Training course · Claude Code · MVP Development for Startups

Claude Code for Startups and MVP Development

Agentic coding with Claude Code in the terminal and IDE: CLAUDE.md, subagents, hooks, MCP, CI pipelines and secure permissions.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Claude Code for Startups and MVP Development” is designed for roles such as Founders with little or no programming experience, Technical co-founders and first engineers in startups and Product managers in early-stage product teams and shows step by step how to use Claude Code productively, safely and transparently in MVP Development for Startups – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

Claude Code is Anthropic’s agentic coding assistant, working directly in your terminal and in popular IDEs. Rather than completing individual lines, it reads your repository, plans changes across multiple files, runs commands, executes tests and prepares commits. Over two days you will learn to use it with deliberate control: clear project instructions in CLAUDE.md, careful context management, and a workflow in which you set the direction as a developer and can trace every change the agent makes back to a clear intention.

The course is built around real engineering work: diagnosing bugs, delivering features, refactoring legacy code and filling gaps in test coverage. You will configure subagents for specialised tasks, enforce quality checks with hooks, connect external systems through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and capture team knowledge as reusable skills. Finally, you will run Claude Code headless in CI pipelines and define permissions, sandboxing and approval rules so that its use remains defensible even in security-sensitive environments.

For founders and early product teams, speed determines how fast they learn from the market. AI coding tools, vibe coding and app builders now make it possible to turn an idea into a working minimum viable product with sign-up, database, payments and a landing page within days, often without a large engineering team. The real challenge shifts as a result: which hypothesis are you testing, which features truly belong in the MVP, and how does a quick prototype become a codebase that withstands investor due diligence, the first paying customers and growth? In this course you learn to build MVPs purposefully with AI agents, manage technical debt deliberately, build in security and data protection from day one and prepare the handover to a professional engineering team.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Founders with little or no programming experience
  • Technical co-founders and first engineers in startups
  • Product managers in early-stage product teams
  • Corporate innovation and venture building teams
  • Participants in incubator and accelerator programmes

Typical challenges we address

  • Limited time and budget to validate a product idea in the market
  • Lack of engineering capacity or dependence on external agencies
  • Quickly built prototypes with security holes, open databases and unclear architecture
  • Uncertainty about when to rewrite an MVP and when to evolve it

What you will be able to do

  • You use Claude Code for multi-step development tasks while keeping full control over every change.
  • You maintain a CLAUDE.md that effectively conveys project conventions, commands and architectural guidance to the agent.
  • You extend Claude Code with subagents, hooks, MCP servers and skills tailored to your team.
  • You integrate Claude Code into Git workflows and CI pipelines with traceable, test-backed results.
  • Turn a business idea into a focused MVP scope and build it yourself with AI tools.
  • Integrate sign-up, database, payments and analytics and check your MVP for common security gaps before launch.
  • Manage technical debt deliberately and prepare the codebase for growth, due diligence and an engineering team.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 How Claude Code works
  • Installation, sign-in and use in the terminal, VS Code and JetBrains IDEs
  • Understanding the agentic loop: read, plan, act, verify
  • Using plan mode to agree on an approach before any code changes
  • Writing effective task briefs with goal, context and acceptance criteria
Module 2 Project context with CLAUDE.md and context management
  • Structuring CLAUDE.md at project, directory and user level
  • Documenting build, test and style conventions so the agent follows them reliably
  • Managing the context window with targeted file references, compaction and fresh sessions
  • Resuming sessions and breaking long tasks into manageable stages
Module 3 Extending Claude Code with subagents, hooks, MCP and skills
  • Defining subagents for code review, research or test generation
  • Using hooks to enforce formatting, linting or checks before and after tool calls
  • Connecting MCP servers for issue trackers, databases or internal documentation
  • Creating custom slash commands and skills for recurring team workflows
Module 4 Git workflows, testing and quality assurance
  • Creating branches, meaningful commits and pull requests with Claude Code
  • Test-first work: have tests written before the implementation
  • Reviewing diffs systematically and rejecting or refining changes
  • Organising parallel work with Git worktrees and multiple sessions

Day 2

Module 5 Headless operation, CI and security
  • Running Claude Code non-interactively in scripts and CI pipelines
  • Automated reviews and issue handling in GitHub or GitLab workflows
  • Configuring permission modes, allow and deny rules, and sandboxing
  • Handling secrets, prompt injection risks and organisation-wide policies
Module 6 Practice lab: MVP Development for Startups
  • From pitch to specification
  • Building the MVP by prompt
  • Payments and integrations
  • Landing pages and experiments
  • Pre-launch security check
  • Making the codebase hand-over ready
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Even an MVP processes real customer data: you learn to implement GDPR essentials such as privacy notices, data processing agreements and consent, manage API keys and secrets securely and clarify licensing and copyright questions around generated code that become relevant in due diligence.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

From pitch to specification

Translate the business idea, target group and core hypothesis into user stories, a data model and a prioritised scope that stays deliberately small and includes measurable learning goals for the market test.

Building the MVP by prompt

Generate a web app with sign-up, database, core feature and admin area step by step using AI agents or app builders, working in small, tested iterations with the code under version control.

Payments and integrations

Integrate subscriptions and one-off payments through a payment provider, transactional email, analytics and first integrations, with webhooks, error handling and securely stored API keys. Test and live modes stay separate.

Landing pages and experiments

Create landing pages, waitlists and pricing pages in several variants, track conversion events and run quick A/B tests to check demand and willingness to pay before investing in heavier development.

Pre-launch security check

Have the MVP code checked for open database rules, missing access controls, exposed keys and unprotected endpoints, and work through a short checklist for a safe go-live.

Making the codebase hand-over ready

Document the architecture, add tests, refactor critical areas and produce a technical overview that new engineers or a technical due diligence can follow quickly. This also helps investor conversations.

Possible hands-on projects

Waitlist landing page

A landing page with value proposition, email capture, double opt-in and a simple dashboard that analyses sign-ups and traffic sources.

Booking MVP

A small web app where customers book and pay for appointments, providers manage availability and both sides receive email confirmations.

Interview synthesis tool

A tool that collects notes from customer interviews, clusters statements by problems and wishes and shows evidence for or against the core hypothesis.

Prerequisites

You have hands-on programming experience in at least one language and are comfortable with Git and the command line. You have a concrete product idea or work in an early-stage product team; no programming skills are required, though a basic technical understanding helps.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with admin rights, Git, a Node.js runtime and an up-to-date editor; a Claude subscription or Anthropic API access is required for the exercises.

Data protection & compliance

Even an MVP processes real customer data: you learn to implement GDPR essentials such as privacy notices, data processing agreements and consent, manage API keys and secrets securely and clarify licensing and copyright questions around generated code that become relevant in due diligence.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Thu, 26 November 2026 – Fri, 27 November 2026 Online Request
  • Tue, 8 December 2026 – Wed, 9 December 2026 Berlin Request
  • Tue, 15 December 2026 – Wed, 16 December 2026 Online Request
  • Tue, 12 January 2027 – Wed, 13 January 2027 Stuttgart Request
  • Thu, 28 January 2027 – Fri, 29 January 2027 Online Request
  • Tue, 9 February 2027 – Wed, 10 February 2027 Hanover Request

Frequently asked questions

How is Claude Code different from traditional code completion?

Code completion suggests the next few lines, whereas Claude Code acts as an agent that handles whole tasks: it searches the repository, plans changes across several files, runs tests and commands, and corrects itself based on the results. You define the goal and review the outcome instead of steering every single line yourself.

Is Claude Code secure enough for enterprise use?

By default, Claude Code asks for approval before editing files or running commands. Permission rules, sandboxing, managed settings and hooks let you define precisely what the agent may do. During the course you learn to configure these mechanisms to match your security and data protection requirements and to assess risks such as prompt injection.

Does Claude Code work with my language and tech stack?

Yes. Claude Code is language-agnostic because it works with files, terminal commands and your existing build and test tooling. Whether you use Python, Java, TypeScript, Go, SAP-related code or infrastructure as code, what matters most is a well-written CLAUDE.md describing your commands and conventions. Each course variant adds the relevant domain focus.

Can a non-technical founder really build an MVP alone?

For many business models, yes: web apps with sign-up, data storage, a core feature and payments can be built with AI tools without programming skills. What matters are clear requirements, small steps and systematic testing. Complex logic, high security demands or rapid growth will eventually call for engineering expertise. In the course you learn to recognise that point.

Will an AI-built MVP have to be rewritten later?

Not necessarily. If you use version control from the start, keep the data model understandable, test core features and separate configuration from code, an MVP can often evolve step by step. We show which early decisions make later rework easier and how to tell when starting afresh is the cheaper option.

How much does “Claude Code for Startups and MVP Development” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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