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Fellowship: AI Marketing & Entrepreneurship by HiveSchool
A 9-month, full-time fellowship for anyone who wants to start a career in marketing. You build your own brand from the first month, learn every part of marketing on it, and finish with placements or incubation.
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Cohort snapshot
April 2027 intakeDuration
9 months
Brands on the live briefs
Apply in 60 seconds
Your application process
0%The marketers
I spent two years in a marketing course writing briefs for brands I would never meet. The first month I actually grew a page, I learned more than in those two years. That is the month we built this fellowship around.
Live briefs
India's most famous consumer brands, early-stage labels, and more.
Faculty
Founders, CMOs and brand heads teach every module, judge the work and hire from it.
Teaches
Neha GulatiMarketing Head, Nestlé
BrandWhat they teachPositioninginsight to campaignbrand architecturebriefing agencies
TeachesEpigamia
Siddharth MenonCMO, Epigamia
Go-to-marketWhat they teachLaunching in a new categorygo-to-market on a startup budgetbuilding a team
Teaches
Simar SekhriCMO, HiveSchool
ContentWhat they teachShort video and hookscontent calendars that ship dailyfounder brandcreators
Teaches
Aniket SinghChief Business Officer, Snitch
RetailWhat they teachLaunching a fashion brandretail footfallpricing and dropscommunity
TeachesCipla
Ajay SinghQuick commerce, Cipla
Quick commerceWhat they teachListing on Blinkit, Zepto and Instamartquick commerce adskey accounts
Teaches
Sidharth BhakooChief Business Officer, Swiggy
Leaders on campusWhat they teachCampus session: growth at scale
Saurabh Sen GuptaVP Sales, Zomato
Quick commerce
Amit JawarPatanjali
FMCG
Trilok KumarTata Consumer
FMCG
ArushiDohful
D2C
ChamanDohful
D2C
ChiragDeyor
D2C
Roni MondalMaitri
D2C
Eshita AnilFormer boAt
Consumer tech
ManasNoise
Consumer tech
SunmeetAngel One
Consumer tech
RaginiFynd
Consumer tech
YamikaFavcy, Waterbridge, PedalStart, groowX
Startups
AtovioAnmay
Startups
JayantFMC
Startups
RishikaFMC
Startups
Leaders on Campus
Recent sessions, filmed on campus.
Entrepreneurship
Apply everything you learn while building it yourself.
In a classroom, marketing is a subject. You learn pricing in week three and never price anything. You learn performance ads and never spend a rupee. The notes are good and the instinct never forms.
Your brand is the classroom.
Each month you build one stage of it, learn exactly what that stage needs, do a capstone for another company, and pitch to a harder room than the month before.
Month 1 · The Mom Test
Find a problem worth solving
Talk to 30 potential customers without pitching. Pick a problem and size the market.
Consumer research, interview method, market sizing, positioning basics.
A consumer research study for a startup in the HiveSchool building.
A room of early D2C and agency founders, to test whether the idea is viable.
Month 2 · Product and MVP
Make the first product and sell it
Name it, design it, source it, price it. Open your store and get the first 10 orders.
Brand identity, packaging, pricing and unit economics, copywriting, store building.
A brand identity or packaging refresh for a partner brand.
Early-stage accelerators.
Month 3 · GTM
Launch it to the world
Launch with content, creators and your first paid ads. Sell offline at Sell on Streets.
Short video, creator seeding, Meta and Google ads, creative strategy, launch PR.
A launch plan for a partner brand's new product.
The Hive Incubation Cell, for iterations on your plan.
Month 4 · Scaling
Take it everywhere people buy
List on marketplaces and quick commerce, run retail media ads, build search presence.
Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Zepto, retail media, SEO and AI search, media planning.
A marketplace or quick commerce growth plan for a partner brand.
A room of CMOs and brand heads, for feedback on your GTM and channel plan.
Month 5 · Product-market fit
Prove people come back
Track repeat purchase, CAC and contribution margin. Build retention journeys.
CRM, WhatsApp and email, cohorts, GA4, attribution, dashboards, CRO.
A retention audit and CRM plan for a D2C brand.
Angel investors.
Month 6 · Fundraise
Fellowship Demo Day
Build your financial model, deck, data room and brand story.
Unit economics in depth, financial modelling, storytelling, investor pitch.
A brand story and investor narrative for a startup that is raising.
A room of investors, VCs and founders, to raise a cheque.
Months 7 to 9 · Your track
Keep building, or get hired
Keep building your brand inside the Hive Incubation Cell, backed by the ₹50 lakh Fellowship Incubation Investment Fund.
A three-month placement season with brand, agency, commerce and creative recruiters.
And one assignment that runs through all six months
A portfolio of decks does not get you hired. A page with numbers does. In week one you are handed a partner brand's page. For six months you grow it: followers, reach, saves, comments, orders. The numbers go on one board the whole batch can see, and when placements start, the page is your proof.
Illustrative growth model, not real results.
Challenge-led learning
The buyer of a supercar in India already owns three. He does not need a fourth car, and nothing in a spec sheet moves him.
Make the ad that sells the fourth car. One film, one print, and a plan for where it runs.
A cookie brand that grew online is opening its first QSR store. A store with no queue on day one is a store the city has already made its mind up about.
Launch Dohful's store and get the city queuing outside on day one.
Pee Safe sells hygiene products in a category people will not talk about. Word of mouth, the cheapest channel a brand has, does not work the way it does for snacks or sneakers.
Build a brand voice and a campaign that gets people talking about a product they would rather not mention.
Most people with curly hair in India do not know curly hair care is a category. You cannot sell a product to a need people have not named yet.
Create the category before you sell the product. Make the market, then take it.
Culture Circle is a marketplace for sneakers and streetwear. A first-time buyer has one question before anything else: is it real?
Win the first purchase from a buyer who has never bought from a resale marketplace.
A premium fragrance brand built online sells the one product you cannot try through a screen. Every buyer is buying on description.
Sell a scent without a sample. Make people confident enough to buy a fragrance they have never smelled.
A Hire is a pre-placement offer.
An Interview is a fast track to the brand's final round.
A Pass comes with written feedback.
Also on the brief roster, and hiring from it
and 100+ more
Proof of content
A certificate says you attended. A film with views, a page with numbers and a product sold on the street say what you can do. Create content for partner brands.
0Views across four brand films · First Principles, Season 1
595Kviews
Now showing: Inside Culture Circle
Page grown by a fellowFollowers, reach, saves and orders, week by week, with the before and after screenshots to prove it.
Brand page, with ordersThe page stays with the brand. Your record of growing it stays with you, as the centrepiece of your portfolio.
Sell on StreetsFellows sell products from partner brands, face to face, with real cash on the table.
Reels from campus
One that sets you up for a strong five to seven year career trajectory, not just a first job.
The first job in marketing decides the next three. A content executive at a brand that teaches nothing stays a content executive. The habits you leave here with are the ones the next rungs are made of: owning a page and its numbers, pitching to boardrooms, running a budget, building a brand from nothing.
A page grown, a brand built, 24 judged challenges, a portfolio.
Executive and associate roles across brand, agency, commerce, creative and growth.
Owning a channel, a budget and a small team.
Owning the plan and the number the business is judged on.
The job your mentors do today, and the panel you pitch to on the way.
Most first marketing jobs are a lottery: a mass application, a resume that looks like everyone else's, and a role you did not choose.
You interview with a brand you built, a page you grew, six months of judged work and your own content channel. Or you take the brand further with the incubation fund behind you.
A placement season with creative, agency, brand, commerce and growth recruiters. Pre-placement offers from the weekly challenges count too.
The Fellowship Incubation Investment Fund backs the strongest brands from Demo Day. Founders move into the Hive Incubation Cell with investment, mentors and workspace.
Target CTC range, LPA, on a 4 to 12 scale.
Target ranges for the first batch, set against current market pay for these roles. Every outcome will be published with name, role, company and fixed pay, reported separately from variable pay.
Curriculum
Theory first, practice never. A semester of modules in an order that suits the timetable, not the work, with AI tools bolted on at the end as a separate elective.
Each module lands the week your brand needs it, with one AI workflow built and used on your brand every month. Open a month to see what you learn, what you use, what you build and who you pitch to.
Month 1The Mom Test
4 tracks8 sprints1 month-end pitch
Month-end pitchA room of early D2C and agency founders, to test viability
By month endA validated problem, a sized market and an idea memo you can defend in front of founders.
Talk to customers before you build anything
30 customer interviews, logged and coded, and a one-page problem memo for your brand.
One problem, backed by interview evidence, that you would bet six months on.
Live briefCulture CirclePartner“Sneaker fans browse resale for weeks but never buy their first pair. Find out why.”
How big, how fast, and who already owns it
A bottom-up market model and Lean Canvas for your idea, with the riskiest assumption named.
A market model in a sheet, and a go or no-go call on your idea.
Live briefDohfulPartner“Size the market for a premium cookie store in a tier-2 city and pick the first city to open in.”
By month endA category map and three consumer insights your brand will be built on.
The science of being remembered and being easy to buy
A brand audit of the three leading brands in your category, with their entry points mapped.
A category map showing where your brand can win.
Live briefEpigamiaIllustrative“Greek yoghurt is a breakfast habit. Find two new moments Epigamia should own.”
From what people say to what they actually feel
An insight deck for your brand: three insights, each with evidence and a "so what".
Three insights you can trace back to real people.
Live briefPeeSafePartner“First-time buyers feel awkward at checkout. Find the insight that gets them past it.” Find the idea A room of early D2C and agency founders, to test viability”
By month endProof of demand: a channel map and a smoke test with real clicks and sign-ups.
How brands in India actually acquire customers
A channel map for your brand: where your buyers discover, compare and buy.
A ranked list of channels to test first, with reasons.
Live briefFixmycurlsPartner“Map where curly-haired buyers discover and buy hair products today.”
Test demand before you make the product
A live landing page and waitlist for your brand, tested with a small ad budget.
Real sign-ups, and a cost per interested customer.
Live briefSnitchIllustrative“Use search and ad library data to pick Snitch's next product category.”
By month endYour Creator Lab channel is live, and you can take apart any ad and say why it works.
Learn to see what makes an ad work
A swipe file of 50 ads in your category, with 10 full teardowns.
A shared language for judging creative work.
Live briefBig Boy ToyzPartner“Tear down 20 luxury car ads and find the one idea nobody in the category has used.”
Shoot well with what is in your pocket
Launch your Creator Lab channel: 5 posts in two weeks, including a 30- second "the problem I am solving" video.
A live channel and your first published work.
Live brief
HiveSchoolPartner“Make the reel that shows what day one on campus feels like.”
Month 2Make it and sell it
4 tracks8 sprints1 month-end pitch
Month-end pitchEarly-stage accelerators
By month endA product in hand, a store that takes payments, and the first 10 orders from people you do not know.
Sourcing, samples and the cost of making one unit
Three supplier quotes, a sample in hand and a full costing sheet for your first product.
A product you can hold and a cost you can defend.
Live briefDohfulPartner“Cut the cost of a box by 10% without changing the taste.”
Pricing, unit economics and a store that works
Your store live, with unit economics per order, and the first 10 orders.
First revenue, and a P&L per order.
Live briefFixmycurlsPartner“Design the price ladder: a starter kit, single products and a refill.”
By month endYour brand has a name, a position, an identity and a pack.
Decide what you stand for, and against whom
A positioning statement, brand pyramid and tone-of-voice guide for your brand.
A position you can say in one sentence.
Live briefCulture CirclePartner“Position Culture Circle against the habit of buying sneakers abroad.”
What people see, hold and remember
Name, identity system and pack design for your brand, with a trademark search.
A brand identity ready for launch.
Live briefPeeSafePartner“Redesign a pack that can sit on a shared bathroom shelf without embarrassing anyone.” Product and MVP Early-stage accelerators”
By month endA tracked, converting store and your first customers without paid ads.
Landing pages, product pages and tracking
A fully tracked store with GA4, Pixel and CAPI, and five conversion fixes shipped.
Data you can trust from day one.
Live briefSnitchIllustrative“Audit a product page and find the five changes that would lift conversion most.”
Founder-led selling and word of mouth
Ten orders from strangers through unpaid channels.
Proof that someone outside your circle will pay.
Live briefDohfulPartner“Get 100 people to pre-order a flavour that does not exist yet.”
By month endA founder film and a set of product images and statics ready for launch.
afford Story, script and storyboard
A 60-second founder story film for your brand.
A finished film with your name on it.
Live briefBig Boy ToyzPartner“The ₹1 Crore Ad: sell a supercar to a buyer who already owns three.”
Photos and statics that sell
Ten product images and five static ads for your brand.
A launch-ready visual library.
Live briefFixmycurlsPartner“Shoot a before and after that is honest, compliant and still stops the scroll.”
Month 3Launch it
4 tracks8 sprints1 month-end pitch
Month-end pitchHive Incubation Cell, for iterations
By month endA launch plan executed, offline sales on record and a clear read on what sold.
Who you sell to first, where, and with what budget
A 30-day launch plan with budget, run on your brand.
A launch you ran, with numbers.
Live briefDohfulPartner“Opening Day: launch a new store and get a city queuing outside on day one.”
Sell on Streets, pop-ups and sampling
Sell on Streets results, plus one pop-up for your brand.
A revenue number, and what customers said to your face.
Live briefPartner brand, Sell on StreetsPartner“Sell the most units of a partner brand's product in one market street, in one day.”
By month endA launch campaign and your first creator and press coverage.
One idea, many places
A launch campaign and a press note for your brand.
A campaign plan and at least one press pitch sent.
Live briefEpigamiaIllustrative“Launch a new product line with a ₹10 lakh budget.”
Getting other people to talk about you
Seed your brand with 20 creators and track what comes back.
Creator content live, with reach and sales tracked.
Live briefPeeSafePartner“Say It Out Loud: build a brand in a category people will not talk about.” Go-to-market Hive Incubation Cell, for iterations”
By month endPaid campaigns live on Meta and Google, with a testing plan and clean reporting.
How Facebook and Instagram ads work now
Your first Meta campaign for your brand, with a test plan.
A live campaign, and a read of what worked.
Live briefSnitchIllustrative“Plan the Meta campaign for a sale week with a fixed budget and a target ROAS.”
Catching people who are already looking
A search and shopping campaign for your brand.
Search campaigns running, with cost per order tracked.
Live briefLenskartIllustrative“Win searches for "eyeglasses near me" in one city without raising the budget.”
By month endTwenty ad variants tested and one shoot directed by you.
Ads built to be tested
Twenty ad variants for your brand, made with an AI creative workflow, and tested.
At least one winning ad, and the reason it won.
Live briefFixmycurlsPartner“Category Zero: create a market for curly hair care where buyers do not know they need a product.”
Directing people and running a set
Direct one shoot for your brand, from call sheet to wrap.
Raw footage and a directing credit.
Live briefCulture CirclePartner“Film a sneaker drop so people feel they missed out.”
Month 4Everywhere people buy
4 tracks9 sprints1 month-end pitch
Month-end pitchA room of CMOs and brand heads, on your GTM and channel plan
By month endA P&L by channel and an operations playbook that can handle growth.
Where you make money and where you lose it
A channel P&L for your brand, and a decision on which channel to add next.
A channel decision you can back with numbers.
Live briefA snack brand in the HiveSchool“building ILLUSTRATIVE “Should a ₹5 crore brand go onto quick commerce now, or wait a year?”
Stock, fulfilment and the first hires
An operations playbook for your brand for the next three months.
A playbook that keeps you in stock.
Live briefDohfulPartner“Plan stock and staffing for three stores during the festive season.”
By month endYour brand looks and feels the same on every shelf and screen, and has one collab pitched.
Marketplaces, quick commerce and retail
A+ content and a marketplace brand store for your brand.
Your brand live and consistent on a new channel.
Live briefSnitchIllustrative“Make a Snitch store feel like the Instagram feed people already follow.”
Borrowing attention from other brands
One collab pitched for your brand to a real partner.
A collab deck sent, and a reply.
Live briefBig Boy ToyzPartner“Design a collab between a luxury car showroom and a fashion label.” Scale across channels A room of CMOs and brand heads, on your GTM and channel plan”
By month endYour brand listed and advertising on a marketplace, with a quick commerce plan and a search audit.
Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa
Your brand listed on one marketplace with ads running.
Marketplace sales and ads data from your own brand.
Live brief
MamaearthIllustrative“Hold rank on a hero product during a sale event when every competitor is discounting.”
Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart
A quick commerce launch plan for your brand, by city and pincode.
A plan a quick commerce buyer would take seriously.
Live briefCiplaIllustrative“Win the 10-minute aisle for an over-the-counter health brand.”
SEO, and showing up in ChatGPT and Gemini
An SEO and AI search audit for your brand, with ten fixes.
A search plan, and your brand appearing for at least one target query.
Live briefFixmycurlsPartner“Be the answer when someone asks an AI how to care for curly hair.”
By month endChannel-ready creative and your first AI-assisted videos.
Marketplaces, quick commerce and banners
A creative kit for your brand across three channels.
A full creative kit, ready to upload.
Live briefboAtIllustrative“Build the creative kit for a sale-day launch across Amazon, Flipkart and Blinkit.”
Animation and generated video
Three AI-assisted videos for your brand.
AI video work in your portfolio.
Live briefBig Boy ToyzPartner“Make a car launch film without a car on set.”
Month 5Prove people come back
4 tracks8 sprints1 month-end pitch
Month-end pitchAngel investors
By month endA PMF dashboard and a clear call: double down, fix or pivot.
Measuring product-market fit
A PMF dashboard for your brand: repeat rate, CAC, contribution margin.
An honest verdict on your brand, with numbers.
Live briefA startup in the HiveSchool“building ILLUSTRATIVE “Six months in, growth has stalled. Pivot or persevere?”
Making each order worth more
A margin plan for your brand, with one change shipped.
Better margin on every order.
Live briefEpigamiaIllustrative“Raise prices by 8% without losing repeat buyers.”
By month endA brand health tracker and a community programme for your brand.
Is the brand getting stronger?
A brand health tracker for your brand.
A tracker you update every month.
Live briefLenskartIllustrative“Find out whether ads are building the brand or only buying sales.”
Turning buyers into fans
A community and loyalty programme for your brand, launched with your first buyers.
Your first repeat buyers, by name.
Live briefCulture CirclePartner“Turn one-time sneaker buyers into a community that shows up for every drop.” PMF signals Angel investors”
By month endA live retention journey, a weekly dashboard and one experiment with a clear result.
WhatsApp, email and lifecycle journeys
One automated retention journey live on your brand.
A measurable lift in repeat orders.
Live brief
LiciousIllustrative“Bring back customers who ordered once and never returned.”
Knowing what caused what
A weekly growth dashboard and one A/B test on your brand.
A test result you can explain in one slide.
Live briefSnitchIllustrative“Find out if a sale actually brought new customers, or only discounted existing ones.”
By month endA content system that runs every week, and a pilot episode for a series.
Publishing every day without burning out
A 30-day content system for your brand, running.
Thirty days of content published.
Live briefPeeSafePartner“Build a month of content that makes a taboo category easy to talk about.”
YouTube, podcasts and docu-series
A pilot episode of a series for your brand.
A pilot ready to publish.
Live briefHiveSchoolPartner“Make episode one of the HiveSchool founder documentary series.”
Month 6Demo Day
4 tracks8 sprints1 month-end pitch
Month-end pitchFellowship Demo Day: investors, VCs and founders, to raise a cheque
By month endA financial model, a data room and a Demo Day pitch for your brand.
How consumer brands raise in India
A 24-month financial model and cap table for your brand.
A model an investor can poke at.
Live briefA startup in the HiveSchool“building ILLUSTRATIVE “Two term sheets on the table. Which one should the founder sign?”
The deck, the data room and the room
Your Demo Day deck and data room.
A pitch that has been tested on angels and on the stage.
Live briefHive Incubation CellPartner“Prepare a founder in the Incubation Cell for their first investor meeting.”
By month endA press kit and a three- year brand plan for your brand.
For investors, press and future hires
A press kit and founder narrative for your brand.
A press kit ready to send.
Live briefBig Boy ToyzPartner“Tell the founding story so a business paper wants to run it.”
What comes after the first product
A three-year brand architecture plan for your brand.
A brand plan that investors can see.
Live briefEpigamiaIllustrative“Should the next launch carry the Epigamia name, or a new one?” Fundraise Fellowship Demo Day: investors, VCs and founders, to raise a cheque”
By month endA 12-month growth model and media plan for your brand.
Biddable and non-biddable, together
A 12-month media plan for your brand.
A media plan with reach, frequency and cost.
Live briefDohfulPartner“Plan media for five new store openings with one fixed budget.”
Forecasting and budget decisions
A 12-month growth forecast for your brand, tied to the financial model.
A forecast you will present at Demo Day.
Live briefSnitchIllustrative“Where should the next ₹1 crore of marketing go?”
By month endYour Demo Day film and a personal showreel for placements.
The film, the slides and the stage
Your Demo Day film and slides.
A finished film played on stage.
Live briefHive Incubation CellPartner“Produce the opening film for Fellowship Demo Day.”
Your portfolio for placement season
A personal showreel and portfolio site.
A portfolio ready for placement season.
Live briefYour future employerIllustrative“Show a hiring manager in 90 seconds why they should hire you.”
Months 7 to 9Your next step
2 tracks3 months1 final pitch
Month-end pitchRecruiters, or the Incubation Fund committee
Your trackA three-month placement season with brand, agency, commerce and creative recruiters.
Interview practice with AI.
PitchRecruiters, or the Incubation Fund committee.
Your trackKeep building your brand inside the Hive Incubation Cell.
Interview practice with AI.
PitchRecruiters, or the Incubation Fund committee.
Grown week by week for a partner brand, from week one to Demo Day.
A live brief every Wednesday, ending in Hire, Interview or Pass.
One AI workflow built and used on your page and your brand each month.
The page scoreboard and your brand's P&L, reviewed with faculty every Friday.
A week at the Fellowship
Lectures are the smallest part of the week. Most of it is building, with the module of the week applied the same afternoon.
Admissions
No entrance exam and no marketing background needed. We select on what you would build, not what you have memorised.
Ten minutes. Tell us who you are, which brand's page you would want to grow, and what you would build.
A 48-hour brief: pitch a brand idea with one ad and one landing page.
A short interview with the programme team and a founder.
Questions
No. The Fellowship is for graduates from any discipline who want to start a career in marketing.
Multiple partner brands are allocated to you during the course of the programme, alongside your own brand and personal pages.
No. Month 1 is about finding one. You talk to customers and pick a problem worth solving.
Many first brands do not. You are assessed on your decisions and what you learned, and the placement track is open to every fellow.
Yes. You can keep building it, apply to the Hive Incubation Cell, or keep it running alongside a job. Ownership terms are shared during admissions.
No. The programme is full time on campus, and residence is optional. Residential fee and capacity are shared during admissions.
The page stays with the brand. Your record of growing it, with the numbers, stays with you as the centrepiece of your portfolio.
Batch starts April 2027
Applications are open for the first batch of the Fellowship: AI Marketing & Entrepreneurship. 40 seats, on campus in Gurugram.
