Startup Studio

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Turning Curiosity into Venture-Ready Insight

A One-Day Experiential Program for University System of Georgia Students to connect and collaborate with fellow founders while advancing their idea or invention.

Startup Studio is a high-impact, virtual-format program for all students across Georgia’s public colleges and universities who are curious about startups and commercialization. Through a 5-hour session, participants learn to test and validate real startup ideas using an evidence-based approach rather than guesswork. Startup Studio is a fast-track experience in evidence-based entrepreneurship, focused on real-world customer discovery, hypothesis testing, and value creation, based on the award-winning Georgia Tech CREATE-X.

Program Date: [The Studio is offered in a Virtual setting - via Zoom.]

• • November 16, 2026: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Application Process

Please complete the application in full using the provided link to access the application; incomplete applications will not be considered. Completion of this application ensures you and/or your team will be considered for participation in the University System of Georgia (USG) Startup Studio 2026.

Application Deadline:

Applications due November 4, 2026 @ 5pm ET (Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Early submission is encouraged.)

Review Process: 

Applications will be reviewed by the GT VentureLab team and acceptance will be based on both the strength of the team and the quality of the project idea. Early-stage deep tech projects will be prioritized. Final decisions will reflect how well the team and project align with the program’s goals.

Acceptance Notification via Email:

All accepted teams will be notified no later than November 6, 2026. (Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Early submission is encouraged.)

What Students Learn

• • Evidence-based entrepreneurship fundamentals
  • Talking to humans: customer discovery and interviews
  • Business thesis, hypotheses, and the Business Model Canvas
  • Jobs-to-be-done, mindset, and empathy mapping
  • Building and executing a customer discovery plan 

Impact and Student Response

Feedback from the inaugural workshop was strongly positive across a wide range of ages and backgrounds, from first-time founders to aspiring educators with no business background. The most common theme was a genuine shift in how students and faculty think: away from building in isolation and toward validating ideas with real customers first.

• • Perspective change: shifted participants from "designing the business" to "thinking like the customer" and testing assumptions before building.
  • Engagement: a five-hour session that "seemed no longer than a traditional lecture," with participants engaged throughout.
  • Real progress: students and faculty left able to refine vague ideas into clear, qualified research plans through direct coaching.
  • Demand: participants asked for more of it, including follow-on workshops and one-on-one follow-ups.

Student Testimonies 

• • "The knowledge and expertise I gathered were vastly helpful in moving forward and understanding both my current startup progress and the entrepreneurship ecosystem in general. Any initial anxiety was immediately alleviated."

• • "A massive turning point for me was when feedback helped me reframe my pitch. I started out with something incredibly general that tried to cover too much ground. The guidance challenged me to narrow my focus and make the concept much less broad. That specific correction was exactly what I needed to understand what a sound, qualified pitch requires. Because of that feedback, I was able to refine my concept into something clear and actionable."

• • "It humbled me and shifted my perspective from being the person designing the business to thinking like the customer. Talking to customers isn't slowing down the process, it's laying the foundation for building something people actually want."
    — Inaugural USG Startup Studio participants, Summer 2026