Mesa’s 1-year Builder’s Curriculum
Creating AI-enabled business leaders who will grow
India’s startup ecosystem
₹15Cr+ ARR

For 20+ student ventures

500+

Partner startups

70%

Placed in founder-facing roles

36L

Top 20% avg CTC

Tenets of our Pedagogy: AI-first, Startup-Focused, Builder-Led
01
Learn Business, Startup-Style
Fast cycles, ambiguous problems, 
 real customers.
02
Learn by Building
From AI products, D2C Brands, GTM strategies: build cycles will anchor your learning.
03
Work Backwards from Outcomes
Pedagogy and pathways are designed from the roles founders actually hire for.
Post-Mesa Outcomes: The Careers Mesa Unlocks
01
Career Outcomes
CTC ₹26L; 2.7x jump on pre-MBA salaries; popular roles include Founder’s Office & EIR.
02
Venture Outcomes
20+ student ventures built, several raising capital and crossing meaningful revenue
03
Skill Outcomes
Become operators who understand customers, analyze data, ship products, and build AI-enabled workflows from scratch.
Most MBAs were built for corporate careers, not startup leadership. In an AI-native world, the most valuable skill is the ability to build - to go from zero to one. Mesa exists to be a “Stanford of the Indus Valley” for people who want to build and lead India’s next wave of startups.
- Ankit Agarwal | Co founder, Mesa
harvard
IIT Bombay
BCG
Urban Company Urban Company
The 10 learning outcomes

We interviewed 100+ founders, CXOs and investors with one question: What makes someone genuinely useful in a startup within 3–6 months?

Their answers became 10 core outcomes that now shape every Mesa course, project and pathway.

A week's worth of brand lessons at Mesa by Prof Tim Calkins, Kellogg A week's worth of brand lessons at Mesa by Prof Tim Calkins, Kellogg

In today's digital age, data and the digital footprint it leaves are everywhere. The ability to use it effectively for evidence-backed decisions can truly set you apart.

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Identify relevant data to solve problems, extract and analyze datasets, and generate actionable insights
  • Effectively communicate insights through clear visualizations and a compelling narrative
  • Align business decisions, experiments, or hypotheses with data-driven insights for impactful outcomes.
Learn tools like Excel, Powerquery, SQL, Python and PowerBI
Learn tools like Excel, Powerquery, SQL, Python and PowerBI
Work on 25+ real-world startup datasets and get your hands dirty
Work on 25+ real-world startup datasets and get your hands dirty
Get regular 1:1 mentorship, support and practice
Get regular 1:1 mentorship, support and practice

One of Amazon's key leadership principles is deeply understanding your customer—their pain points, motivations, and alternatives—as the foundation for building effective solutions.

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Define and communicate clear customer personas for a product or service
  • Conduct thorough user research, interpret insights, and understand customer messaging
  • Use frameworks like JTBD (Job-To-Be-Done), User Stories, and User Quotes to define user requirements
Learn marketing and user research from top professors
Learn marketing and user research from top professors
Interact with real customers while building a business
Interact with real customers while building a business
Conduct customer discovery with early-stage startups.
Conduct customer discovery with early-stage startups.

Effective communication with team members, senior leadership, and external stakeholders is the most important predictor of career growth—especially as automation increases. This skill will serve you for life.

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Confidently represent yourself and your ideas with clear and concise articulation
  • Write compelling, brief and purpose driven documents
  • Influence without authority at the workplace
Learn the art of business storytelling, negotiations and presentations
Learn the art of business storytelling, negotiations and presentations
Gain 50+ public speaking opportunities and present ideas to top startup leaders
Gain 50+ public speaking opportunities and present ideas to top startup leaders
Receive 1:1 coaching on executive presence and crafting your elevator pitch
Receive 1:1 coaching on executive presence and crafting your elevator pitch

As Elon Musk says, this is "the only thing worth mastering." Understanding problems at their core, identifying key components, and building solutions is vital in startups' ambiguous environments.

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Deeply understand and communicate core problems
  • Break down problems using frameworks like MECE and 80/20
  • Identify key problem-solving levers and prioritize efforts on identified issues
Analyze & break 100+ real startup business cases
Analyze & break 100+ real startup business cases
Access 50+ hours of workshops on structured problem-solving with examples
Access 50+ hours of workshops on structured problem-solving with examples
Join bi-monthly moderated group discussions on trending business topics
Join bi-monthly moderated group discussions on trending business topics

"What will it really take for this business to be successful?" is a nuanced question, the answer to which lies at the intersection of core business domains like marketing, finance, operations, accounting and strategy. The ability to answer this single question goes a long way.

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Grasp and apply essential business frameworks and concepts
  • Understand core business models, metrics, and flywheels
  • Analyze revenue, cost, LTV, CAC and other levers that move the needle
Attend 500+ hours of lectures by top B-school professors
Attend 500+ hours of lectures by top B-school professors
Work on live startup projects with leadership on real-world business challenges
Work on live startup projects with leadership on real-world business challenges
Solve 100+ renowned business cases in teams of 3-4
Solve 100+ renowned business cases in teams of 3-4

To succeed in high-growth startups, the key is to launch fast, fail fast; listen to customers, and continuously iterate on your product. This agile approach contrasts with traditional methods but is fundamental to the success of every major tech startup.

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Define hypotheses, launch experiments, and build solutions based on customer needs
  • Develop a Minimum Viable Product and craft a GTM strategy to secure your first 100 customers.
  • Create clear success metrics, track them and iterate solutions based on feedback
Attend 40+ hours of Product Management coursework
Attend 40+ hours of Product Management coursework
Launch real products and go to market with "Mesa Startup Lab"
Launch real products and go to market with "Mesa Startup Lab"
Gain an Agile scrum certification
Gain an Agile scrum certification

At Mesa, by the end of the program, you will:

  • Understand the process of selling in both B2C & B2B contexts
  • Work backwards from an audience and product to create an efficient sales funnel
  • Create a sales strategy for acquiring the first 100 customers for any product/service
Undergo 40+ hours of sales coursework
Undergo 40+ hours of sales coursework
Get real exposure to selling via 1-day sales challenges with popular brands
Get real exposure to selling via 1-day sales challenges with popular brands
Make upwards of 5L in revenue via the dropshipping challenge in Term 1
Make upwards of 5L in revenue via the dropshipping challenge in Term 1

The ability to plan, execute and monitor a process is often overlooked. It is a key muscle to build if you want to be indispensable at the workplace. Startups look for doers, folks who can own something end to end and deliver end outcomes without requiring hand holding.

At Mesa, our goal is that by the end of the program every student will be able to:

  • Understand what goes behind setting up business processes from scratch
  • Deconstruct a customer journey funnel, conversion metrics and interventions required at every stage
  • Build comprehensive trackers, define micro success metrics and create task distributions
25+ hours of workshops on program managing processes
25+ hours of workshops on program managing processes
Internships at startups where you get to own a process end-to-end
Internships at startups where you get to own a process end-to-end
Manage business processes for your small business in term 1
Manage business processes for your small business in term 1

Understanding how a sector works, business models within it, needle movers for increasing revenues and decreasing costs are vital when wanting to enter the startup ecosystem as a founder or as a startup leader.

At Mesa, our goal is that by the end of the program every student will be able to:

  • Understand key business drivers and levers in a sector
  • Understand a few dominant business models existing in a sector
  • Deconstruct what it will take for a startup to be successful in a particular sector
Deep dives in a workshop format with a sector expert
Deep dives in a workshop format with a sector expert
Learn to write a sector thesis with top VC partners
Learn to write a sector thesis with top VC partners
Sector specific student driven business clubs
Sector specific student driven business clubs

Artificial Intelligence and its applications are completely disrupting the way we work and solve problems. It's absolutely essential that you stay on top of emerging technologies and understand the core concepts that run them.

At Mesa, our goal is that by the end of the program every student will be able to:

  • Understand core building blocks of the technology
  • Deconstruct examples of use cases where the technology has been deployed
  • Build and launch prototypes of micro-SaaS products
Build a Gen AI product at the Mesa AI Lab
Build a Gen AI product at the Mesa AI Lab
Expose yourself to the world of AI via day-long hackathons
Expose yourself to the world of AI via day-long hackathons
Network with top AI experts from India's startup ecosystem
Network with top AI experts from India's startup ecosystem
The 12-month journey
How do these 12 months unfold?
Real ventures
AI-first
Outcome-backward
1
Core courses & Electives
600+ hours across finance, marketing, operations, strategy, economics, product, AI and sector-specific topics, taught by professors from IIMs, ISB, Kellogg and more.
2
Founder-Led Case Studies
200+ startup leaders come to campus; students solve live business problems and present solutions directly to the decision-makers.
3
Building Businesses & Products
From the first term, you build revenue-generating businesses (BYOB) and AI-powered products (BYOP), with select founders continuing to Mesa Startup Lab.
4
Business Strategy Lab (BSL)
A 6–8 week consulting-style engagement where you work on business-critical problems for scaling startups, culminating in high-stakes presentations to founders and CXOs.
5
AI Curriculum
A structured AI track where you learn how LLMs work, master AI tooling, build agents and ship 8–12 real AI products by the time you graduate.
6
Career Prep & Pathways
Follow focused tracks for Product, VC, B2B Sales, Growth, Data & AI or Category Management with 250+ hours of role-specific prep and mentorship.
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Term 4
Term 5
Term 6
In-class
program
Foundations: Core MBA 101
Foundations: Electives
Career Minors/ Specialization
Startup Essential 101
Onclass
program
BYOB (OOC Sales)
BYOB - Learn AI by Building
Capstone BSL - Business Strategy Lab
MSL: Mesa Start-up Lab - Building Startup
Career
readiness
Career up-skilling workshops
Full Time Internship
1:1 Mentorship/Resume & Interview Prep/Case Studies
Full Time Job Interviews
Student life
Student Cultural Activities
The Mesa Program, summed up in a week
A typical week at Mesa blends classroom learning, hands-on building and intense exposure to founders – by design.
The Mesa Program, summed up in a week The Mesa Program, summed up in a week
The Mesa Program,
summed up in a week

A typical week at Mesa blends classroom learning, hands-on building and intense exposure to founders – by design.

New age Academics
Business Fundamentals, Rebuilt for Startups
A week's worth of brand lessons at Mesa by Prof Tim Calkins, Kellogg

From global campaigns to the Diwali Ad Review and IPL
marketing challenges, students learned by breaking down
real marketing moves and building their own.

A week's worth of brand lessons <span class="tw:font-medium">at Mesa by Prof Tim Calkins, Kellogg</span> A week's worth of brand lessons <span class="tw:font-medium">at Mesa by Prof Tim Calkins, Kellogg</span>
Term-wise courses offered to students
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Term 4
Term 5
Term 6
Finance Fundamentals
Operations & Supply Chain
Behavioural Economics
Organizational Behaviour
Ethics & Policy
Economics of Cloud Kitchens
Business Strategy
Understanding Consumers
Design Thinking
People Management
Power Politics & Influence
Product Based Growth
Marketing Strategies
Entrepreneurial Finance
Gamification & User behaviour
Social Media Management
Wealth Management
Data Science Applications
Business Economics
Digital Marketing
Venture Capital 101
Retail Analytics
B2B Business Models
Funnel Management
AI, Agents & Applications
Growth Marketing 101
Building a powerful brand
Security Valuations
Healthcare in India
D2C Quick Commerce
Data Driven Decisions
Product Management
Consumer Analytics
Game Theory
Customer Loyalty
The Art of Selling
Entrepreneurship, taught Through Hands-On Workshops
Term-wise workshops & bootcamps offered to students
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Term 4
Term 5
Term 6
Finding First 10 Customers
Idea Generation & Validation
How to build an MVP?
Agile Building
Brand Storytelling
Intellectual Property
Kickstarting Growth Engine
Frugal & Agile Launches
Demand Testing & TAM Data
Market Research
Selling Your Story
Idea Applying for Grants & Validation
Performance Marketing
Business Model Canvas
Understanding ability to pay
Acquiring first 100 customers
Hiring Early employees
MIS for Early Startups
Early Stage AI Automations
Social Growth strategies
Understanding LTV: CAC
Cracking B2B Sales
How to Pitch to Investors?
Conversion Optimizations
Breakeven & Unit Economics
How to talk to users?
Launching on E-Commerce
Fundraising 101
0-1: Solving Cold Start
Bootstrapping & Crowdfunding
Finding a Co-Founder
Launching on Quick Comm
Founder-Led Case Studies
Crack Live Problems 
With the People Who Lived Them
Engage with Startup CXOs to understand
real world decision making

In teams, students pick a real product, identify a target customer, set up supply and operations, build a brand, and sell in the real market.

Over an 8-week sprint, they run the full business cycle, from sourcing and pricing to marketing, selling, and managing cash flows.

<span class="tw:font-medium">Engage with Startup CXOs </span> to understand <br class="tw:lg:block tw:hidden"> real world decision making <span class="tw:font-medium">Engage with Startup CXOs </span> to understand <br class="tw:lg:block tw:hidden"> real world decision making
Build Your Own Business
Learn Sales by Doing Sales
Take a peek into the Cohort 2 BYOB Experience

In teams, students pick a real product, identify a target customer, set up supply and operations, build a brand, and sell in the real market.

Over an 8-week sprint, they run the full business cycle, from sourcing and pricing to marketing, selling, and managing cash flows.

Take a peek into the <span class="tw:font-medium">Cohort 2 BYOB Experience</span> Take a peek into the <span class="tw:font-medium">Cohort 2 BYOB Experience</span>
Build Your Own Business: Learn Sales by Doing Sales
1
Identify a Product
 Find a real customer problem and choose a product category.
2
Source & Manage Inventory
Work with suppliers, negotiate margins, and handle stock.
3
Build an Online Presence
Create your website, social media, and marketplace profiles.
4
Sell & Hit Revenue Targets
Sell online and at flea markets; earn 5L in revenue
Build Your Own Product
From Idea to AI Product in 4 Weeks
The BYOP Roadmap

BYOP is Mesa’s product-building sprint. Students learn AI and no-code stacks: like Cursor, Lovable, Replit, Supabase and automation platforms – and then build and launch products on the open internet.

Month 1-2
Ideation, planning & Market validation
Month 3-4
Learning AI tool & building an MVP
Month 5-6
Concept Marketing & Early Product Iteration
Month 7-8
Building Community & Strengthening Reach
Month 9-10
SEO & User Engagement Optimization
Month 11
Launch Preparation with Organic Growth
Month 12
Launch & Post Launch Organic Growth
 Business Strategy Lab:
Your Mini 
Founder’s Office
Pitch your top three problem statements
Shortlist the problems you want to work on.
Team–problem matching
Get assigned to a team and a live brief.
Iterative problem solving
Research, test, & refine with mentor check-ins.
Submit presentation and prep for pitch day
Finalize the deck and rehearse.
Present to startup leaders
Share recommendations and next steps.

Strategic Success through Business Strategy Lab

By solving critical business problems, students impress founders: many graduates have secured top positions through their BSL contributions.

Profile card Profile card

Transitioned from a non-profit background to Chief of Staff at Epigamia, where he now drives multiple P&Ls and leads market expansion efforts. His impressive work on live problem statements through the Business Strategy Lab earned him the trust of the founder and leadership team, positioning him as a key player in Epigamia’s growth strategy.

Profile card Profile card

Transitioned from running a social media agency with no startup experience, to leading marketing at Comet, one of India’s fastest-growing sneaker brands. Richa impressed the founder, Utkarsh Gupta, during his teaching session at Mesa. Her depth of thinking honed during the program helped her secure this pivotal role.

Profile card Profile card

An academic exercise turned into an obsessionI overthought ice cream, and it paid off, catching the attention of Varun Sheth (co-founder, NOTO).

Profile card Profile card

Transitioned from a non-profit background to Chief of Staff at Epigamia, where he now drives multiple P&Ls and leads market expansion efforts. His impressive work on live problem statements through the Business Strategy Lab earned him the trust of the founder and leadership team, positioning him as a key player in Epigamia’s growth strategy.

Career Pathways
Choose a pathway that leads to
high-ownership roles
Hear Ankit Agarwal on how Mesa creates
careers that compound

Mesa is built to place you into high-ownership startup roles – where you work close to founders, ship fast, and grow into leadership.

Hear Ankit Agarwal on how Mesa creates
careers that compound Hear Ankit Agarwal on how Mesa creates
careers that compound
Outcome-driven career prep
Build the Capabilities Startups hire for
Career Prep at Mesa in a snapshot
250+ hours of structured preparation designed to help you perform in interviews, in projects, and on Day 1 in the role.

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Career Foundations

Build the essential operator skills required to perform in high-velocity startup environments.

Skills

Communication • Structured thinking • Analytical reasoning • Writing • Presentation

Tools & Technical Upskilling

Master the tools and analytical systems founders expect in high-performance teams.

Skills

Excel • SQL • Dashboards • CRM systems • AI agents & automation • Experimentation frameworks

Role-Specific Preparation

Train for your chosen pathway with assignments, cases and mocks that mirror real startup hiring.

Skills

Product Management • Venture Capital • B2B Sales • Growth & Marketing • Data & AI • Category Management

Mentorship & Placement Support

Master the tools and analytical systems founders expect in high-performance teams.

Skills

Excel • SQL • Dashboards • CRM systems • AI agents & automation • Experimentation frameworks

APPLY NOW