The story
On Friday, March 13, 2026 at 11:27 in the morning, I wrote the first line of code for the Lezzet Turkish Coffee website. I'd never built an online store, and I didn't have any inventory yet.
A year earlier I was using ChatGPT as a study partner. In early 2026 I started using AI to actually do work on a computer: first plain web pages, then API keys, then the terminal, then command-line tools, then AI that could operate my accounts directly. Each step unlocked the next.
The bags arrived in May. The first online sale came on May 18. Amazon went live in June, then Google Ads and Walmart. By the end of September, the site had over 2,000 recorded changes behind it, and I'd learned more skills than I can count: forming a company, trademarks, sales tax, packaging design, manufacturing overseas, Shopify, Amazon, tracking, ads, and the money side of all of it.
This course is that journey, written down so you don't have to figure it all out alone.
How each chapter works
Every chapter covers one skill I had to learn to build Lezzet, in the same order:
- What happened at Lezzet: the real story, with dates, including what went wrong.
- How to do it yourself: where to go, what it costs, and the steps.
- What to watch out for: the traps, most of which I walked into.
- What bites you later: the problems that don't show up until months in.
How to use it
- Follow "Up next." The course page always shows your next chapter. Go in order.
- Finish every chapter the same way. Answer three quick questions, do the tasks for your business (each one has a Show me how walkthrough), and pick a day and time for the next one.
- Watch your readiness score climb. It rises as you finish real work, not as you read.
Your progress saves in this browser, so you can leave and pick up where you stopped.
The path
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Seed | The idea, your founder profile, the customer, the offer |
| Root | Company, EIN, bank account, trademark, sales tax |
| Sprout | Product and packaging, website, payments, tracking |
| Grow | Creative, ads, Amazon, marketplaces, email |
| Harvest | First sale, reviews, retention, margins |
| Expand | Wholesale, new channels, operations, simplifying |
Some chapters are still being written. The Root stage (company, bank, trademark, sales tax) and the product chapters (bag design, manufacturing) are coming next.