Nashville Entrepreneur Center Student founders · Fall 2026
A two-day sprint

Business Build Sprint

You shipped the product. Now build the company behind it.

Thursday + FridayNovember 2026NashvilleFree for students
Get on the listPartner with us

Building got easy. Running a company didn't.

AI tools let student founders go from idea to working product in days. Some raise money soon after. Then the hard questions show up.

Is this the right legal structure? Do we own the code our contractors wrote? Is this person a contractor or an employee? What do we owe the people who invested? No chatbot signs your founder agreement.

The Business Build Sprint puts those questions in front of people who answer them for a living: attorneys, accountants, payroll experts, and operators from the Nashville Entrepreneur Center network. You leave with your problems found, ranked, and partly fixed.

Who it's for

Student founders, undergrad or grad, with something real: a live product, paying customers, or outside money.

You're a fit if

  • People already use what you built
  • You've raised money or have revenue
  • You pay contractors or plan to hire
  • You've never had a lawyer or CPA look at your company

Not yet if

  • You're still choosing an idea
  • You want pitch practice
  • You're looking for investors

Two days

Run like a software sprint. Day one finds the bugs. Day two fixes them.

Thursday · Evening

Audit night

Your team grades its company against the Readiness Checklist: pass, fail, or don't know. The "don't know" answers matter most. Dinner provided. No lectures.

Friday · Full day

Sprint day

  • MorningTwo short talks: the five ways student companies blow up, and the contractor-or-employee question.
  • MiddayAdvisor stations. Your team rotates through the stations that match its failed items, in 25-minute blocks.
  • AfternoonFix block. File the paperwork, draft the agreement, open the account, with advisors in the room.
  • CloseRelease notes. Ninety seconds per team: what you fixed, what's still open, who's helping. No pitch decks.
Two weeks later: each team gets a 30-minute follow-up with an advisor to close what's still open.

The Readiness Checklist

Every item passes or fails. Each advisor station fixes one part of it.

Legal structure

Attorneys
  • Right entity for the money you took
  • Founder agreement and vesting
  • Accurate ownership records
  • SAFE and note terms you understand

IP and AI

Attorneys
  • You own what contractors built
  • Signed IP assignments
  • AI tool terms that allow commercial use

Money

CPAs and finance leads
  • Separate business bank account
  • Bookkeeping someone actually does
  • State filings and sales tax
  • Monthly spend and runway

People

Payroll and HR experts
  • Contractor or employee, correctly
  • 1099s filed
  • Written scopes of work
  • Your first W-2 hire

Investors

Investors and operators
  • Regular investor updates
  • Where the money went
  • Board basics

Risk

Insurance brokers
  • The policies your contracts and investors expect

Partner with the sprint

Student founders are building on new tools every week. Partners put their products and expertise in front of founders at the moment they turn a project into a company.

We're looking for a small number of technology and professional-services partners for the first sprint.

  • Technology partnersGive teams the tools to build and run their companies: platform credits, extended plans, and hands-on help during the fix block.
  • Advisor partnersStaff a station for a day. Attorneys, accountants, payroll providers, and brokers who work with early companies.
  • Event partnersCover dinner, lunch, and space for two days of work.

Questions

What does it cost?

Nothing for students.

Do I need a team?

No. Solo founders are welcome. Teams can bring up to three people.

Will I get legal or tax advice?

You'll get education and direction from working professionals. Advisors explain what to fix and how. Anything that needs formal advice gets a clear next step and a name to call.

Is this a pitch competition?

No. There are no judges, no prizes, and no decks. The only score is how many checklist items you fix.

Who runs it?

The Nashville Entrepreneur Center, a nonprofit that helps founders start and grow companies in Nashville. It takes no equity in the companies it helps.

Where is it?

In Nashville, close to campus. The exact location and dates will be announced with registration.

Registration opens soon

Your product is live. Is your company?

Spots are limited so every team gets real time with advisors. Get on the list and we'll send dates, location, and the application first.

Contact the Nashville Entrepreneur Center