LaunchReady.ai
Professional Continuing Education
Course Catalog · Summer 2026
SMB 101C
Getting Started with Claude: A Working Session (Small Business Edition)
A three-hour applied working session for owners of established small businesses. You bring one real piece of your own work; you leave with it done, a personal Claude setup that persists after class, and your result on The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment.
Placement Meets you at Level 1: The Cadet → Trains toward Level 2: The Ensign
I. Course Information
| Course number | SMB 101C |
|---|---|
| Course title | Getting Started with Claude: A Working Session (Small Business Edition) |
| Track | SMB: Small Business |
| Platform | C: Claude (Anthropic) |
| Term | Summer 2026 |
| Offerings | Tuesday, July 21 (pilot cohort) · Tuesday, August 18 · Tuesday, September 15, 2026; each 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., coffee and registration from 8:30 a.m. |
| Location | Launch Fishers, 12175 Visionary Way, Fishers, IN 46038 |
| Format | In-person guided laboratory with applied individual work |
| Contact hours | 3.0 |
| Credit | Non-credit professional continuing education |
| Tuition | Set per offering. The July 21 cohort is a pilot (no tuition charge); tuition for the August and September offerings is listed with each date on the events page. |
| Instructor of record | Harrison Painter, Founder, LaunchReady.ai; author, You Have Already Been Replaced by AI |
II. How Course Numbers Work
The first digit of every LaunchReady course number is the level of The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency the course meets you at. SMB 101C meets you at Level 1: The Cadet, assumes no prior AI experience, and trains toward Level 2: The Ensign. A 300-level course meets you at Level 3: The Lieutenant and trains toward Level 4: The Commander. The letter suffix names the platform taught in the room: C for Claude, with parallel sections planned for other platforms as the catalog grows.
Placement is measured: the free 10-minute assessment gives you your current level and, with it, your course number. Every course closes by re-checking where you stand.
III. Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Distinguish Claude's three working modes (Chat, Code, Cowork) and select the appropriate mode for a given task.
- Construct an effective request using the five-part structure: objective, source material, audience, quality requirements, and output format.
- Configure account-level personalization (Instructions for Claude) so every session begins with their professional context.
- Write plain-language operating guardrails (Cowork Global instructions) governing approval, boundaries, and preferences.
- Verify AI-generated output against source material and identify fabricated or unsupported content.
- Complete a real work product in a dedicated Cowork Project using safe-workspace practices: an isolated folder, copied files, scoped access, and step-by-step approval.
- Establish a persistent Project (instructions, saved work, a repeatable prompt) that remains usable after the course.
- Interpret their 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment result and identify the next capability to practice.
IV. Course Schedule
The timeline applies identically to both sections. Each unit pairs a brief instructor demonstration with guided hands-on practice on your own machine.
| Time | Unit | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00-0:10 | Welcome | Course overview, outcomes, data-handling policy |
| 0:10-0:30 | Unit 1 | First working result: Claude's three modes; the five-part request structure |
| 0:30-0:55 | Unit 2 | Personalization: configuring Instructions for Claude from a professional profile |
| 0:55-1:10 | Unit 3 | Operating guardrails: Cowork Global instructions; the instruction hierarchy |
| 1:10-1:25 | Unit 4 | Verification: checking AI output against source material |
| 1:25-1:35 | Break | |
| 1:35-2:20 | Unit 5 | Applied laboratory: completing your own work product in a Cowork Project using safe-workspace practices |
| 2:20-2:35 | Unit 6 | Persistence: Project instructions, saved work, and the repeatable prompt |
| 2:35-2:50 | Unit 7 | The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment |
| 2:50-3:00 | Unit 8 | Results review, completion requirements, and continuing pathways |
V. Prerequisites and Completion
Before class Four prerequisites
An active paid Claude subscription (Pro plan or higher; Cowork is available on paid plans only). A personal laptop that passes Anthropic's Cowork readiness check, completed at registration. The Claude desktop application installed with Cowork enabled. One piece of your own current work, brought as files: a customer inquiry with your service description, meeting notes, a draft quote or client email, or a process description.
In the room Safe workspace, real work
All applied work uses a dedicated working folder containing copies (never originals), Cowork access scoped to that folder only, and step-by-step approval throughout. Participants use only material they own or have permission to use; instructor-provided sample material covers anyone whose work is restricted.
To complete The Completion Badge
Awarded for full attendance, a submitted work product from the applied laboratory (objective, source material, one directed revision, one verification action, saved output, and a repeatable prompt), the 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment, and a demonstrated-skill checklist confirmed with an instructor.
VI. Frequently Asked Questions
What is SMB 101C?
SMB 101C is LaunchReady's applied introduction to Claude for owners of established small businesses: a three-hour, in-person working session where participants complete one real piece of their own work with Claude, configure a setup that persists after class, and finish with The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment. In the course code, SMB is the track, 101 is the level and course number, and C is the platform (Claude).
What level of The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency is SMB 101C for?
The first digit of every LaunchReady course number is the level of The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency the course meets you at. SMB 101C meets you at Level 1: The Cadet, assumes no prior AI experience, and trains toward Level 2: The Ensign. The free 10-minute assessment works as the placement step for the catalog.
What are the prerequisites for SMB 101C?
Four things: an active paid Claude subscription (Pro plan or higher, since Cowork is available on paid plans only), a personal laptop that passes Anthropic's Cowork readiness check, the Claude desktop application installed with Cowork enabled per the course setup portal, and one piece of your own current work brought to class as files.
How much does SMB 101C cost?
Tuition is set per offering. The July 21, 2026 cohort at Launch Fishers is a pilot with no tuition charge; the August 18 and September 15 offerings are paid, with tuition listed with each date on the events page. Participants provide their own paid Claude subscription. Current session dates and pricing are on the events page.
How do I register for SMB 101C?
Registration runs through the events page, where each upcoming working session lists its date, location, and reservation form. Setup instructions and the Cowork readiness check are provided at registration, before the course date.
Register for an upcoming working session, or bring SMB 101C to your team as custom company training.
The 7 Levels of AI Proficiency assessment is free and takes 10 minutes.