How to find a co-founder. Honestly.
Moonlabs is the operator-led AI Academy in Derby. We run three live companies — Homemove, home.co.uk and homedata.co.uk — and we teach twelve students per cohort to ship a real AI product, sell it to a real customer, and raise on it. Three pillars: Coding, Commercials, Investment. Twelve weeks. £6,000.
Moonlabs is what we are. Two operators — James Freestone and Louis O’Connell-Bristow — who are co-founders ourselves, across Homemove, home.co.uk and homedata.co.uk. Our partnership was forged the way the strong ones are — under sustained work pressure, before any cap-table was signed. The advice on this page is the version we wish someone had given us in 2019.
The Academy is what we do. A twelve-week, in-person, twelve-student cohort in Derby. You build a real AI product. You sign a paid pilot on it. You write a deck and a financial model. You leave with a deployed system, a paying customer reference and a live investor pipeline. Coding, Commercials, Investment — the three pillars taught in equal weight every week, in a room small enough that the right partnership, if it is in there, will surface itself.
Why this page exists. Most founder advice on finding a co-founder is wrong by omission. “Find someone you trust deeply” is true but useless. “Network at events” is true and shallow. The strongest co-founder relationships almost always come out of working together on something hard for a sustained stretch — not from speed-dating apps, not from LinkedIn, not from a single coffee. The Academy is twelve weeks of that test — a meaningful proportion of past cohorts have produced co-founding pairs.
Coding · the shared shipping that forges the partnership
Twelve weeks of building a real product alongside another founder — engineering reviewed by us in the room every day. The way you handle a bug at 11pm on week eight tells you more about your future co-founder than ten coffees. A deployed product, co-built, by week twelve — or an early honest "we are not the right pair" decision.
Commercials · who runs the customer call, who writes the code
A workable co-founder split needs a clear answer to who owns the commercials and who owns the engineering. We push you to that split in week one, watch you live it for eleven weeks, and tell you honestly whether the partnership scales. A paid pilot signed together by week six is the strongest co-founder validation there is.
Investment · the cap table opened in week two
A split argument now is much cheaper than the same argument at the seed round. SAFE vs equity, vesting, founder cliffs, weighted contribution, IP assignment — opened in week two with us pushing back on the asymmetries. A signable cap table by demo day. Alternative: EF / Antler comparison here.
Common questions.
Will the Academy match me with a co-founder if I arrive solo?
We will not promise that. What we will say honestly: roughly a third of solo Academy applicants in recent cohorts have left with a working pair, usually formed organically over the twelve weeks. We do not force pairings; we simply put the right people in the room.
How is this different from Entrepreneur First or Antler?
EF and Antler put pairing first — build a team, then find the idea. The Academy puts product and commercials first — build the thing, find a partner organically if one shows up. Different mechanism, often different outcome. Honest EF comparison here.
Can I apply with a co-founder I have already?
Yes — many do. Pairs apply together; we treat the joint application as the unit. The twelve weeks then stress-test the partnership properly, in production, instead of waiting until your first round.
What if my Academy partner and I cannot agree on the equity split?
It happens occasionally. We push pairs into the equity conversation early in the cohort, with the cap table opened in week two. A split argument now is much cheaper than the same argument at the seed round.
Where else should I look for a co-founder if the Academy is not right?
Honest answer: do not use co-founder dating apps. They produce mostly noise. The good places are working programmes (EF, Antler, the Academy), specific communities around your problem space, your existing professional network, and graduates of similar programmes. The non-good places are speed-dating apps and LinkedIn cold messages.
More Academy entry points.
The Academy is one course with many doors. Each of these pages is a different entry point into the same twelve weeks.
How To Build An AI Moat
How To Incorporate An AI Startup UK
How To Price An AI Product
How To Pitch An AI Startup
How To Validate An AI Startup Idea
How To Become An AI Engineer
Build it. Sell it. Raise on it. In twelve weeks.
Tell us where you are with your idea and whether you arrive solo or paired. James and Louis read every application personally and reply inside the week.
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