Attributed (possibly misattributed) to Henry Ford.
Innovators build what's needed, ahead of what's expected.
Start and grow what you build
Think clearer, know yourself
Mind. Skills. Soul. Make.
Build the business only you could build.
Faster Zebra runs two 12-week programmes with Charbel. One is for young people starting out. The other is for adults ready to build something of their own.
Young Founders · for young people 12 and up
Your young person builds a business of their own, and becomes their own person doing it.
Over 12 weeks with Charbel and a small group of other young founders, they take one idea and turn it into a business that's theirs.
- 12 weeks, with one 2-hour live call a week
- From finding the idea to winning their first customers
- $1,450 in three payments, or $1,295 paid in full
Reboot · for adults ready to build their own
You're the most important project you have.
12 weeks to find the business that's been waiting inside you, and found it. For people who've spent their working lives building for others.
- Founding Day Saturday 30 January 2027 in Sydney
- Then 12 live online Saturday mornings to 1 May
- $2,950 in 3 monthly payments, or $2,650 paid in full
Work out who you are, then build a business nobody else can copy.
Both programmes run on the Young Founders method. Young Founders is about getting the product out into the world. Reboot goes deeper into who you are, and builds the business from there.
As you build something, it builds you back.
Available now
Give it 12 weeks and the idea in your head becomes a business with your name on it.
The Young Founders course runs across twelve phases, one a week. Each phase opens with a short intro video, then a short walkthrough for every activity, so you see how it's done before you do it in the printed Workbook, on your own idea. By the end you have a named offer, a price, real customer responses and either your first sale or a clear reason to change the idea.
See the twelve phases$297 · Kit included · digital access the day you join
The eight Kits
Or pick the part of business you want to learn first.
Every Kit is two books, a Playbook that teaches it and a Workbook where you run it on your own business. Start with one and add others as the business grows.
Young FoundersStart a businessTurn the idea you keep having into a business with paying customers. Start the guided course, or work the Kit on your own.Start the course · $297Just the Kit · from $67
The InnovatorsInnovate at workInnovation is a process. This is the one you run.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
Brand MavericksCreate a brandA brand is the soul of a business, made visible.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
XD 4.0Improve customer experiencesThe experience designer AI can't replace.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
Los OriginalesUnlock your creativityCreativity is a skill. Here's the training.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
PsychonautsPersuading humansPersuade the most irrational creature on earth. The human.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
Be YouKnow yourselfCome out knowing exactly who you are.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
Scar BearersNavigate failureUnpack the failure. Take everything it paid for.From $67 AUDGet this Kit
What you get
A playbook that explains it, and a workbook where you do it.
Every Kit is two books. This is the Young Founders Kit, inside and out.
The playbook
Inside the playbook
The workbook
Inside the workbook
Real businesses, not theoryEvery move came out of a company Charbel built, or one he coached a team through. You get the order of operations rather than a list of principles.
You work on your own ideaEach exercise applies to the business you're starting or running, so what you finish with is yours to keep going with.
Digital, print, or bothDigital arrives the moment you buy. Print includes the digital edition and ships free to Australia, the UK and the USA.
Proof from the work
8,500 people have been coached through this work. The Kits put it in your hands.
They did a great job at coaching our team through the delivery of six major ventures. By working side-by-side on live business challenges, they embedded a new cadence of innovation across our product teams. Our team now builds the capability to launch at speed independently.
Charbel and his team transformed our approach to delivery. By coaching our 20 sponsored teams through active, real-world initiatives, they helped each of the teams, and us, build the internal capability to navigate a complex business and customer landscape. They taught us how to sustain our initiatives long-term.
Faster Zebra embedded a complete HCD and Service Design capability within our company. By coaching our teams through live initiatives, they helped us integrate design thinking and doing into our daily workflows. We now have the internal proficiency to drive user-centric research and design independently.
Faster Zebra coached us through a complete digital rebrand and rebuild, ensuring our team could own and manage the new systems. The business grew, but the long-term win is the capability to maintain that growth trajectory independently.
This helped me lift up my career to another level. It's providing me a great knowledge and technique to be pro, and it helped me to grow myself as a solution finder. Love the passion and energy from Charbel.
I came here to learn a range of skills, and I ended up learning about myself and life lessons. It went beyond what I expected.
An amazing Leader, Teacher, all round star, Charbel brings a warm, comfortable environment along with a wealth of knowledge. When mentoring, Charbel quickly captivates your mind and imagination, always leaving you wanting to learn more.
His enthusiasm for people is contagious, which is exactly what I need from a teacher. He has plenty of experience and examples to draw on, and always has tips and current info to share. You'll get more than you bargained for with any interaction with Charbel.
Charbel is probably the most likeable and kind person you will ever meet. He has so much patience and would do anything for his students. He has put incredible effort into the material and the documentation we received and I would recommend it to anyone. You won't regret it.
Built in the real world
Faster Zebra's founder & creator has been doing business since Rihanna was born.
Academy Xi valuation at its Series A
$22 million
Capital raised across three rounds
$3.6 million
Founded Academy Xi in 2013, sold his stake in 2019 for
Seven figures
Coached through Academy Xi and Velvet Onion
8,500+ people
STARTED YOUNG
First business in 1988
seven industries
Design, tech, food, streetwear ...
EDUCATOR
Business, design, brand & creativity
author
Fiction, mindset & philosophy.
Decide who you want to be, then build the business that proves it.
How the Kits are grouped
Mind. Skills. Soul. Make.
The eight Kits sit in three realms. Mind shapes how you think. Skills help you do the work. Soul shapes who you become. Make puts all three against reality.
MindHow you see, frame, judge and choose. Los Originales and Psychonauts live here.Enter the Mind realm →SkillsHow you research, sell, build and operate. Young Founders, The Innovators, Brand Mavericks and XD 4.0 live here.Enter the Skills realm →SoulWho you are, and who you become through the work. Be You and Scar Bearers live here.Enter the Soul realm →
↻
Make
The act that ties the three together. You bring all three to something real, reality answers, and you come back sharper. That's the loop. As you build something, it builds you back.
For teams
The capabilities that survive automation are the ones no course can teach.
Facilitated sessions where your people work a live business challenge they own, using the same methods our members use on real work.
The capability gets built inside your real work, so it holds after the session ends. Your team leaves with a business challenge moved forward and a capability they keep.
Explore team training Start the conversation
The name
Why Faster? Why Zebra?
Faster.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.
Zebra.
A new founder mindset. Unicorns chase valuations. Zebras solve real problems.
Zebras build profitable, sustainable, purpose-led businesses. They work in herds, not alone.
They're real.
Good things come to those who make.
Start young with Young Founders, or start again with Reboot. Or pick a Kit and learn one part of business on your own.