Building a Second Brain · Productivity · Personal Development · Artificial Intelligence · United States
American productivity author and founder of Forte Labs, creator of the Building a Second Brain method and the PARA system, who sells self-paced courses, a live AI cohort and a paid membership.
Tiago Forte is an American author and educator who teaches digital note-taking, personal knowledge management and productivity. He created the Building a Second Brain method, along with the PARA system (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives), the CODE framework (Capture, Organize, Distill, Express) and Progressive Summarization. His LinkedIn profile lists a degree from San Diego State University and Long Beach, California, as his location. In a 2022 Smart Passive Income podcast episode he described earlier work in microfinance in Latin America, service as a Peace Corps English teacher in eastern Ukraine, and consulting for Silicon Valley companies before building his own teaching business. His year of birth was not found in a public source.
His company is Forte Labs, LLC. OpenCorporates lists a California entity under that name (company number 201509910167) with a Long Beach address. He has written two books published in the United States by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster: Building a Second Brain (2022) and The PARA Method (August 15, 2023). A third book, Life in Perspective: The Art and Power of the Annual Life Review, is listed for release on November 3, 2026. According to his LinkedIn profile, his books have sold more than 500,000 copies in 25 languages; there is no independent source for that figure.
He publishes on YouTube (@TiagoForte, 389K subscribers as read on September 13, 2026), on LinkedIn, on X (@fortelabs) and on the Forte Labs blog.
What he sells, with prices as shown on buildingasecondbrain.com on September 13, 2026: BASB Foundation, a self-paced course in six video modules on the CODE method, for $499; Pillars of Productivity, an eight-lesson self-paced course on email, calendar, tasks and note-taking, for $249; The AI Second Brain, a three-week live cohort (September 17 to October 8, 2026) with seven live sessions led by him, at $3,000 for the Essential tier and $6,000 for the Premium tier, which adds small-group coaching; the Second Brain Membership, with monthly implementation sprints, a monthly masterclass and a community on Circle, at $269 per quarter or $799 per year; and The Annual Review, a self-paced program with two live sessions, listed at $199 for its most recent edition. He also sells the books and a Notion template.
On student numbers, his own pages give different figures: the Foundation course page mentions 5,000 students, the book page 6,000+ students across 19 cohorts, and the Life in Perspective site says more than 1,000 people have taken the annual review. None of these figures has independent confirmation.
On his reputation, what can be checked: his books come from a major publisher, and he has given long-form interviews to outlets such as Scott H. Young's blog (June 2022) and the Smart Passive Income podcast (August 2022). A web search on September 13, 2026 did not return any FTC or state attorney general action naming him or Forte Labs. Mentor Explorer did not verify the press mentions (The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review) listed on speaker-bureau pages, and does not treat those listings as coverage.
Objective facts about their offer, taken from public sources. We don't rate the quality of the programs or the results you may get.
2 without a public price
6 official channels
Large audience
Facts checked on Sep 13, 2026.
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| Program | Type | Published price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| BASB Foundation Self-paced online course in six video modules teaching the CODE method (Capture, Organize, Distill, Express) and PARA, with a playbook and a Notion template. | Course | $499 Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
| Pillars of Productivity Self-paced course of eight video lessons on email, calendar, task management, note-taking and the weekly review, with a workbook and community access. | Course | $249 Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
| The AI Second Brain Three-week live cohort (September 17 to October 8, 2026) on using personal notes and files as context for AI assistants. Essential tier $3,000; Premium tier $6,000 with small-group coaching. | Course | $3,000 Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
| Second Brain Membership Membership for people who already know the method: monthly implementation sprints, a monthly masterclass with Tiago Forte, weekly sessions and a community on Circle. $269 per quarter or $799 per year. | Community | $799 Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
| The Annual Review Self-paced end-of-year review program based on the ARC framework (Appreciate, Reflect, Create), with two live sessions, templates and a private community. Listed at $199 for its most recent edition. | Course | $199 Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
| Building a Second Brain Book published by Atria Books in 2022 explaining the Second Brain method. | Book | Not published Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
| The PARA Method Book published by Atria Books on August 15, 2023, on organizing digital information into Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives. | Book | Not published Checked Sep 13, 2026 | View |
Prices are those published by the mentor on the date checked and may change. “Not published” means we couldn't find a public price.
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An American productivity author based in Long Beach, California, founder of Forte Labs and creator of the Building a Second Brain method and the PARA system. He wrote Building a Second Brain (2022) and The PARA Method (2023), both published by Atria Books.
The self-paced BASB Foundation course was listed at $499 on September 13, 2026. Pillars of Productivity costs $249, the membership $269 per quarter or $799 per year, and the live AI Second Brain cohort $3,000 (Essential) or $6,000 (Premium).
According to its sales page, seven 90-minute live sessions with Tiago Forte over three weeks, implementation labs led by alumni mentors, recordings with one-year access and six months of membership. The Premium tier adds small-group coaching and check-in calls.
Building a Second Brain (Atria Books, 2022) and The PARA Method (Atria Books, August 15, 2023). Life in Perspective: The Art and Power of the Annual Life Review is listed for November 3, 2026.
What can be checked: his company Forte Labs, LLC appears in California records on OpenCorporates, his books are published by a Simon & Schuster imprint, and course prices are posted publicly. A web search on September 13, 2026 found no FTC or state attorney general action naming him. His student and sales figures come from his own pages and have no independent confirmation.
Mentor Explorer shows reviews from its own users on this page and does not summarize third-party review sites. Beyond that, what exists on record are long-form interviews such as those with Scott H. Young and the Smart Passive Income podcast in 2022; no public ruling or sanction naming him was found.
Reviews are written by Mentor Explorer users, pass through a moderation filter and do not represent the site's editorial position. Some may be in other languages.
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