Pressure Cooker FAQ

No, co-founders only. While we are, generally speaking, open to investing in solo founders, in the case of this sprint, a solo founder would be at a disadvantage to teams of co-founders.

It's probably more important for you and your co-founders to be in the same place together while building this. Baseline will be available to you if you need.

Yes, but you'd probably be at a disadvantage, considering the advantages that proximity brings to communication and collaboration.

It's Dublin AI Week, so… but also, the definition of an “AI company” is so broad. If you're not using AI to build or sell, then you're probably at a disadvantage.

Yes, if there's nothing built, nothing sold, no company and no money. Thinking is allowed. Head starts in product, customers or funding are not.

No. A waitlist is customers before the cut-off. Enter with something else.

Yes, before or during the week. Tell us when you do. The idea isn't what got you in. You were, and how you communicated your idea and thought processes around it.

No.

Yes, but this is only open to participants over the age of 18 on or before Wed 7th Oct 2026.

No. You guys are already well funded.

Yes.

No. No money changes hands and no product ships before the build starts.

No. Research, wireframes, customer conversations, tooling accounts and tooling configuration are all fine. A working product on Friday morning is a head start, and will get you disqualified.

Yes.

21 September 2026. Selected teams then have 48 hours to accept.

Maybe it's an idea still worth pursuing.

Baseline will be available to all participants during the course of the challenge.

Yes, 18:00 on Fri 2nd Oct, in Baseline.

Yes, details will be provided on the night.

Yes to all of it. Build however gets it shipped. The only thing we want written by a human is the application.

Live and accessible on the Internet, and usable by someone outside the team without you standing over them.

Carry on with who's left. You can't add anyone. Tell us if that happens.

Depends, you can ask.

They'll be in a shared WhatsApp for all participants to see. Nothing like a healthy sense of competition to create a bit of pressure!

Collect only what you need, have a short privacy notice, don't scrape, don't buy lists. You're responsible for your customers, not us. If the product would need to handle anything sensitive, pick a different first customer for the week.

A product walkthrough, details on users, letters of intent, or paying customers. We'll also conduct a short interview.

Of course. It's your company. Finalists are chosen on the Tuesday submission; the three finalists can keep pushing until Thursday night and present whatever they have then.

As users, yes. As a letter of intent, if it's signed and says what they'd pay after the pilot. As a paid customer, no.

Preferably. Anything with the same elements is fine: a named business, a signatory with budget authority, what they intend to buy and roughly on what terms, and consent for us to check.

If they'd actually buy it and they hold the budget, yes, and expect us to ask them hard questions. If it's a favour, no, and we'll know.

They can. It won't count.

There's no number. Three real ones is a great week. Ten people who used it and came back beat 200 waitlist emails, and one paying customer beats both. But it also depends on what you're building and who you're building it for.

See Taking money without a company. Short version: one person on the team takes the money as an individual, and it moves to the company when you incorporate.

We'll invest on a standard SAFE at a cap / discount of your choosing, as part of a pre-seed raise which will include other investors.

The investment is for a team going full-time on the company. If the winning team doesn't want to leave their jobs, then there isn't an investment to be made.

No. The commitment is ours, not yours.

Possibly, but that decision would be made after this challenge has run its course.

No. No equity, no IP, no fees.

Yes.

Of course.

Yes. We'll be promoting the week and the finalists, and journalists may be in the room on Thursday. If you don't want to be public, this isn't for you.

Then there's no team for us to invest in. This is why the founder agreement matters, and why choosing to build with people you've worked with is important.