Richard Wang Launches New AI Founder Program in Seattle

The 30-day Idea to Launch program offers engineering support for founders without requiring them to quit their current jobs.

Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in Remote Work

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Founder Richard Wang launched the 30-day Idea to Launch program in Seattle, providing technical support for entrepreneurs while allowing them to maintain full-time jobs. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Founder Richard Wang is launching the Idea to Launch program, a 30-day initiative designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs build products using AI tools. The venture supports up to 20 founders per cohort with coaching and professional engineering resources.

Why it matters

The program aims to bridge the gap between having a business idea and executing a working product by providing specialized technical support. It seeks to assist founders in navigating common development challenges while allowing them to maintain their full-time employment.

The inaugural cohort tuition is set at $3,500, a discount from the standard $5,000 rate. Each participant receives 10 hours of one-on-one professional engineering support over 10 mandatory evening sessions.

The players

Richard Wang

He is the founder of the Idea to Launch program and is personally self-funding the new venture.

The details

Participants use the program to conduct customer interviews, build prototypes with AI, and receive technical assistance for database and security integrations. The program model does not take equity from its founders and accommodates those who continue working their day jobs.

Timeline

  1. January 11: The first cohort of the program begins.

  2. Through April: Three additional cohorts are scheduled to run.

  3. 2025: A security scan identified vulnerabilities in AI-built apps.

Market Landscape

This program enters a market where 60% of Americans report having a business idea, yet only 9% actually launch one. By providing professional engineering support for service integration and security, the initiative addresses risks identified in recent scans of AI-built applications.

Aspiring founders in the Seattle area can access professional engineering coaching for their business ideas without sacrificing their current employment. Participants pay a reduced tuition fee of $3,500 for the first cohort, which includes direct support for database and security setups.

The takeaway

The program emphasizes the transition from conceptual ideas to functional products through structured, part-time technical support. Aspiring entrepreneurs should prioritize robust security and database architecture during their initial build phase to avoid common vulnerabilities.

Further reading

Learn more about the evolving nature of digital entrepreneurship in our Remote Work section.

Source note: This article includes information reported by GeekWire.

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Do you believe AI tools make it a good time to launch your own business?