The live thing leads. You learn by building.

The Academy isn't a library of recordings to get through alone. The hero is whatever is live next — a cohort, the next session, the weekly clinic — because that's where learning actually happens: building a real artifact, in the open, with people on the same path.

What's live, what's next

There is always something live to join.

The hero here is the live thing — a cohort when one is open, the next show or session otherwise, and the weekly clinic always. You learn by building, in the room, with people on the same path.

Latest to learn from

The AI-Native Shift May 27, 2026

Pilot — Second Brain for AI, with George B. Thomas

George B. Thomas joins Chris Carolan for the pilot episode of The AI-Native Shift to unpack why AI feels amnesic and how a markdown-based "second brain" turns AI from a stateless conversation partner into a persistent…

Always on

The weekly build clinic

Office Hours runs every week as the live build clinic — bring whatever you are building, get unstuck in the room, and watch someone else get unstuck too. No cohort required; it is always open.

How it works

Watch the work, then do the work — live, with people.

Every path here runs the same motion. You start from media that proves the work is real. You build a concrete artifact — usually a working agent on valuefirstagent.com. And you do it live: in a cohort with a defined start, or in the weekly build clinic where you bring your work to the room and get unstuck.

The live thing is not a bonus on top of a course. It is the course. The recordings are the on-ramp; the room is where you learn. This is what we mean by “build.”

The flagship paths

Six learn-by-building paths. Each ends in something you built.

Pick where you are. Each path leads with the artifact you'll walk away with, runs on a live cadence, and hands you off to valuefirstagent.com to make the build real.

Foundational 6 steps

Build Your Customer Value Platform

You build

A HubSpot portal configured as a Customer Value Platform — Contact, Company, and Deal/Order objects set up to express the Four Unified Views, with the Value Path stage as a real…

Join the live clinic
Intermediate 6 steps

Become a Value-First Practitioner

You build

A methodology-coach agent on valuefirstagent.com configured with the Five Core Beliefs, the 8 Value Path stages, and the Four Conversations — that takes a real relationship and…

Apply — joins the waitlist
Intermediate 6 steps

Design Your Data Model

You build

A complete object-and-association map for your own business — designed interactively in the data-model simulator, then deployed as real configured HubSpot objects — plus a…

Join the live clinic
Intermediate 6 steps

See Relationships, Not Records: Master the Unified Views

You build

A configured Unified Revenue View and Unified Business Context slice in HubSpot — the quote-to-cash chain (Deal -> Order -> Invoice -> Payment) wired and visible — plus a…

Join the live clinic
Advanced 6 steps

Build Your Own Agents, Skills & Commands

You build

Your own working AI-native primitive set, built on valuefirstagent.com: a real agent (front-matter-valid, with a wired expertise reference), at least one skill (valid YAML front…

Join the live clinic
Advanced 5 steps

The AI-Native Shift

You build

A working deployed AI-native stack for your team — the Week-3 POC: real HubSpot CVP configuration, named production agents on valuefirstagent.com running against your real…

Apply — joins the waitlist

Pick a path, and build it live.

Join the next cohort or this week's clinic — whatever is live, that's the next step.