What that actually gave us: structured mentorship from operators who’d done it before; deadline pressure with demo days attached; a bench of advisors (including from the University of Wisconsin network) who still answer my calls; and the campus-insider view of how universities think, which became a real asset when UNC itself became a client.

For student founders: your university’s accelerator is the cheapest leverage you’ll ever get. Take every office hour. It’s a large part of why a bedroom company survived to become a real one.