This summer, 17 startups in NYU's Startup Sprint set out to answer a deceptively simple question: are we solving a problem people actually care about?

Over the course of four weeks, 17 teams conducted more than 600 customer discovery interviews, searching for what Sprint participants call "hair-on-fire" problems: issues so painful that customers are already spending time, money, or energy trying to solve them.

The result wasn't just new products. It was a new perspective.

Some teams validated their original ideas. Others discovered entirely different opportunities. A few learned that the most valuable outcome of customer discovery isn't validation at all, it's learning where not to build.

As Aesthé founder Sarah Machado (Tandon '27) reflected after completing 33 interviews, "After 33 interviews, I'm still hearing new things."

That spirit of curiosity defined this year's Sprint.

Agora

Making Selling as Simple as Buying

With 51 interviews completed, Agora emerged as one of the program's most active discovery teams. The founders began by helping vintage resellers list inventory online, but quickly realized the deeper issue wasn't listing itself.

For many professional resellers, a day spent sourcing inventory is followed by another full day spent creating listings. The process becomes a bottleneck that limits growth.

Through customer conversations, Agora refined its focus to high-volume online and hybrid resellers, building tools that help inventory move to market faster and reduce the operational burden of selling.

Aesthé

Rethinking the Aesthetic Consultation

Aesthé entered Sprint focused on AI-powered cosmetic treatment visualization.

After 33 interviews and six hair-on-fire conversations, the team discovered that the real opportunity extended far beyond visualization. Clinics, aesthetic professionals, and patients all experienced friction during consultations, from fragmented systems to poor record keeping and unclear communication.

Rather than rushing toward a solution, Aesthé used Sprint to better understand the ecosystem and identify where meaningful value could be created.

Arxitech

Finding the Right Problem Inside Construction Software

Arxitech started with a broad vision around workflow automation for architecture, engineering, and construction firms.

After 12 interviews, the team uncovered a highly specific pain point experienced by BIM specialists and VDC engineers working inside Revit. While most customers described incremental improvements, one hair-on-fire interview revealed a problem severe enough to consume an entire workday.

That insight helped the team narrow its focus toward automation tools capable of eliminating hours of manual work for technical users.

Cortile

Bringing Clarity to Vendor Security Reviews

Originally focused on helping startups navigate security requirements, Cortile discovered a stronger opportunity after speaking with healthcare security teams.

The team completed 36 interviews and identified 13 hair-on-fire customers. What they found was that vendor security reviewers spend enormous amounts of time conducting repetitive checks while remaining personally accountable when something gets missed.

Today, Cortile is building an AI verification layer that helps reviewers focus on judgment calls while automating routine review work.

Counterpart

An AI Scene Partner for Working Actors

Counterpart completed 51 interviews across actors, understudies, and performers.

What started as a general rehearsal tool evolved into a much more focused solution. The team discovered that professional actors who audition frequently face a recurring challenge: finding reliable scene partners for rehearsals, self-tapes, and last-minute preparation.

The result is a platform designed specifically for actors who learn through dialogue and need support on demand.

GEM Dental Design

Learning from a Negative Result

One of the most important lessons of Sprint came from GEM Dental Design.

After 17 interviews, the team found zero hair-on-fire problems.

Rather than forcing a narrative, GEM treated that outcome as valuable evidence. Through customer discovery, the team dramatically narrowed its target customer and sharpened its understanding of where pain might actually exist.

In entrepreneurship, learning where not to build can be just as valuable as finding where to build.

MilkShaker

Solving a 3 A.M. Problem

MilkShaker recorded the highest number of hair-on-fire interviews in the program.

After conducting 92 interviews across mothers, clinicians, and healthcare providers, the team discovered a recurring pattern among women experiencing mastitis and clogged ducts. The most painful moments didn't happen during appointments. They happened at 3 a.m., when mothers were alone, overwhelmed, and searching for answers.

That insight transformed the team's understanding of both its customer and its value proposition.

Neem Health

Becoming a Fertility Advocate

Neem Health began as a broad care-navigation platform connecting patients with providers.

After 53 customer conversations, the strongest signal came from women navigating fertility treatment. These patients often coordinate care across multiple providers, manage time-sensitive decisions, and carry the burden of keeping everyone aligned.

The company has since shifted toward building an AI-powered fertility advocate that helps patients prepare for appointments, understand results, and coordinate their care journey.

NODES Neurotech

A Long-Term Vision, A Near-Term Wedge

NODES entered Sprint pursuing a bold mission: restoring speech through brain-computer interfaces.

Customer discovery confirmed the need but also revealed the challenges posed by clinical validation, reimbursement, and regulatory timelines.

The team responded by identifying a more immediate opportunity in epilepsy monitoring. That wedge allows NODES to pursue a faster path to market while continuing to work toward its long-term vision.

PerceptaDent

Identifying the Unknown

PerceptaDent tackled a problem familiar to restorative dentists and prosthodontists.

Many patients arrive without records identifying their dental implants, forcing clinicians to spend hours researching implant systems before treatment can begin.

After 40 interviews and 11 hair-on-fire conversations, the team refined its focus around helping dentists identify implants from a single X-ray, reducing delays and helping more patients receive care.

Mirae

Building Trust in Financial AI

Mirae began Sprint exploring infrastructure for AI systems across multiple regulated industries. Through customer discovery, the team narrowed its focus to financial services, where trust and explainability emerged as critical challenges. Interviews revealed that compliance teams, clients, and regulators often care less about an AI system's confidence score and more about understanding why a decision was made. Today, Mirae is building tools that help financial institutions create clear audit trails and explain AI-driven decisions.

Optosurgical

Improving Visibility in the Operating Room

Optosurgical set out to improve surgical visualization through advanced imaging technology. Through conversations with surgeons, hospital stakeholders, and procurement decision-makers, the team learned that clinical outcomes alone may not drive adoption. Instead, hospitals often evaluate new technologies based on efficiency, resource utilization, and workflow impact. That insight helped the team reposition its solution around operational value while continuing to pursue its long-term vision of improving surgical visibility.

PolySynk

Accelerating the Search for PFAS Alternatives

As new regulations reshape the materials industry, PolySynk is helping researchers tackle one of the sector's most urgent challenges: replacing fluorinated materials. Through customer discovery, the team learned that many organizations have created dedicated efforts to find alternatives, but existing discovery cycles remain slow and resource intensive. PolySynk is developing AI tools that help scientists identify promising candidates faster, reducing the time and cost required to evaluate new materials.

SimuStack

Turning Data Into Decisions

SimuStack entered Sprint believing CFOs needed better visibility into business operations. Customer interviews revealed a different reality. Most leaders already have access to enormous amounts of data. What they lack is guidance on what action to take next. The team refined its vision around helping finance leaders understand risks, identify priorities, and make more confident decisions before critical business moments.

SoundMesh

Audio That Just Works (the sound quality is top notch by the way)!

SoundMesh began with a broad audience of people using speakers and audio equipment. Through 34 conversations, the team identified a much more specific customer: recurring event organizers responsible for making audio work without professional support. Interviews revealed a recurring pattern of last-minute troubleshooting, forgotten equipment, and technical stress. SoundMesh is building wireless audio infrastructure designed to eliminate those headaches and let organizers focus on their events.

Turtl.Bio

Bridging the Regulatory Knowledge Gap

Turtl.Bio spent Sprint speaking with biotech founders navigating the complex path toward clinical trials. The team discovered that the biggest challenge is often not finding information, but having confidence in how to interpret it. By focusing on founder-scientists making high-stakes regulatory decisions without dedicated regulatory teams, Turtl.Bio refined its mission to provide guidance and reasoning support before companies commit significant time and resources.

Whip'd

Reinventing the Protein Snack

Whip'd explored a simple but surprisingly persistent consumer problem: finding a snack that delivers on protein, ingredients, and taste at the same time. After interviewing consumers across New York City, the team uncovered a highly motivated segment of health-conscious shoppers who felt forced to compromise between nutrition and enjoyment. Their product reimagines cottage cheese as a high-protein snack designed to eliminate that tradeoff.

What Comes Next

While every team left with a different business, they shared a common lesson.

The best founders don't fall in love with solutions. They fall in love with learning.

Throughout the Sprint, participants repeated a simple phrase:

"You gotta go where the hair is."

That mindset led teams to challenge assumptions, refine their ideas, and sometimes completely change direction.

As they continue building this summer, they'll carry forward more than prototypes and pitch decks. They'll carry forward the habit that matters most in entrepreneurship: staying curious long enough to be proven wrong.

Thank You

Startup Sprint would not be possible without the founders, mentors, coaches, and NYU Leslie Entrepreneurial Institute community who dedicated their time throughout the program.

Special thanks to our mentors and coaches who challenged teams to dig deeper, ask better questions, and remain relentlessly focused on the customer. We also want to recognize Jonas Guenther, Program Manager, for his creative use of AI throughout the program; Darren Yee, Senior Venture Associate, for consistently going above and beyond in support of founders; and the entire Leslie eLab team for helping make Startup Sprint possible.

To all of this summer's founders: congratulations on a remarkable few weeks. We can't wait to see what you build next.