Construction Retreat | Learn to Build Things AI Can't

Career Half-Life in the Age of AI

MONITORING DASHBOARD — LIVE

Estimated probability of AI replacing your job within 5 years

Plumber — Pipes don't have an API

Electrician — Try fine-tuning 220 volts

Carpenter — Wood doesn't accept PRs

Welder — Sparks are a feature, not a bug

Heavy Equip. Operator — Good luck training that

THE DANGER ZONE

78%

UX Designer — Figma's AI already knows

89%

Product Manager — Replaceable by a Jira board

94%

Junior Developer — Cursor says hi

97%

Copywriter — Written by AI. Or was it?

99%

Data Entry — Automated before AI was cool

Source: Our completely made-up but emotionally accurate research department

The Tech Stack

package.json

construction-retreat v1.0.0

dependencies: {
  "framework":        "2x4 Douglas Fir Lumber",
  "runtime":          "3 weeks",
  "hosting":          "Ensenada, Mexico",
  "deploy-target":    "Anywhere with a trailer hitch",
  "container":        "An actual container (on wheels)",
  "cloud":            "The sky. You'll be outside.",
  "CI/CD":            "Continuous Insulation / Continuous Drywall",
  "version-control":  "Measure twice, cut once",
  "pair-programming": "Pair hammering",
  "stand-up":         "Literally. All day.",
  "test-suite":       "Building inspector"
}

The Roadmap

3 sprints. No standups longer than it takes to drink your coffee.

Sprint 1

Foundation & Framing

HOUSE-001

Prep trailer chassis

The one dependency you can't npm install

HOUSE-002

Frame walls

It's like building divs, but load-bearing

HOUSE-003

Install subfloor

The original "platform"

HOUSE-004

Roof framing

Finally, real overhead

🍷

Daily wine tasting at Valle de Guadalupe winery

Sprint 2

Systems Integration

HOUSE-005

Electrical rough-in

setState but it can kill you

HOUSE-006

Plumbing

Data pipelines that actually flow

HOUSE-007

Insulation & weatherproofing

The original firewall

HOUSE-008

Window & door install

UI/UX but physical

🌊

Beach day at Ensenada's Pacific coast

Sprint 3

Ship It

HOUSE-009

Interior finishing

CSS but it's paint

HOUSE-010

Cabinet & countertop install

Storage that doesn't charge per GB

HOUSE-011

Final inspections

Code review with a clipboard

HOUSE-012

Deploy to production

Hitch it to a truck

🚘

Sprint demo: You drive away with your tiny home

What You Ship

This isn't a metaphor.

You don't get a certificate. You don't get a LinkedIn badge. You get a real, highway-legal Tiny Home on wheels that you built with your own hands — and you drive it home.

You build a real, NOAH-certified, highway-legal Tiny Home on wheels. Designed by an award-winning architect and built alongside Clever Tiny Homes' expert crew — a 150-person team that produces over 3 homes per week out of an 85,000 sq ft software-driven factory. The company was started by an ex-YC founder and a world renown architect. Keep your tiny home, place it on your property, or donate it to someone who needs housing.

Runtime Environment: Ensenada, Baja California

Your IDE is an 85,000 sq ft factory. Your stand-up is on a rooftop overlooking the Pacific.

🍷

Boutique winery resort in Valle de Guadalupe

📍

90 minutes from San Diego (we handle border logistics)

🌮

World-class street tacos (better than your company's catered lunch)

🌊

Pacific coast beaches for weekend debugging sessions

🏭

85,000 sq ft factory with 150-person expert crew

😌

A town that doesn't know what a sprint retro is

Valle de Guadalupe wine country

Ensenada's Pacific coastline

The world's best street tacos

Pricing

No per-seat licensing. No enterprise upsell. No "contact sales."

Production Build

Compute

Instruction, lodging, meals

$50,000

Infrastructure

Materials & components

$45,000

Total deployment cost

$95,000

A Clever Tiny Home retails from $80K–$140K. You're getting one at materials cost — and learning to build it.

3-week hands-on construction retreat
Boutique winery accommodations
All meals (yes, the tacos too)
Expert instruction from 20+ year veterans
One (1) completed Tiny Home on wheels
Skills AI literally cannot replace
An answer to "so what do you do now?"

npm install --save new-career

Unlike your cloud bill, this one doesn't auto-scale. Price is what you see. No hidden fees. No egress charges.

Frequently Asked Questions

man construction-retreat

Is this a real thing?

Yes. Clever Tiny Homes is one of North America's largest tiny home manufacturers. They've been featured in Dwell, USA Today, and CBS. This is a real retreat. You really build a real home. The jokes are a coping mechanism.

Do I need construction experience?

Do you have construction experience? Exactly. That's why you're here. If you can read documentation, you can read a blueprint. If you can debug spaghetti code, you can untangle electrical wiring. Probably.

What if AI replaces construction workers too?

Then we're all toast and at least you'll have a tiny home to hide in.

Can I bring my mechanical keyboard?

You can, but a nail gun has better tactile feedback.

$95K seems expensive.

You get a house. A Clever Tiny Home retails from $80K to $140K — you're getting one at materials cost plus expert instruction, luxury lodging, and all meals for 3 weeks. Your coding bootcamp cost $20K and all you got was a certificate and imposter syndrome.

Is this tax deductible?

We're not tax advisors, but "career development" has a broad definition. Ask your accountant, not your AI assistant.

Learn to Build Things
AI Can't.

Career Half-Life in the Age of AI

The Tech Stack