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The Tycoon Academy logo — enterprise bootcamp for Grades 6 to 9
Teenagers running a busy market stall and serving a customer

The Tycoon Academy · Enterprise bootcamp for Grades 6–9SCHOOL ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH TO PREPARE OUR KIDS FOR
THIS NEW AGE OF AI

AI can write, design and code in seconds. We teach your child to spot an opportunity, build it and sell it — for real.

See How It Works

In short

The Tycoon Academy is a South African after-school enterprise and AI programme for learners in Grades 6 to 9 (ages 11 to 15), based in Somerset West and available online across South Africa. It is real-venture enterprise training: each learner spots a real problem, bootstraps a venture, builds it with current AI tools, makes a real sale in Rands through a supervised marketplace, and reviews the outcome before the next iteration.

Who it is for
Grades 6 to 9 (ages 11 to 15)
Format
After-school enterprise and AI club, mentor-led
Where
8 Stellendal Road, Somerset West, Western Cape
Also available
Online across South Africa
Currency
South African Rand (ZAR)
What a learner leaves with
A launched venture, real sales and a track record

The response

The Tycoon Academy prepares children to build their own future.

We're raising a generation of modern MacGyvers: young people who see a problem and find a way through with whatever is around them — using AI as a tool, never a crutch.

Then they go into the real world and prove whether it works.

Passive

  • Waits for instructions
  • Memorises the answer
  • Asks AI to think for them
  • Fears getting it wrong

Active

  • Spots the opportunity
  • Tests it on a real customer
  • Uses AI to move faster
  • Treats a no as information
A teenager making a sale to a customer at a market stall

R385

First sale. It changes how a 13-year-old sees the world.

Beyond STEM

STEM is the tool.
Capability is the point.

Pick a tool. Watch what it turns into.

The tools

What it unlocks

01 / 05

AI models

Test an idea before you build it

Interview the model, stress-test the idea, kill the weak ones early.

Nine ideas researched in an afternoon. One people actually pay for.

AI models in use: Test an idea before you build it

Illustrative examples

First week of orders, packed at the kitchen table.

R385

First week of orders, packed at the kitchen table.

Real customers pitched face to face before term ended.

27

Real customers pitched face to face before term ended.

Revenue on a venture that started as a complaint.

R1 240

Revenue on a venture that started as a complaint.

The Tycoon Cycle

No imaginary businesses.
No waiting for permission.

Step 1 of 5

Step 1 of 5: Spot the gap

Spot the gap

Week one: 20 problems written down, 3 worth chasing.

01

Spot the gap

They look at their own streets, schools and communities and notice what's missing, broken or annoying — then check whether anyone cares enough to pay for a fix.

20 → 3

Problem log

Filtered by: would someone pay?

Swipe left or right to move between steps

They launch. They sell. They fail. They learn. They launch again.

Every Tycoon works on real projects with real consequences, in a safe, mentor-supported environment.

AI, not a crutch

AI is their force multiplier.

Tycoons use AI to research markets, challenge assumptions, build prototypes, brands and websites — then they still have to think, persuade and deliver.

A landing page built by a learner using AIA mobile app built by a learner using AI

Shipped by learners: a live storefront and an order app, built in days.

At the centre

The young founder

Decides. Persuades. Delivers.

Hover or tap a tool. The learner stays in the middle — always.

Real ventures, real proof

Products packed. Sales made. Apps shipped.

Three teenagers celebrating as their website goes live on a laptop

Wick & You

Site built and live in one afternoon. First order the same night.

A teenager taking a card payment from a customer at a stall

R385

The first sale changes everything.

Two teenagers packing and labelling their product orders

Treat Club

6 pre-orders packed in a weekend.

Built with AI, by learners

A landing page a learner built for their candle business

Real storefronts, order apps and landing pages — designed, prompted and shipped by 12 to 15 year olds, then tested on paying customers.

Two teenagers carrying a prototype out of a technology building

By the time they leave school, they should already be unstoppable in the real world.

Not because they have all the answers — because they know how to find them, build something useful and create opportunity where others see a problem.

While others work out where to begin, Tycoons are already moving.

For parents

Ambition needs the right environment.

Mentor oversight

Experienced operators guiding every venture.

Responsible AI

AI used critically, never as a substitute for thinking.

Age-appropriate

Scoped for Grades 6 to 9, with parent consent.

Money, with guardrails

Real enterprise learning inside clear safeguards.

Read the full parent guide
Sean Goldsmith, founder of The Tycoon Academy, working with young founders

Founder, The Tycoon Academy

A note from the founder.

I built The Tycoon Academy because I look at the world my own children are growing up in and I know that school alone can't be the whole answer.

I don't expect every child to become an entrepreneur. But I do believe every child should understand how opportunity is created.

That's what I want for my own children. And that's what The Tycoon Academy is being built to give yours.

Questions, answered

What parents ask us

Apply to Join

Success stories start here.

Give your child more than another activity. Give them the confidence and capability to create their own future.

  • Small cohortsCapped groups so every child gets airtime.
  • Real tradingThey sell to real customers, in Rands.
  • Vetted mentorsPolice-cleared, trained, always two adults.
Bring Tycoon Academy to your school

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