The ZB Stack Startup Launchpad
Build your startup with an AI CTO.
Every startup needs a CTO: the co-founder who builds the product and keeps it running. In the Launchpad, ZB Stack is that co-founder, for a few selected startups. You bring the idea and the customers. ZB Stack builds the product, puts it live and keeps it growing.
You
- The idea
- The customers
- The market
ZB Stack · your AI CTO
- Plan
- Build
- Launch
- Run
- Improve
Why a Launchpad
AI made the CTO’s job bigger. ZB Stack takes it on.
A founder knows the customer and the problem. Someone still has to build the product. That is the CTO’s job, and it gets bigger every month: new models, new agents, new ways to build.
ZB Stack keeps up with all of it. In the Launchpad, your AI CTO is Maestro, an AI team of eight, and one person from the lab. The AI team does the work. The person makes the technology decisions with you.
What your AI CTO does
Your AI CTO does everything a CTO does.
Plans the first release.
You say what the product must do and for whom. You get the plan in writing: what to build first, what can wait, and what it costs.
Decides how it is built.
How the data stays safe, which services run payments, email and maps, what the product is built from. Decided once, with the reason for every choice.
Builds it.
Your AI team writes the design, the code, the tests and the words, every task checked against the plan.
Puts it live.
Payments set up, services connected, tested on phones, released on ZB Cloud. Zero DevOps: the system operates itself.
Keeps it running.
Every update, slow page and failed payment becomes a task: fixed, checked and on record.
Keeps it improving.
What your customers ask for becomes the next release, and the one after it.
How the Launchpad works
The Launchpad takes you from an application to a running product.
- 01 · Apply
Tell us what you are building.
Who it is for, where you are today, and where you need the most help.
- 02 · The fit
ZB Stack looks at the founder, the product and the business it can become.
Together you name the first milestone.
- 03 · Terms
ZB Stack joins your startup as a co-founder.
The share is agreed and written down.
- 04 · The first plan
Together you define the first release.
Task by task, with its cost beside it.
- 05 · Live
The first release goes live, and your first customers use it.
From there, milestone by milestone.
What you get
You get the product, the AI team that builds it, and the system that runs it.
- Your AI team
- Eight AI teammates on one plan. Four build the product. Four run the company.
- Maestro
- 300+ AI models and 100+ AI agents, the right one on every task.
- ZB Cloud
- The computers your product runs on, with your code, your data and your history.
- The workspace
- Where you talk with your AI team and see every task and its cost.
- The record
- Every task, who did it, the check it passed and what it cost.
- A person from the lab
- One person from ZB Stack on your startup, from the first plan on.
The eight AI teammates.
- Lead
Plans the work, hands out the tasks and checks progress.
- Product
Decides what to build and what comes next.
- Design
Pages, visuals and the look of the product.
- Coding
Builds and tests websites, apps and the systems behind them.
- Marketing
Campaigns, posts, emails and search content.
- Sales
Finds prospects, writes outreach and follow-ups.
- Operations
Orders, stock, shipping, returns and the books.
- Service
Answers customers and passes on what they say.
Where you start
Start from an idea, a prototype or a live product.
An idea.
You know the customer and the problem. The product starts here.
A prototype.
You built something with Lovable, Cursor or Claude Code. Now it has to work for every customer.
A live product.
Customers use it every day and keep asking for more. Your AI CTO takes it on as it is.
One build
One goal went in. A finished store came out.
Northwick Candle Co. is ZB Stack’s example store. The goal was one line: build me an online store. Maestro broke it into 49 tasks and routed each one. One test failed. Only that task went up to a stronger model.
The 49 tasks cost $29.10. The same work on the single most expensive model: $720.00.
Who is selected
ZB Stack selects a few startups at a time. It looks for four things.
A founder who knows the customer.
You have talked to them, and some are waiting.
A product software can deliver.
A store, a marketplace, a tool, an app.
A business that needs more product as it grows.
Each new customer asks for more.
A founder who shows up.
Decisions, customers and the next goal, every week.
ZB Stack joins every startup it selects, so it chooses the companies it believes in.
The terms
What the models cost, plus 5%, and a small share of the company.
Usage.
ZB Stack’s ordinary price: what the models cost, plus 5%, and hosting at the cloud’s own price. Work on sponsored models is free.
Equity.
1 to 3% of the startup: 3% for an idea, 2% for a prototype, 1% for a live product. The scope and the milestones are written down when you join. A technical co-founder takes a large share. The Launchpad takes a small one.
That is the whole price. No salary and no monthly fee.
Usage, in one line
Questions
Founders ask these before they apply.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You know your customers and make the product decisions. Your AI CTO does the rest.
I am technical. Is the Launchpad for me?
Yes. You get the same AI CTO, and spend your time on the customer, or on the parts only you can build.
I already have a developer. What changes?
They join the workspace. One plan, one record.
Who owns the product?
You do. The code, the data, the product and the customers are yours. ZB Stack holds its share, like any co-founder.
What does the equity pay for?
The AI CTO: Maestro, your AI team and the person from the lab. Usage is paid separately.
How long does the Launchpad last?
The share covers the first release and the first year after launch. After that, ZB Stack stays your AI CTO on usage alone, for as long as you want one.
Can I use ZB Stack without the Launchpad?
Yes, at the ordinary price, with no equity. That is a different application: Apply for access →
Is this the Foundation program?
No. The Zero Build Foundation gives builders ZB Stack on sponsored models, free, and takes nothing. Foundation →
Startups
Your product goes live, with ZB Stack as your CTO.
Apply, and ZB Stack writes back with what comes next.
Apply to the Launchpad