Rochester Institute of Technology’s Bernard Kozel StartUp Program @ Saunders said it is using intensive customer discovery to teach student entrepreneurs to validate real-world problems before committing to products and business models.
Now in its 24th cohort, the 12-week summer program brings together students from across RIT to work full time on startup ideas while receiving coaching, funding support, and access to entrepreneurs and industry experts.
A central requirement is customer discovery. Instead of immediately pitching their products, founders are encouraged to repeatedly interview potential users and understand the underlying problem before refining a proposed solution.
One participating startup, Impulse, is developing a wearable head-impact sensor for athletes.
The device, which is smaller than an AirPods case, can attach to a helmet, monitor impacts in real time, and alert coaches or athletic trainers when a hit exceeds a predefined risk threshold.
The team interviewed coaches, athletic trainers, and parents while intentionally avoiding leading conversations with its product. Feedback from those interviews helped the founders refine the concept and narrow its focus.
Another participating company, Guardivo, is developing a platform that helps artists identify unauthorized copies of their work online and submit takedown requests.
After hundreds of conversations with potential users, Guardivo redesigned its interface from a broad stream of search results into a filterable dashboard that allows artists to distinguish between relatively harmless reposts and commercially significant infringement.
Teams meet twice each week for coaching and guest presentations and conclude the summer with a demonstration presentation.
The program is also connected with RIT’s wider startup ecosystem, including MAGIC Spell Studios, the Gap Year Fellowship, the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the Venture Creations incubator. Applications for the 25th summer cohort in 2027 are being accepted on a rolling basis.
KEY QUOTES:
“Every viable business starts with relentless customer discovery. If you don’t fully understand the problem, you cannot build the solution.”
Anthony Testa, Program Director of the Bernard Kozel StartUp Program @ Saunders
“When you’re working on something cool and technical, of course you want to talk about it. But learning to just listen is something I take away a lot from this experience.”
Luca Chiossone, Founder of Impulse
“We’ve done a few mini-pivots and really refined our scope. We’re wasting less time because of how much they made us prioritize interviews.”
Dillon Gallo, Impulse Team Member
