Wolf Pack LaunchU 2026 Bootcamp Recap: Five Days That Started Everything
Five days. Fifteen founders. One week that set it all in motion.
Wolf Pack LaunchU 2026 kicked off on Monday, May 11, with a simple premise: show up, do the work, and leave with something more than you came in with. By Friday afternoon, every founder in the room had done exactly that — and then some.
Here's how the week unfolded.
Monday — Connection & Clarity
Theme: Get comfortable → then get focused
The week began the way every good story does — with introductions. Before the cohort could build anything, they had to build trust in each other. Monday morning was dedicated to team building and icebreakers, giving fifteen strangers (and a few familiar faces) the space to become a community.
By mid-morning, the real work began. Founders dove into value proposition refinement — the deceptively simple question at the heart of every venture: what are you actually offering, and why does it matter to the person you're building it for? After lunch, the cohort moved into customer segments, mapping out exactly who their customers are, what they need, and what they're willing to pay for.
The afternoon closed with teamwork and coaching sessions — the first of many moments this week where founders got honest, direct feedback and had to decide what to do with it.
Tuesday — Customers & Business Model
Theme: How do you reach, serve, and sustain customers?
Tuesday went deeper. With value propositions sharpened from the day before, the cohort turned their attention to the mechanics of actually running a business. Liz Moser led the morning session on customer relationships and channels — how founders build and maintain the connections that keep a business alive, and how they get their product or service in front of the right people.
The afternoon tackled revenue streams and pricing, one of the most challenging conversations any early-stage founder has to have. How much is your product or service worth? What are people actually willing to pay? These aren't comfortable questions — but they're the right ones.
Wednesday — Financials, Discovery & Mentorship
Theme: Know your numbers, your customers, and your support system
Wednesday was the week's most intensive day — and one of its most memorable. Jey Miguez led a deep-dive financials workshop covering both the foundations and the applied side of understanding your numbers. For many founders, this was the session that made everything click — or surfaced the questions they didn't know they needed to ask.
The afternoon brought something entirely different. Frankie Weinberg led the cohort through "Captain Your Growth: The Founder's Guide to Mentorship" — an immersive Lego Serious Play experience that challenged founders to think about what they need from a mentor, what kind of support they're looking for, and how to make the most of the relationship ahead. It was playful, unexpected, and exactly what the middle of a hard week needed.
Wednesday closed with a customer discovery sprint — founders out in the field, testing their assumptions against the real world, and coming back to debrief as a group.
Thursday — Growth & Story
Theme: Build traction and tell your story
By Thursday, the cohort had the building blocks. Now it was time to learn how to talk about them. The day opened with elevator pitches — each founder standing up and articulating their venture in sixty seconds or less. Some nailed it. Some didn't. All of them got better.
Aimee Alleman led the morning session on branding and positioning — how founders define what their venture stands for, how it looks and feels, and how it shows up in the world. The afternoon moved into pitch deck development, where founders began translating everything they had built over the week into a story they could tell on a stage.
Friday — Mentors & Next Steps
Theme: What happens next
Friday felt different from the moment it started. The cohort came in dressed professionally — ready for headshots and a morning of final team check-ins and pitch practice. By noon, they sat down for the Mentor Lunch, where they met the experienced professionals who will be walking alongside them all summer.
We are so grateful to this year's mentor cohort for showing up for our founders:
Attending the Mentor Lunch: Denise (Denny) Bro, John "J.R." Ross, Erich Mattei, Daryl Roy, Rick Mekdessie, Tom Daly, Philip Lapeyre, Lindsey Navarro, and Valeria Ali.
Also mentoring this summer: Marigny deMauriac, Amy Sins, Matt Glazer, Roco Gandara, Russ Powell, Jeffrey Doussan, Andreas Pashos, and Brian Danos.
Each mentor will be paired with a founder and meeting with them twice monthly through August — bringing their expertise, their networks, and their hard-won experience to the table.
What They Leave With
By Friday afternoon, every founder in Wolf Pack LaunchU 2026 walked out with something they didn't have on Monday morning:
- A clearer, stronger business concept
- Real customer insights from the field
- A refined business model
- A compelling elevator pitch
- A mentor relationship for the summer
But more than any of that, they walked out knowing that this community is behind them.
What's Next
Bootcamp is over. The real work is just beginning.
Over the summer, the cohort will participate in virtual workshops, continuing to build on everything from this week. They'll meet regularly with their mentors. They'll keep refining, testing, and iterating — all building toward the first-round pitch, where the Top 8 finalists will be selected to compete at the Wolf Pack LaunchU 2026 Final Pitch Competition.
That night is September 10 at Loyola University New Orleans. Eight founders. One stage. Nearly $50,000 in non-dilutive funding and support on the line.
We'll be sharing founder stories all summer long — follow along on Instagram at @startup.loyno and get updates sent to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.
And if you want to be in the room on September 10 — RSVP now to save your spot.
This cohort has a lot to say. We're just getting started. 🐺