Ashe
It started as a repository
Ashe began as the Greater Durham Black Chamber of Commerce (GDBCC) Digital Repository — a 4-phase Spring Boot platform with 14 learning modules, 23 curated resources, and a 6-phase entrepreneurship journey framework.
It was production-deployed with 389 automated tests, built to give aspiring entrepreneurs in the chamber's network a single, reliable place to learn and grow.
The bottleneck wasn't content
While building, I realized the bottleneck wasn't content — it was mentorship. A chamber can publish all the modules in the world, but what entrepreneurs really need is someone asking the right questions at the right time.
That doesn't scale with humans. But it scales with AI.
A co-builder for every phase
Each user enters the AI Studio and gets a specialized agent for their current phase. The agent runs a structured conversation and produces real deliverables — problem statements, business model canvases, competitive analyses, MVP specs, go-to-market plans. Everything carries forward, so the Phase 4 agent already knows what was decided in Phase 1.
Ideation
Sharpen the problem statement and validate the audience.
Planning
Build out the business model canvas and competitive landscape.
Foundation
Establish legal structure, brand, and the operating playbook.
Building
Define the MVP scope and ship the first working version.
Launching
Execute go-to-market and capture early signal.
Growing
Track traction, raise if needed, double down on what works.
Born from a mission
GDBCC has permanent free access. The platform was born from their mission and that's preserved as it grows — their members get an AI-powered incubator at no cost, and the broader Ashe community grows around the same six-phase journey GDBCC helped shape.
Shipping, ongoing
Increment 1 — the core AI Studio with all six phase agents — is complete and working. Ongoing development continues: deeper deliverable templates, founder-to-founder peer features, and a partner program for chambers and accelerators that want to offer Ashe to their networks.