From Strangers to Startup Teams in 24 Hours: Inside Startup Sprint Fall 2025
What happens when 40 people walk into the Boyd Innovation Center on a Friday evening, most of them strangers, many of them nervous, all of them curious about what it takes to build a startup?
The sparks of something big.
Friday Evening: Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone
Forty participants arrived at the BIC on Friday evening for Startup Sprint. Some came with business ideas burning in their minds. Others came with skills they wanted to test. Many admitted this was way outside their comfort zone.
But they showed up anyway.
After grabbing pizza and being challenged to talk to at least three new people, we kicked off with the reality check: This isn't a class. There are no certificates. No step-by-step instructions. But you WILL leave with real experience, real connections, and a taste of what building a startup actually feels like.
Then came the icebreaker – 10 minutes of rapid-fire introductions moving around the room with question cards. "If you had unlimited resources to build something, what would you create?" "Do you tend to ask for permission or ask for forgiveness?"
The energy shifted. Strangers started connecting.
After a writing exercise where participants clarified whether they were pitching an idea or joining a team, things got beautifully chaotic. Lead founders pitched problems they wanted to solve across verticals: education, finance, energy, cybersecurity, healthcare, AI, and more.
Teams formed. Strangers became collaborators. They claimed their headquarters in empty BIC offices, drafted their first descriptions of what they'd build, and connected on our online community.
By 8 PM, nine teams had formed. They had less than 24 hours to turn their ideas into something real.
Saturday Sprint Blocks
They showed up early for breakfast and coffee, huddled with their teams, and dove into sprint blocks led by entrepreneurs and experts who'd been exactly where they were. Here's how the day unfolded:
Sprint Block 1: Problem & Solution Framing with Luke Bare
Luke Bare, the 20 year-old-founder of VenomCBW (a LEGO figure business generating $35K in monthly revenue), kicked things off with a critical mindset shift: fall in love with the problem, not your solution.
He challenged teams to dig deeper than their initial ideas and really understand the pain points they were addressing. It's easy to get excited about what you want to build—it's harder to stay focused on whether it actually solves a real problem for real people.
Sprint Block 2: Customer Persona & Journey with Ben Culbreth
Ben Culbreth, a copywriter and content strategist who's spent his career in sales and marketing, brought the customer into sharp focus. He didn't just explain what a persona is he showed real examples of how to build them and why they matter.
Ben's expertise in finding ways to communicate so people take action gave teams the tools to understand not just who their customers are, but what matters to them.
Sprint Block 3: Refining Your Idea with Tyler Tong
Tyler Tong – Adjunct Professor, Incubator Director, Fractional CFO, and professional connector – went deep on the questions founders need to ask themselves: What are we actually solving? Why does it matter? What's our value proposition? He helped teams surface their assumptions, explore edge cases, and clarify their ideas before diving into building. This was the last chance to sharpen the concept before creating the MVP.
Sprint Block 4: Building MVPs with Paul Malott
Paul Malott, founder of Automations24, spent both days with the teams, providing all-day guidance and mentorship. When it came time to build, he threw them into the deep end: vibe coding with Replit.
The goal wasn't perfection – it was validation. Build a minimum viable product (MVP), use it as a learning tool, and get real feedback you didn't even know you needed.
Paul walked teams through the building blocks of rapid prototyping using AI tools, proving that you don't need to be a developer to build something functional. The teams were actually creating their ideas in real time.
Sprint Block 5: Validation with Karl McCollester
Karl McCollester from Gov Possible, an experienced software developer who builds systems for small governments and brings years of startup experience, delivered a reality check: You need to validate your idea with real people – not just your mom.
(Yes, that's a reference to The Mom Test, the book about how moms will always tell you your idea is great even when it's not.)
His sprint block prompt: get out there and validate. Make phone calls. Create Facebook polls. Hit the streets.
And they did. Teams left the building, called potential customers, posted surveys, and gathered real feedback from strangers. This was the moment ideas met reality.
Sprint Block 6: Pitching Your Idea with Cynthia Villar Sanchez
Cynthia Villar from CIU's BCDC wrapped it all together with the power pitch. After a day of building and validating, teams had less than an hour to craft their presentations.
Cynthia taught them how to tell their story: communicate the problem, present the solution, share customer insights, and articulate the impact. The pitch isn't just about the idea – it's about making people care about the problem you're solving.
By 4 PM, teams were ready. Nine startups, built by strangers in 24 hours, about to face experienced founder judges.
The Pitches: Nine Teams, Real Solutions
Remember, these teams had known each other for less than 24 hours. Yet they stood up and pitched their startup concepts to a panel of experienced founders.
Facing the Judges
Three experienced founders evaluated the pitches:
Karl McCollester, Gov Possible - Software developer and founder who'd led the Validation sprint block earlier that day
Dan Young, Post Pixel - Built a business making social media easy for home service professionals
Jonathan Haselden, Company Clarity Consulting - Organizational health consultant evaluating team dynamics and execution capability
Their questions were tough, and real. The dug into their revenue models, customer acquisition plans, potential challenges, and more.
This wasn't about perfect presentations. It was about which teams had found real problems and shown they could solve them.
The judges awarded:
Most Innovative: Elder Shield by Markel Samuel
A cybersecurity mobile device management company empowering US senior citizens with enterprise-level cybersecurity tools to stop attackers targeting vulnerable populations.
Most Investable: PCC (Patient Centered Care) by Stephen Lloyd
An AI-driven care delivery platform that reprioritizes patients by connecting them with the best specialists and diagnostic tests for their specific needs, transforming primary care into precision care.
Most Viable: Peach Link by Bart Cant
A powerful text-messaging system connecting directly into agentic workflows – turning simple text conversations into intelligent automated task management.
Honorary Mention, Best Team Presentation: Speech Spaces by Michelle Jordan
Connecting pediatric speech therapists with HIPAA-compliant rooms in medical and dental offices, solving the shortage of safe, consistent, and affordable therapy locations while creating revenue for clinics.
Honorary Mention, Most Moonshot: Helios by James Ray
Providing clean drinking water solutions to underserved communities using solar power as the catalyst.
But honestly? Every team did a phenomenal job. Every single one went from strangers on Friday to a functioning team with a working prototype on Saturday.
"I had no idea what to expect but the Sprint exceeded all my expectations, in large part due to all the amazing people who showed up and showed out! — Michelle Jordan
What Happens Next?
The winning teams get one month of free BIC access to keep building. But the real wins go beyond awards.
Connections have been made. Seeds have been planted. Some participants will apply for our January Launchpad COLA 12 week tech incubator cohort. Others will keep developing their ideas independently. Some will pivot. And some discovered that founding a startup isn't their path right now – and that's okay too.
That's exactly what Startup Sprint is designed to do: give you real experience so you can make informed decisions about your entrepreneurial journey.
For some, this was just the beginning. For others, it was valuable clarity. Either way, it was 24 hours that changed how they think about building, collaboration, and what they're capable of creating.
Why This Matters for Columbia
At the Boyd Innovation Center, our mission is to support founders building scalable tech companies right here in Columbia, South Carolina. Events like Startup Sprint aren't just about the ideas pitched on stage – they're about building an ecosystem where innovation thrives, where builders find each other, and where taking the entrepreneurial leap doesn't feel quite so lonely.
Forty people walked into the BIC as strangers. They left as teammates, collaborators, and part of Columbia's growing tech community.
That's what we're building here.
Special thanks to our Startup Sprint partner, Columbia International University’s Business & Career Development Center.
Ready to Be Part of Columbia's Innovation Community?
Whether you're testing your first idea, scaling a growing company, or exploring what role you want to play in the startup world, the Boyd Innovation Center is your home base.
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