Keiboarder Mentors CREATE-X LAUNCH Startups

CREATE-X LAUNCH is Georgia Tech's flagship entrepreneurship program, providing students and alumni with $5,000 in seed funding and $150,000 worth of in-kind services to transform their ideas into viable startups. The 12-week summer program offers intensive coaching, mentorship, co-working space, and access to Atlanta's entrepreneurial ecosystem, culminating in Demo Day before more than 1,500 attendees.

Keiboarder was engaged as a technical mentor for the program, initially assigned to guide six startups through the critical early stages of product development and market validation. During the program, an additional team joined the cohort, bringing the total to seven mentored startups. The startups represented diverse sectors including healthcare, consumer technology, entertainment, and hospitality, each facing unique technical and strategic challenges.

Care Sync

A caregiver marketplace connecting families with trusted, independent caregivers, making care more personal, accessible, and efficient for those who give it and those who need it.

Badger

Automatically finds and applies the best discount codes when customers shop online, eliminating the need to search for coupons that don't work.

TheBucketList

Reimagines goal-setting with emotionally supportive, beautiful tools that help users break down big goals, track progress, and celebrate wins across all life categories. A wellness-focused lifestyle brand transforming the traditional "bucket list" into a tool for intentional living with the motto "Don't wait to kick the bucket, fill it."

Stonehart Immersive

Pioneering the future of entertainment using augmented reality technology.

Orien Careers

A platform designed for restaurant hiring managers to streamline the recruitment process.

Resume Tuna

A resume optimization platform helping job seekers improve their application materials.

AccountaCare

A centralized care platform that helps transplant patients and caregivers stay on track with medications, appointments, and care routines while offering community support to combat isolation.

• Founders possessed strong domain expertise but limited experience in software product development and go-to-market strategy.
• Many teams struggled to articulate their value propositions clearly to potential investors and customers.
• Several startups lacked clarity on product-market fit and customer validation methodologies.
• Teams faced typical early-stage challenges including founder dynamics, resource constraints, and uncertainty about technical architecture decisions.
• Multiple founders were building solutions before thoroughly validating the underlying problems with customers.
• Several teams experienced challenges with cofounding team composition and needed guidance on difficult partnership conversations.

Keiboarder provided comprehensive mentorship throughout the 12-week program, focusing on:

Strategic Product Guidance:

• Helped teams distinguish between building features and solving validated customer problems.
• Guided founders through unbiased customer discovery methodologies to identify genuine pain points.
• Advised on when to pivot product direction based on market feedback and validation results.
• Emphasized the importance of achieving customer validation before extensive product development.

Technical Architecture and Development:

• Provided guidance on appropriate technology choices for early-stage products.
• Helped teams understand the importance of technical co-founders and when to bring them onboard.
• Advised on software-as-a-service models and scalability considerations.
• Guided teams on balancing product development with go-to-market activities.

Pitch Development and Communication:

• Refined pitch narratives to clearly articulate value propositions to diverse audiences.
• Helped founders distill scattered ideas into compelling, coherent presentations.
• Coached teams on effective storytelling and presentation techniques for investor meetings.

Founder Dynamics and Team Management:

• Facilitated difficult conversations about cofounder fit and team composition.
• Provided guidance on recognizing when partnerships were not working and how to address these situations professionally.
• Coached founders on leadership skills and maintaining team focus on critical objectives.

Go-to-Market Strategy:

• Advised on customer segmentation and identifying initial target markets.
• Guided teams on metrics and goal-setting for early-stage startups.
• Helped founders understand the importance of launching quickly rather than pursuing perfection.

Throughout the program, Keiboarder also provided ad hoc support to three additional teams outside the core mentorship cohort, extending the impact of the engagement.

Program Retention:

• Keiboarder achieved the highest retention rate among all coaches in the program, with all seven mentored teams completing the full 12-week program successfully.

Accelerator Acceptances and Competition Wins:

• CareSync accepted into Lovable's Shipped Accelerator and achieved pilot stage by program end.
• Badger accepted into Atlanta Tech Village's "It Takes a Village" pre-accelerator program.
• TheBucketList accepted into the So-Ambitious Accelerator, won Tile's Pitch Competition (both Judges' and Audience Choice), and nominated for 2025 Atlanta Startup Awards (Best On-Campus Startup).

User Acquisition and Market Validation:

• Badger acquired more than 7,000 users during the program.
• Multiple teams successfully validated product-market fit through customer discovery processes.
• CareSync progressed to pilot stage with customers by program conclusion.

Funding and Resource Acquisition:

• Badger approved for Kennesaw State's Mookerji Innovation Fund.
• Teams collectively leveraged program resources to build functional prototypes and market-ready products.

Skill Development:

• Founders developed critical entrepreneurial competencies including unbiased customer discovery, pitch articulation, strategic pivoting, and effective team leadership.
• Teams learned to prioritize problem validation over solution building, preventing wasted development resources.

• Enhanced Founder Capabilities: Mentored founders developed essential skills in customer validation, pitch development, and strategic decision-making that will serve them throughout their entrepreneurial careers.
• Accelerated Startup Progress: Teams made significant progress toward viable business models in a compressed timeframe, with several achieving major milestones including accelerator acceptances and substantial user acquisition.
• Improved Decision-Making: Founders gained clarity on critical strategic decisions including when to pivot, how to validate assumptions, and when to have difficult conversations about team composition.
• Network Expansion: Startups gained valuable connections within Atlanta's entrepreneurial ecosystem and positioned themselves for continued growth beyond the program.
• Risk Mitigation: By emphasizing customer validation before extensive development, Keiboarder's guidance helped teams avoid costly mistakes and wasted resources on unvalidated solutions.

This case study offers valuable insights for technology leaders and startup mentors:

• ‍Customer Validation First: Building products before validating customer problems leads to wasted resources. Encouraging founders to conduct thorough, unbiased customer discovery before development saves time and capital.‍
• Strategic Pivoting: Founders must understand that pivoting based on market feedback is a strength, not a failure. Creating a safe environment for founders to acknowledge when approaches aren't working accelerates progress.‍
• Communication is Critical: Many technical founders possess strong domain knowledge but struggle to articulate their vision clearly. Investing time in pitch development and storytelling significantly improves a startup's ability to attract investors and customers.‍
• Founder Dynamics Matter: Addressing cofounder fit issues early prevents long-term problems. Mentors should proactively help founders navigate difficult conversations about team composition and partnership dynamics.‍
• Mentorship Retention: Consistent, engaged mentorship that addresses both technical and strategic challenges leads to higher retention rates and better outcomes for startup teams.