Marketing

Positioning

Social Media

Brand

B2B Marketing

SEO & AEO

AI for Leaders

AI Governance

Communication

Management

People Operations

Exec Presence

Storytelling

Goal-setting

Personal Brand

Fundraising

Everyone

Operators

Data Scientists

Business Analysts

User Researchers

Customer Success

Project Managers

HR Professionals

Sales People

Lawyers

Finance

Investors

Real Estate

Educators

Creators

Executives and senior leaders who set strategy, lead teams, and drive organizational outcomes.

Broad professional audience — content relevant across many roles and functions.

Getting promoted, navigating job transitions, and advancing to the next level in your career.

Developing leadership skills — inspiring teams, building culture, navigating organizational complexity, and driving results through others.

How to find and join the next breakout startup

What you'll learn

Why this topic matters

You'll learn from

Ben Lang