Good questions

Part AI academy, part careers fair of the future: a membership for 14 to 22 year olds exploring the future of work in the AI economy. Each month, members take part in a new edition: a frontier or AI startup sets a real brief from its own business. You work on it in a team over four weekly live sessions, learning the AI tools and skills the job needs, then pitch your solution to a judging panel for prizes.

Courses teach you tools in the abstract, usually through pre-recorded videos. SydeDoor is live, taught by people who use these tools at work every day, built around a real company problem, and ends in a judged pitch. You leave with proof of what you can do, not just a completion badge.

Founders and operators from the host startup lead the content: product, growth, design, engineering, depending on the week. The SydeDoor team runs the format, facilitates the sessions and supports teams throughout.

Partly because it's fun. Mostly because it keeps the focus on the work, not the logo. Every host is a real startup with a real problem, and the brief is what matters.

Yes. Every brief comes from a genuine problem the host company is working on. Hosts get fresh ideas and insight from young users; you get to work on something that actually matters.

Anyone aged 14 to 22. You don't need any background in tech, business or coding. You do need curiosity, and to show up for your team.

• Explore (14–18): career discovery across roles, AI tools with clear guardrails, after-school timings, parental consent and safeguarding throughout.
• Launch (18–22): deeper builds such as agents, automations and products, briefs pitched at junior-hire level, and prizes geared towards work opportunities.

Both use the same live format and real briefs.

You can choose either. If you're mainly exploring options, Explore. If you want to go deeper and build, Launch.

Not for the virtual edition, which you can join from anywhere. In-person editions are city-based and will open city by city, starting with London.

Not for the virtual membership: places are offered to the waitlist in order. We do look for people who share our values: proof over papers, commitment and curiosity. The Fellowship is selective and by application.

One live session a week on Wednesdays, plus around 2–3 hours of team work between sessions. Week four includes a 48-hour sprint before the final pitch.

On Wednesdays. Sessions are planned for 12–1pm or 5–7pm, in GMT and/or CET, so they fit around school, college, university or work. We'll confirm exact times with founding members before launch.

Sessions are recorded for members, so you can catch up. But the live part is the point, so try not to make a habit of it. Your team is counting on you.

A laptop or desktop with a reliable internet connection is best. Most tools have free tiers that are enough for an edition. If access is a barrier, tell us and we'll try to help.

We place you in a team of 4–5 people from your track, mixing schools, areas and skills. If you want to join with a friend, let us know.

The ones working teams use today, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity, Lovable, Cursor, Replit, n8n, Zapier, Figma, Canva, Gamma, Midjourney, Sora, Higgsfield, Runway, ElevenLabs, Synthesia and Suno. The list changes as the field does.

We respect each tool's terms. Where a tool isn't available to under-18s, the Explore track uses age-appropriate alternatives or supervised demonstrations instead.

No. Everything in an edition can be done on free tiers. We'll tell you if a paid feature would help, but it's never required.

Yes, in every edition. How to spot hallucinations, check sources, protect your personal data, recognise deepfakes and misinformation, think about bias and copyright, and know when not to use AI at all.

The ones that matter more as AI does more: framing problems, judgement and taste, systems thinking, working with AI agents, communicating and pitching, teamwork, and taking ownership.

• Virtual membership: £79 / €95 / $99 per month.
• In-person edition: £189 / €225 / $239 per edition (coming soon).
• Fellowship: price on application.

These are founding prices and may change before launch. See the pricing page for details.

No. Joining the waitlist is free and commits you to nothing. You'll hear first when dates, hosts and places are confirmed.

We'll publish clear cancellation and refund terms before anything goes on sale. Our intention is a simple monthly membership you can stop, not a long contract.

We want SydeDoor to be open to anyone, whatever their background. We're working on funded places with partners. Mention it when you join the waitlist and we'll keep you posted.

Yes. Email info@sydedoor.com and we'll talk through options for schools.

Every edition has a Designated Safeguarding Lead. Under-18s need parental or guardian consent. Sessions are always facilitated by the SydeDoor team, and hosts never work with under-18s unsupervised.

Only if you want to be. Under-18s only appear on the public stream with consent, and anyone can take part off-camera.

We only collect what we need to run SydeDoor, and never sell it. We'll publish our full privacy policy before launch. In sessions, we teach you to keep personal data out of AI tools.

Staff working closely with members, including in the Fellowship, have DBS checks.

A portfolio piece you can show anyone, expert feedback from founders and operators, working AI skills, and a much clearer idea of which roles suit you.

We lean towards opportunities rather than cash: a paid shadow week at the host startup, a place in the Fellowship, or dinner with the founder. Prizes vary by edition.

That's the idea. Real work for a real company, judged on merit, gives you something concrete to talk about in personal statements, interviews and applications.

A selective, longer-form programme for standout SydeDoor members: deeper projects with founders, mentorship and introductions. Places are limited and by application.

Yes. Every edition has a new host and a new brief, so each one teaches you something different.