Technical
The calls that decide whether your product scales or buckles.
- Architecture
- Zero to one builds
- Hiring
- AI and automation
- Technical debt
Starward · the accelerator for bootstrapped founders
Helping B2B and AI founders bootstrap to exit.
Starward is an accelerator for early-stage software founders. Weekly office hours with founders who have bootstrapped and sold their own companies, on your product, your go-to-market and your business.
- Office hours every week
- B2B and AI startups
- Zero to exit
- Month to month
It starts with a 30 minute discovery call, where we both decide if it is a fit.
Every company starts on the ground. Few are built to leave it.
The program
An accelerator that starts the week you do.
Working sessions, not lectures. This is how it goes.
- 1
Book the call
A free 30 minute discovery call, where we both decide if it is a fit.
- 2
Send your material
Your product, your numbers and the decision that is stuck. Your mentor reads it first.
- 3
Work the hour
One hour a week on video, on the real thing. You leave with a decision.
- 4
Get your plan
Each session is written up in your Workroom, with your steps for the week.
- 5
Map your growth
Your GTM map shows how customers find you and buy, with your numbers on it.
- 6
Keep moving
On the weekly plan, WhatsApp and email with your mentor between calls.
Month to month. Leave when you have what you need, with no contract and no demo day to wait for.
You build it. You do not have to build it alone.
Who it is for
Which founder are you?
Early-stage B2B and AI founders. Most arrive as one of these.
A technical founder
Missing the business side. We help you become that business founder.
A business founder
Missing the technical side. With AI and the right guidance, you ship the product yourself.
Looking for investment
Talk to us before you pitch. Revenue and profit are what investors want to see.
Stuck
One problem solved every week, so you keep moving in the right direction.
Behind on AI
We get you up to speed, working on your own company.
Comparing accelerators
No application and no batch. You can start this week.
Growth has stopped
We help you build the go-to-market machine that puts you in front of buyers.
We teach you. We do not do the work for you.
Not a fit if you want someone else to build the product for you.
What we work on
The product, the pipeline and the business.
Most founders are strong on one side and alone on the other two. Starward covers all three.
Go-to-market
Not campaigns. A machine that brings buyers to you on almost no ad budget.
- GTM systems
- Inbound-led outbound
- Visitor to pipeline
- Lead gen
Business
The hard calls. When to hire, when to raise, when to walk.
- Strategy
- Bootstrapping versus raising
- Founder decisions
- Exit readiness
The Starward deal
One monthly fee. Start this week.
Month to month, no contract, cancel any time. Starward takes a small number of founders at a time, and the discovery call is where we both decide.
$995 a month
One-on-one with your mentor, every week, on your product and your growth.
- A working session every week, four a month
- WhatsApp and email with your mentor between calls
- Your Workroom, with every session written up
- Your GTM map
Lighter plans
$545 a month
Two working sessions a month, with your Workroom and your GTM map.
$295 a month
One working session a month on the biggest decision in front of you, with your Workroom and your GTM map.
Not sure which one? On the discovery call we tell you which makes sense, if any.
First principles
What Starward believes.
- 01
Bootstrap it.
If it can't make money without a pitch deck, it can't make money.
- 02
Ship it.
A rough thing in production beats a perfect thing in Figma.
- 03
Delete it.
The best code, process, or meeting is usually the one you removed.
- 04
Build it yourself first.
You can't lead engineers you can't out-think.
Mentors
Founders who have done it.
Starward mentors are founders, not career coaches. They tell you what they would do in your seat.
Founder and first mentor
Riccardo Pisano
Riccardo coded one of the first LinkedIn outreach cloud platforms himself and bootstrapped it from $0 to an acquisition, with no outside money and a team of 20. Growth-X ran from 2016 until it was acquired in June 2025. Three of his four startups didn't make it, which is where most of the education came from.
PayPalFiverrDellMercado LibreCheck PointImperva
Among the 500+ B2B clients of Growth-X.
FAQ
Questions founders ask.
How is Starward different from other accelerators?
Most accelerators run a batch and end on a demo day for investors. Starward has no batch and charges a monthly fee. The goal is revenue and profit, not a funding round.
How do you choose founders?
There is no application form. The discovery call is the selection. We take a small number of founders at a time, and when we are not the right help we say so on the call.
How does pricing work?
The discovery call is free. Weekly office hours are $995 a month, a working session every week plus WhatsApp and email between calls. Every other week is $545 a month and once a month is $295. Any plan can be cancelled any month, and each one comes with your Workroom and your GTM map.
Who are the mentors?
Starward was founded by Riccardo Pisano, who bootstrapped Growth-X to an exit and runs the office hours today. More mentors join as Starward grows.
What kind of companies do you work with?
Early-stage B2B and AI startups, mostly products built on generative AI and automation, especially bootstrapped or lean teams.
I'm a business founder looking for a technical co-founder. Should I keep looking?
Keep looking, but do not make it your only plan. AI lets a non-technical founder build real things now, and with guidance you can bootstrap on your own. Keep the search open and work on yourself in parallel, until you can hold the technical side too.
I'm a technical founder looking for a business co-founder. Should I keep looking?
Same answer the other way round. What you are trying to hire is distribution and revenue, and the fastest way to get it is to start selling rather than to keep building. Get to value someone has paid for, then judge what a business co-founder actually adds.
Can you help us get ready to sell the company?
Yes. Starward was founded on a bootstrapped exit, so we know what buyers look at. We help founders reduce founder-dependency, clean up the technical story, and avoid due diligence surprises.
Where are you based?
Miami, and happy to meet founders across South Florida in person. Everyone else is remote, worldwide. Sessions run in English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Per aspera ad astra
Let's build something.
Tell us what you're building, what's stuck, and what decision you need help making. Based in Miami, working with founders worldwide.