Launchpad COLA: Halfway to Launch
We’ve officially hit the halfway point! Six weeks into the intensive 12-week Launchpad COLA Incubator, our cohort of founders has been demonstrating incredible commitment, showing up weekly at 7 AM to refine their businesses and make real traction.
From Idea to Execution
The program, led by Alan Blakeborough and the Launchpad team from Greenville, uses curriculum inspired by Jason Calacanis' Founder University. Over the first six weeks, founders have moved through critical foundational work: naming and IP protection, MVP development, competitive research, user acquisition strategies, and marketing planning.
But the real transformation isn't just in what they've learned, it's in what they're building and how they're showing up for each other.
Building in Community
Angel Heaven Lee (Focus Play, a gamified productivity app for adults with ADHD) captured what makes this program special: "When we win, we win together." She's learned that asking for help is strength, not weakness, and that progress comes from both community and consistency. To make those 7 AM sessions, she wakes up at 5 AM every Thursday, and says the connections and information are "truly invaluable."
Arica Williams (Copacetic Collective, a CRM for real estate agents) has found a place to build. "The BIC is a place where my ideas are welcomed, conversations are encouraged and cherished. I finally found people who understand how I'm wired." She leaves each session more energized than any other time of her week.
For Shriha Ganesh Babu (CuffWay, a medical device company advancing airway safety through smarter pressure control), the biggest takeaway has been the power of community, seeing others share their wins and losses and getting immediate feedback. The Boyd Innovation Center helped him connect across Columbia's entrepreneurship scene, especially valuable since he's new to the space.
Solomon Jacobs, a USC student building Vertical (predictive nutrition for athletes), wasn't often around the startup community at school. "The engineering school is full of people looking for established careers, not many who are focused on startups," he explains. Through Launchpad, he found his people. "It's helped me realize I'm not alone in the struggles."
Real Progress, Real Traction
Several founders already have significant momentum built in just six weeks.
Dan Young is seeing the results of his focused execution with Post Pixel, an AI startup that automates social media content for home service companies. Post Pixel just launched their beta a few weeks ago and already has paying customers. The platform helps landscaping, painting, cleaning, and roofing companies create a month's worth of branded social content in just five minutes, solving what many business owners see as a "second job." Dan's also been strategic about building partnerships, actively seeking connections with large associations and software companies in the home services space. He meets weekly with his mentor Andrew to refine strategies, and the connections through the BIC have been invaluable, he's even found potential clients among other founders in the building.
Adina Maynard, an oncology nurse turned game developer, just added powerups to Cattywampus, her brainy word game. She loves bouncing ideas off other entrepreneurs: "If I don't have the energy I need for the day, the group starts to bring it out in me."
Lauren Tillar (Reunion Ally) is building out her landing page MVP with plans for a full web app by program end. Tony Stephenson (Nautiq AI) is tackling a critical problem – 65% of veterans are underemployed, and the DoD's transition program hasn't been updated since 1991.
The Early Morning Commitment
That 7 AM start time? It's demanding, but founders say it's worth it.
Dan commutes from Lexington, starting his day at 5 AM. "It's a little rough," he admits with a laugh, "lots of coffee." But the early sessions have been crucial for brainstorming with fellow founders and accessing the resources that have helped with accountability.
For Tony Stephenson, the timing is actually perfect. As a full-time cybersecurity analyst starting work at 9 AM, the early session lets him get "a win for the day" before his main job begins.
Yuri and Svitlana (Need No More, mapping food insecurity resources) wake up well before 7 AM and and leave their little one at home with a babysitter. But they're motivated. "The community provides beautiful insights that would take us weeks or years to get to by ourselves," they say. Their platform is deeply personal. After moving from Ukraine two years ago, they relied on food pantries and saw firsthand how outdated information creates desperate situations. Now they're building a solution where the community can update resource information in real-time, bringing dignity to people facing food insecurity.
Mentorship That Moves the Needle
The one-on-one mentorship is accelerating progress in powerful ways.
Abbie Scoby, a USC student working on a fiber arts app (for crochet and knitting accountability), felt like she was "throwing things at the wall" before meeting her mentor Lanford. "He's been absolutely amazing," she says. "He gave me checkpoints, essentially homework every week, to provide structure." For a busy business student juggling exams, the weekly sessions are a "safe haven" that keeps her motivated.
Solomon's mentor helped him pivot his MVP strategy from coding an entire application to something he can test in "a week or two." Being technical is both a blessing and curse – he can code, but he needs to ensure he builds something people actually want it. "Getting data is ultimately valuable," he's learned.
Lauren appreciates how the program holds her "to a higher standard" through accountability. "It's better to work in community than alone," she's discovered.
Yuri and Svitlana appreciate their mentor's candid feedback. "He doesn't hold back. He tells us exactly where our product could fail," they explain. "He asks questions we hadn't asked ourselves, which helps us improve."
For Tony, a non-technical founder, the BIC connected him with USC engineering students who are now helping him build his MVP. "The best thing I've taken from the program is a roadmap," he says. "It's huge for knowing what I should and shouldn't be doing."
The Final Push
As the cohort moves into weeks 7-12, the focus shifts to refinement and pitch preparation. Upcoming topics include iterating on MVPs, tracking metrics, balancing user feedback, team building, competitive analysis, and financials.
It all culminates in Public Pitch Night, where founders will present to Columbia's startup community and venture network. (Save the date for Thursday, December 18th – more details to come!)
Solomon summed up the program's philosophy perfectly: "The biggest takeaway is failing hard and fast over and over again. This ensures you're not making a product nobody wants or solving a problem no one has."
The Launchpad COLA cohort isn't just a group of entrepreneurs. It's a community of builders who show up, support each other, and do the work.
As Angel put it: when we win, we win together.
Interested in joining the next cohort? The Spring 2026 interest form is now open. Sign up here.
