📌 SQ COLLECTIVE LAUNCHES BASE0

Creating something — anything — changes you. Not talking, not planning, not dreaming. Building. Whether it’s a product, a project, or a better version of yourself, creation matters more than what you create.

AI changed everything. It erased the last excuse. You no longer need permission, a perfect team, or years of training. What once took months now takes hours. What was impossible is now a prompt away. The gap between idea and execution has collapsed — and what’s left is your will and vision to build.

We’re not saying money will fall from the sky just because you played around with AI tools. But used with intent, AI clears hurdles that once took months — giving you back the only thing that really matters: time to build.

At Base0, everyone who builds belongs. We’re a community of makers, dreamers, and doers who learn by doing — together.

We share tools, feedback, and energy.

We fail in public, improve fast, and celebrate what’s real, not what’s planned.

You don’t need to be the best — you just need to start. We show up, we ship, and we get a little better together.

👉 Read the full manifesto →

FIRST 20 FOUNDING MEMBERS

To keep the community dense and intentional, we’re opening Base0’s first cohort to 20 members.

We’re already 7–8 misfits strong — founders, designers, scholars, SME owners, and early AI builders — and we’ll grow to 30 by the end of the year.

Members get:

• Highly subsidized workspace designed for focus and collaboration

• Weekly rhythm of co-working, design jams, and builder sessions

• Shared struggles with people on the same journey

• And yes — a local GPU rig to play, train, and experiment (i’m training a 7b model using my journal entries just for fun right now)

At Base0, we only have one rule: show up with intent.

The more you give, the more you grow.

The more you explore, the more transformative it becomes.

🧱 Apply to join SQCO BASE0 →

🦄 THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

The Altman Warning: Why Your Startup Will Die

Over the last week or so, I’ve been mulling over this thing Sam Altman said in an interview while doom scrolling instagram: “If you’re building for today’s AI limitations, GPT-5 will kill your startup”.

OpenAI’s latest releases — Agent Kit and Apps SDK — are a reminder: if your startup’s advantage is “GPT-4 can’t do this yet,” you’re already on borrowed time.

Granted, first feedback says that the agent builder Kit ain’t that great yet, but don’t forget how fast things have and are changing. Even if you think you’ve built the perfect UI/UX, OpenAI owns the distribution.

🎥 Watch the full Dev Day keynote here 

🎥 Sam Altman on Which AI Startups Will Win

The 10x Test

When AI gets 10x better tomorrow, does your product break… or does it get stronger?

Take a look at the Agent Kit featured companies. They’re the ones that get stronger as AI improves.

So before you build, it always helps to ask yourself, “What gets stronger/obsolete when the model advances?”

Bad bets to avoid:

• “AI can’t do X well, so I’ll build a tool that does X.”

• “This prompt trick makes AI better at Y.”

• “I’ll wrap GPT-4 with a nice UI.”

These are timing plays, and this age, timing runs out really FAST.

Better bets:

• Distribution, trust, and ecosystem.

• Owning the customer relationship.

• Building workflows and interfaces that fit into daily life.

Another question you can ask before building: “Who do users trust to mediate between “raw AI” and their real needs?”

🎥  Another interview with Altman worth watching →

Compounding Feedback Loops

This is the real frontier.

Does your product get stronger as AI improves?

Does usage compound value — regardless of which model powers it?

What are you building that gets STRONGER as AI improves? 

👉 Share your you’re building →

🤝 ARE YOU BUILDING FOR SMES?

The cost of building and customization has collapsed — but most SMEs haven’t caught up.

The real gap isn’t capital, it’s imagination: knowing what’s possible and how to deploy it fast.

But the time might be ripe now: SME domain expert x 3 men builder/designer teams = bespoke solutions?

That’s why we’re connecting SME operators with builders & designers — to turn falling costs into competitive advantage.

Tell us what you’re building, and what initiatives you’d like to see more of.

👉 If you’re building something for SMEs, tell us here →

🏆 FROM THE COMMUNITY

Most builders are stuck in a loop of “fixing, improving, researching.” Some real quotes from Base0 members this week:

Here’s some math to scare you:

• 20+ hrs spent researching APIs this week.

• 0 Users/Customers gained while researching.

What if you shipped a broken version instead?

• 2 hours to deploy.

• ≥1 user to test it.

Momentum > perfection.

💡 CHALLENGES FOR THIS WEEK: SHIP BROKEN!

⏱️ The 15-Minute Ship

1. Take your current project (2 min)

2. Remove everything except ONE feature (3 min)

3. Deploy anywhere — Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages (5 min)

4. Share the link with ONE person (2 min)

5. Ask: “Would you use this?” (3 min)

🌴 The Vacation Momentum Keeper

Before you take a break:

• Deploy current state (broken is fine)

• Share link publicly

• Now you’ve got users waiting = accountability when you return.

🕹️ The Job Escape Velocity (for the 996 crowd)

• 10pm–11pm: One Pomodoro on YOUR thing.

• Rule: Whatever you build in that hour ships that night.

• Tool: Whatever you already use — don’t tool-shop.

🗓️ Join the Build Rhythm

SQ Collective hosts weekly coworking days, jams, and builder weekends — all designed to keep you shipping.

👉 Check the event calendar on Luma →

🔑 THE BOTTOM LINE

Stop being a forever builder. Start being a serial shipper. If you’ve been “building” the same thing for over 30 days without shipping, STOP.

Ship broken. Ship embarrassed. Ship anyway.

Got something brewing? Tag #Base0 or share your story.

We’ll feature standout builders every week.

🧱 Apply to join SQCO BASE0 →

BASE0 is powered by SQ Collective — a co-working and community lab at 65 Mohamed Sultan Road.

We exist to help builders & designers move from –1 → 0 in the age of AI.