UC BERKELEY

BASICS

Berkeley Accelerator & Startup Incubator
in Cognitive Science

Founded as COGSCI 198, now expanding to serve Berkeley's entire entrepreneurship ecosystem. The course you finish before SkyDeck, Techstars, or YC — and the only intro network that won't let you pitch investors until a human says you're ready.

Apply with Berkeley Email

What is BASICS

Build. Ship. Get introduced.

Originally launched as COGSCI 198 — a cognitive science course that brought startup mentality to Berkeley — BASICS is now expanding to serve the university's entire entrepreneurship ecosystem. An 8-week campaign where founders learn by doing, not by watching. When staff says you're ready, you unlock warm introductions to Berkeley's investor network.

📚

Learn

Cognitive science-informed pedagogy. Assignments are encounters. Semesters are campaigns. Failure is part of the curriculum — because that's how founders actually learn.

🛠️

Build

Ship a real product in 8 weeks. Customer discovery, MVP, data room, deck — every week has a deliverable. No theory without practice.

🚀

Launch

Pass the Ready Gate and earn curated introductions to Berkeley's 2,700+ investor network. Staff-approved. Double opt-in. No cold emails.

The Program

8-week campaign

Each week is an encounter. Complete them all and submit your evidence. Staff reviews your progress and decides when you're ready.

Week 1

Problem & Team

Define the problem, your user, and why you're the one to solve it.

Week 2

Customer Discovery

5 real customer conversations. Notes, not hypotheticals.

Week 3

Productive Failure

Kill one idea. Document what you learned. This is the most important week.

Week 4

MVP in the Wild

Ship something. Link + one usage metric. It doesn't need to be perfect.

Week 5

Market & Wedge

TAM/SAM that isn't a slide lie. Where do you start, and why there?

Week 6

Narrative & Deck

8 slides in the BASICS template. Story, not features.

Week 7

Data Room

Deck, one-pager, product link, metrics, team bios. Investor-ready.

Week 8

Boss Check

Staff review. If ready, the gate opens. If not, you iterate.

Past Sessions

Real founders. Real speakers. Real work.

BASICS brings in operators, investors, and technical founders who've built real companies.

Farbod Mansorian — Founder & CEO, Unilingo. Guest lecture on building AI products.

Tyler — Guest speaker on startup strategy and go-to-market.

Oleksiy — Technical deep-dive on AI infrastructure.

Tanay — Demo day presentation to investors and mentors.

Gemini CLI Workshop — Hands-on session with Google's AI tools.

Leonard Wheeler — NFL legend. Guest lecture on leadership and mental toughness.

The Ready Gate

We prepare you to pitch.

BASICS isn't a directory. It's a preparation system. Staff works with you on your product, your story, and your data room. When you're ready, the gate opens.

Complete

Finish all 8 campaign encounters with real evidence.

Review

Staff evaluates your submissions, product, and readiness.

Ready

Staff flips the switch. Your data room opens to matched investors.

Introduce

Warm, curated, double-opt-in intros. One at a time. Staff-approved.

"Not a list dump. Warm, curated, double-opt-in introductions to Berkeley's investor network."

For Investors

Direct access to Berkeley dealflow.

BASICS gives investors a curated pipeline of Berkeley's best student founders — vetted, coached, and Ready Gate-approved before you ever see them. No cold emails. No unfiltered pitch decks. Just warm, double-opt-in introductions to founders who've earned it.

✓ Curated Berkeley founder pipeline

✓ Every founder has passed the Ready Gate

✓ Warm, double-opt-in introductions only

✓ You control your availability and sectors

Get Access

The Team

Built by Berkeley, for Berkeley.

BASICS is run by people who've built companies, taught founders, and know what it takes to get from idea to investment.

Mike Jacobs

Co-Founder & Instructor

UC Berkeley alum and serial entrepreneur with 2 exits. CTO of Qluu Lab, building world models for autonomous systems. Previously built and scaled products across AI, edtech, and enterprise SaaS. Teaches COGSCI 198 and runs the BASICS campaign.

Prof. Uri Korisky

Co-Founder & Head of Curriculum

UC Berkeley faculty and expert in cognitive science, lifelong learning, and human performance. Brings the academic rigor behind the BASICS curriculum — bridging cognitive science research with practical founder education.

Lee Howard

Head of Product

UC Berkeley Cognitive Science (HCI emphasis). Former Google ATAP product lead and Shell Ventures product strategist. Mentored by Prof. James Landay and Scott Klemmer. Brings world-class product thinking to the BASICS platform and curriculum design.

Yasmine Baker

Entrepreneur in Residence

UC Berkeley student and BASICS Entrepreneur in Residence. Reviews founder submissions, provides feedback on campaign deliverables, and helps assess readiness for the Ready Gate.

FAQ

Questions

Who can apply?

Current UC Berkeley students and recent alumni. Sign up with your @berkeley.edu email. Alumni who've lost access can request manual verification.

Is it free?

Yes. BASICS is free for all Berkeley-affiliated founders. We don't take equity, fees, or carry.

How long is the program?

8 weeks, one encounter per week. Each encounter has a deliverable. The pace is intense but designed around a student schedule.

What's the Ready Gate?

After completing all encounters, BASICS staff reviews your work. If your product, evidence, and data room meet the standard, you're marked "Ready" and unlock investor introductions. It's a human decision, not an algorithm.

Do I need a company to apply?

No. Week 1 helps you define your problem and team. Many founders arrive with just an idea. The course is designed to take you from concept to investor-ready.

How is this different from SkyDeck?

BASICS is earlier-stage. We're the readiness layer underneath SkyDeck and YC — the course you finish before applying to an accelerator. We're a feeder, not a competitor.