Build Your Own Company.
Launch your iOS app this summer.
Own the majority of what you build.
Startup Lab 24 · Ann Arbor, MI · May 18, 2026 – August 7, 2026. 7 spots only. Your cover letter decides whether we talk.
The quick version
A 12-week equity-based founder program in Ann Arbor. You design and launch a real iOS app under your own brand. I handle all the code, legal paperwork, and App Store work. You own 70% of the company you create. There is no salary or stipend. Apply by May 5, 2026 with a resume and a cover letter.
Open to all UMich students, all majors, all years, undergrad and grad.
Why this summer
Why this summer could be the one you remember.
The best education you'll ever get doesn't happen in a classroom. It happens the first time you watch a stranger open your app, get confused, tell you exactly what's wrong, and hand you a chance to make it right. It happens when you release a feature on Tuesday, get a user email on Wednesday, and realize you just built something that actually matters to someone.
BYOC is 12 weeks of exactly that kind of learning. You'll design and launch a real iOS app. You'll sit across from real users and listen hard. You'll develop a sharp eye for what's good. You'll discover what you're capable of.
By the end of the summer, you'll own the majority of a real company you built. If it works, you own something that grows for years. If it doesn't, you walk away with the one thing that beats a GPA every time: proof you can build and launch a real product.
This is not a paid internship. There's no salary or stipend. You're trading a summer paycheck for long-term ownership of the thing you build. If you need summer income for rent or tuition, please don't apply.
The honest reason there are only 7 seats
Only 7 seats. Here's the honest reason why.
I'm taking exactly 7 founders into this cohort. Not 10, not 15. Seven is the most I can mentor deeply for 12 weeks without diluting the quality of attention each of you gets.
My name is Irfan Mahmood. I've spent the last 20 years building things across technology, education, the Department of Defense, and my own companies. I've launched products that are still running, hired teams, lost money, made it back, and learned most of what I actually know by getting things wrong in public and paying close attention. This summer I'm pouring that experience directly into 7 students. Not as a lecturer. As your co-founder for the season.
If you get in, you'll have direct access to me every single week. If you don't, it won't be because of your grades, your major, or your resume. It will be because someone else's cover letter convinced me they were ready to run.
The application
Your cover letter is the whole application.
The cover letter is how I decide who gets an interview. Not your GPA. Not your LinkedIn. Not your major. The cover letter.
I'm reading for three things:
- 01
A specific product you want to build and the specific person you want to build it for.
- 02
Evidence you'll still be showing up in week 10 when it stops being fun (see the Daily-30 below).
- 03
A glimpse of how you think: your voice, your judgment, your honesty.
Tell me a real story. The strongest cover letters will get a conversation. The rest will pass.
Inside the program
What you'll actually do this summer.
Own a product from idea to App Store launch.
You decide what to build, who it's for, and what it stands for.
Write the product specs.
A clear written description of every feature your app should have. You define what gets built; our engineering team writes the code; you test and approve.
Talk to users constantly.
Weekly customer interviews. Your job is to deeply understand one specific user and build for them.
Build the brand.
Name, visual identity, App Store listing, launch plan. All of it is yours to shape.
Launch on a real timeline.
Private test version by week 6, wider beta test by week 8, public App Store launch by week 12.
Full-time: 40+ hours/week, 5 days a week, hybrid. Two days in our Ann Arbor office (2179 S. State St), three days remote.
The leverage
The leverage you'll have that no previous generation of founders had.
You're starting from an unbelievable place in history. Code that used to take a team of engineers six months to build, you can now describe in a weekend and have running by Monday. AI tools now give one person capabilities that cost companies millions just a few years ago. One person with good judgment and a clear product vision can launch something to millions of people on the App Store.
That's the leverage we'll put in your hands. You describe what you want built. Our engineering team writes the code using AI tools on top of infrastructure we've already built. You review, test, and approve.
Your job isn't to be an engineer. Your job is to be a thoughtful product builder who can clearly describe what a specific person actually needs.
My side of the deal
What I handle so you can focus on the product.
- ●All the iOS engineering work on a shared backend, so we can have a working version of your app running in about 2 days and you can start iterating immediately
- ●Servers, hosting, and user data storage
- ●Publishing your app on the App Store under Startup Lab 24's developer account
- ●All legal paperwork (publishing agreement, intellectual property assignment, formal company formation when the time is right)
- ●Weekly mentorship on how to launch, how to run user research, and how to figure out what to build next
- ●A cohort of 6 other founders going through the same 12 weeks with you — peer group, not competition
The one filter I care most about
Can you keep building when it stops being fun?
I don't care about your resume. I care about one thing: can you keep building when it stops being fun?
Your application has to show me evidence of the Daily-30: one thing you've done every day (or near-daily) for at least 30 consecutive days. Painting, journaling, a daily social account, a craft, an exercise streak, posting work online, practicing a skill, writing code. Anything you've actually stuck with every single day for a month. Tell me what it is and send proof.
Passion is easy to fake on an application and the first thing to evaporate in week 4. This filter tests for behavior under pressure, specifically whether you keep going after the novelty wears off.
Examples I'd count: a painting posted daily, a running streak, a Substack published every morning, an Etsy shop with recent orders, 30 days of code commits, a sport, a craft, shipping content to a handle you actually run.
Students I especially want to hear from
- Designers, artists, creators, and writers
- Domain experts in non-tech fields — fashion, food, fitness, mental health, crafts, hobbies
- Students from Penny Stamps, Ross, LSA, SI, Music / Theatre / Dance, Kinesiology, Public Health
- Students running Etsy shops, side hustles, student orgs, or creative practices
- First-time founders with no startup experience
- Students already staying in Ann Arbor for the summer
This program isn't for you if
- You're looking for a paid software engineering internship
- You don't have a specific product idea yet
- You need summer income for rent, tuition, or living expenses
- You want a short-term résumé line
- You can't commit to being in Ann Arbor twice a week
What makes an idea fit
iOS consumer apps with a clear user.
A specific user, a specific problem, and a realistic path to revenue through subscriptions or in-app purchases. Areas that tend to work well:
Health & Fitness
Workouts, recovery, women's health, sleep, sport-specific training. Subscription-friendly; fits founders with lived discipline or coaching expertise.
Mental Health & Mindfulness
Journaling, meditation, mood tracking, sobriety support, therapy adjuncts. High per-user revenue; fits founders with lived experience.
Creator Tools & Media
Niche photo/video tools, short-form utilities, creator workflow apps. Strong fit for design-oriented founders with existing audiences.
Education & Skill-Building
Language learning, microlearning, niche exam prep, creative skill courses. Subscription-friendly; fits domain experts.
AI-Powered Consumer Utilities
AI stylists, writing coaches, cooking assistants, vertical-specific AI tutors. Massive headroom for apps that serve one archetype well.
Lifestyle & Habit Formation
Daily planners, rituals, focus tools, profession-specific productivity. Strong subscription retention; fits creators with built-in audiences.
Niche Social & Community
Small-community apps for specific interests or support groups. Not Instagram clones. Low CAC when the founder is already in the community.
Food, Nutrition & Cooking
Recipe organization, diet-specific apps, grocery tools, cooking education. Works for founders with food, nutrition, or wellness domain.
Fashion, Style & Personal Shopping
Wardrobe management, outfit planning, style assistants, closet inventory. Strong fit for founders with fashion or design backgrounds.
Your idea doesn't have to fit one of these exactly, but it should fit the spirit. I steer founders away from Games, Fintech, Marketplace apps, Streaming, Dating — none of them work in a 12-week solo sprint.
The deal
The New Deal in plain English.
- What you own
- 70% of the company behind your app. Startup Lab 24 owns the other 30%.
- How ownership actually works
- You don't get your 70% handed to you at the end of summer. You earn it over 24 months. Nothing unlocks for the first 6 months. At month 6, 25% of your share vests in one drop. The remaining 75% vests monthly through month 24.
- What that means in practice
- If your app gets traction, fully realizing your ownership means continuing to work on it after the 12-week program ends. The summer is the launchpad, not the finish line. Startup Lab 24 is on the exact same vesting schedule, so our incentives stay aligned with yours.
- App Store
- Your app lives on the App Store under Startup Lab 24's developer account. Your brand, your product, our App Store publishing setup.
- Formal company
- We form a formal company (usually an LLC) when it makes sense — first real revenue, a conversation about raising money, or a serious contract with someone outside Startup Lab 24.
- After the summer
- Most founders keep building past the program. You're never contractually required to continue, but if you stop working on the app, your unvested equity stops vesting. You keep what you've already earned.
- Your financial risk
- Zero. Startup Lab 24 covers all infrastructure, legal, and App Store costs. You will never be on the hook for any expenses. Worst case, you walk away with a product you built, users you talked to, and lessons you will keep forever.
How to apply
Send the strongest cover letter you can write.
Submit by May 5, 2026 with:
- Your resume.
- A cover letter covering (a) the product you want to build and who it's for, (b) your Daily-30 with proof, (c) why this particular summer, with this program, matters to you.
- Optional: portfolio, product writing, or anything else that shows your taste.
Timeline
- Applications close May 5, 2026
- Shortlist interviews May 6–9, 2026
- Cohort announced May 10, 2026
- Program starts May 18, 2026 and ends August 7, 2026
7 founder seats · Ann Arbor, MI · Summer 2026
You run the company. I build the app with you.
Seven seats. Summer 2026. Cover-letter-first. Apply by May 5, 2026.