Launch Lab built the spark. The Academy builds the business.
A 10-month, 48-session advanced program for Launch Lab graduates ready to go all the way — full business model, real financial projections, a year-long mentor, and a public investor pitch at Demo Day.
QUICK FACTS
48 Sessions
10 Month Program length
Lanunch Grads- Who can apply
$500 Demo Day seed prize
This isn't Launch Lab again, longer.
Launch Lab proves you can build something real in nine sessions. The Academy is where that something becomes an actual business — with a real model, real financial projections, and a real revenue strategy, built alongside a mentor who's done this for a living.
By the end, you're not pitching an idea. You're pitching a business that's already making money, to a room of real investors, at Demo Day.
How the two programs compare
Launch LabThe AcademyLength9 sessions48 sessions over 10 monthsWho it's forAny Clark County teen, 13–18Launch Lab graduates onlySupportCoaches, every sessionA mentor, all yearWhat you buildA business idea, validated and sold onceA complete business model with financial projections and a revenue strategyCustomer relationshipsYour first salesOngoing — managing real, returning customersThe big nightPitch Night — $250 seed prizeDemo Day — a public investor pitch — $500 seed prize
A year, not a sprint.
The Academy moves in four phases over ten months.
Phase 1 — Build the real model. You rebuild your Launch Lab business into a complete business model — real financial projections, a real revenue strategy, not a back-of-napkin plan. You're paired with your mentor in the first month, and you've got something tangible to show within the first six weeks.
Phase 2 — Go public again. Around the midpoint of the program, you hold a second public sales event — same real-stakes format as Launch Lab's Soft Launch Event, but now backed by a real financial model instead of a first guess.
Phase 3 — Run it for real. For about three months, you're managing actual, ongoing customer relationships and filing weekly revenue reports — the same discipline a real small business owner lives with every week. If the numbers aren't there, this is also where you pivot — real businesses change direction, and so do real Academy businesses.
Phase 4 — Demo Day. The year builds to a public investor pitch event where Clark County teenagers present operating businesses to a room of community leaders, investors, and visitors. Nothing else in this region looks like it.
Coaches show up for a session. Mentors show up for a year.
In Launch Lab, coaches sit in the room every session. In the Academy, you're paired with a single mentor — a Clark County business professional who works alongside you for the full ten months.
Your mentor is often from a different background, a different neighborhood, a different life than yours. That's not incidental. It's one of the most important things the Academy does: pairing students who'd otherwise never cross paths, and building something real together.
A mentor has no authority over your grades or your future. They're not there to evaluate you. They're there because they chose to be — which makes their advice land differently than it would coming from a teacher or a parent.
Who can join?
✓ Launch Lab graduates only — the Academy is the next step, not a separate entry point
✓ Still Clark County teens, ages 13–18
✓ No additional cost — free, same as Launch Lab, permanently
✓ Starts September 2027, following Launch Lab's second cohort
✓ A full year of commitment — this is for students who are serious about going further
This is how a teenager becomes a Clark County business owner.
A Launch Lab graduate who keeps their business alive, hires their first employee at 20, and is still operating in Clark County at 25 isn't a hypothetical. That's exactly the outcome the Academy is built to produce.
Multiply that by every graduating cohort, and the Academy isn't a program. It's a pipeline — and a reason for Clark County's best young people to stay and build here instead of leaving for good.
Questions you might have
I haven't done Launch Lab. Can I apply directly to the Academy?
No — the Academy is built specifically for Launch Lab graduates. Launch Lab is where you start.
Is the Academy also free?
Yes. Same promise as Launch Lab: free, permanently, regardless of family income.
What happens if my Launch Lab business didn't really take off?
That's still a real starting point. The Academy is where you rebuild and strengthen the model — it doesn't require that your Launch Lab business was already a runaway success.
What's Demo Day, exactly?
A public event where you pitch your operating business to a room of real investors and community leaders — not just judges giving feedback, but people positioned to actually back what you've built.
The Academy launches September 2027.
Complete Launch Lab first — this is where you go after.