Stop
Guessing.
Start Growing.
Wake Forest's Free 14-Week Business Accelerator for Existing Owners
A 14-week accelerator for existing business owners ready to sharpen strategy, master their numbers, and build a company that scales — taught by entrepreneurs, not professors.
Instruction
Sponsor-Funded
Per Cohort
9 Years
Why LaunchWakeForest
Built for
Operators.
Not Theorists.
Most programs are taught by people who studied business. We're taught by someone who has built, scaled, and sold several.
The Curriculum
14 Weeks. 14 Sessions.
One Stronger Business.
Each week builds on the last — from networking and mindset through marketing, sales, operations, financials, and a live Pitch Night finale.
Connect with fellow participants, past graduates, and community leaders. Build the relationships that often become as valuable as the curriculum itself.
Evaluate the realities of ownership — time demands, financial risk, and control. Determine whether you're building a scalable business or creating another job for yourself.
Define your core offer, clarify what customers are truly paying for, and align pricing with value. Shape a revenue model that is realistic and sustainable.
Identify the right customer and where to find them. Develop clear customer profiles based on real-world behavior — not assumptions — to sharpen focus and messaging.
Analyze your competitive landscape and define what makes your business different. Create a compelling reason for customers to choose you over every other option.
Go beyond logos and visuals. Refine your messaging, tone, and brand perception so you're clearly and consistently conveying your value to the market.
Build a practical, repeatable approach to generating leads — covering local, digital, and referral strategies with a focus on consistency over complexity.
Map your sales process from first contact to close. Identify where opportunities are lost and build confidence presenting pricing, handling objections, and following up.
Evaluate when to hire, what roles are needed, and the difference between employees and contractors. Learn delegation, accountability, and how to avoid costly hiring mistakes.
Define how your business consistently delivers its product or service. Identify inefficiencies and build a more reliable, scalable way to operate.
Organize revenue, expenses, and margins into a clear picture. Understand profitability, cash flow, and break-even — the key metrics expected at Pitch Night.
Cover entity structure, contracts, insurance, and common areas of risk. Make informed decisions and avoid issues that can become costly down the road.
Present your business to a panel of judges, community leaders, and peers. Clearly communicate your business model, market opportunity, and financial understanding.
A graduation event recognizing the progress and commitment of each participant — and the transition from cohort member to part of the broader LaunchWakeForest network.
Pitch Night & Graduation
Where It All
Comes Together.
Week 13 ends with a live 3-minute pitch to a panel of community leaders. Then Week 14 — Graduation — with certificates, local officials, and a room full of people who did the work.
- Complete business plan & pitch deck you own
- Deep command of your numbers — margins, break-even, cash flow
- Tested brand strategy and working marketing plan
- Legal and operational foundation properly structured
- Graduation certificate — paper & digital for LinkedIn
- Real relationships with fellow Wake Forest entrepreneurs
- Access to the Chamber of Commerce ecosystem
Curriculum Pillars
Six Things That
Actually Grow
a Business.
Every session maps to one of these pillars — every exercise applies directly to your company.
Is This For You?
We're Selective.
By Design.
LaunchWakeForest is built for a specific entrepreneur. Read this carefully before applying.
- You already operate a business with a product or service actively in market
- Your business is based in or serves the Wake Forest, NC area
- You want to increase revenue, improve margins, and build real systems
- You're ready to be challenged and held accountable every single week
- You can commit to attending all 14 sessions — no exceptions
- You're still at the idea stage with no business in market
- Your business has no connection to Wake Forest, NC
- You can't commit to all 14 weekly sessions
- You represent a nonprofit organization
Guest Speakers
Learn From People
Who've Done It.
Every session features a local business leader sharing real-world experience — not textbook theory.
Entrepreneurs Playbook
Resources to Help You
Launch & Grow.
Practical guides, strategies, and insights from entrepreneurs who've built real businesses — written for Wake Forest business owners like you.
AI in the Curriculum
We Don't Ban AI.
We Teach It.
Most programs restrict AI tools. We build them into every session — because that's how real businesses compete today.
Program Details
Everything You
Need to Know.
Your Instructor
Walker
Brad Walker doesn't teach entrepreneurship from a textbook. He teaches it from twenty-plus years of building, breaking, fixing, and selling real companies.
Brad is the founder and program administrator of LaunchWakeForest, with a career spanning software, real estate, construction, media, and civic technology. His flagship venture, InfiniEDGE Software, grew from a startup into an Inc. 5000-recognized technology company — earning Company of the Year and Large Company of the Year honors — before he sold it in 2016. Along the way, he launched multiple additional ventures, including a digital event judging platform, a grassroots campaign software company, a regional online newspaper that won Small Business of the Year, and a full-service branding firm. Each company was built from scratch, on real capital, with real teams, and real consequences.
After exiting InfiniEDGE, Brad expanded into commercial real estate and construction, where he has led development projects ranging from $1M to $15M as founder of InfiniEDGE Real Estate Group. He is a Licensed Real Estate Broker-in-Charge in North Carolina and advises business owners on acquisitions, leases, and exits through InfiniEDGE Business Brokerage.
Brad created LaunchWakeForest because he believes the best business education comes from people who have actually done the work — met payroll, navigated difficult clients, made hiring mistakes, and built something worth selling. Every session in this program reflects lessons he learned the hard way and translates them into practical frameworks that Main Street business owners can actually use.
He is a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Wake Forest and has been active in the local business community for years, organizing events, mentoring founders, and helping connect entrepreneurs with the relationships and resources they need to grow.
Brad lives in Wake Forest, NC, with his wife, Czarina, who co-founded InfiniEDGE Software with him and later led product at a major software company's state and local government division.
What Graduates Say
150+ Entrepreneurs.
9 Years. Real Results.
Since 2018, LaunchWakeForest has graduated over 150 local business owners. Here's what they have to say.
"The biggest shift for me was realizing this program isn't about ideas, it's about execution. The mindset work forced me to define what I actually want and build a business that fits that, not just chase something that sounds good."
"Talking to real customers early completely changed my direction. I thought I knew my market, but the interviews and persona work showed me where the real demand was, and where I was just guessing."
"Before this program, I was basically pricing based on gut feel. Learning how to structure pricing, understand margins, and forecast revenue gave me confidence that my business can actually be profitable."
"Pitch Night was the moment everything became real. Presenting in front of actual business leaders forced me to sharpen my message and defend my numbers — it was easily the most valuable part of the program."
"Please send my thanks to the Wake Forest Rotary Club for the opportunity to attend Launch Wake Forest. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to have this beautiful experience with my family!"
Your Business Deserves Better Than Guesswork.
14 weeks. Real instruction. Zero tuition. A cohort of operators who push each other. Spots are limited and reviewed by application.
Apply for the Next Cohort →Questions? Contact us
Common Questions
Frequently Asked
Questions
LaunchWakeForest is primarily for existing business owners in or around Wake Forest, NC who are ready to sharpen their strategy, improve their financials, and build systems that scale. We also welcome pre-launch founders who have a well-developed idea and have already put in significant work — but have not yet taken the leap. Applicants who haven't launched yet will need to demonstrate that meaningful groundwork has been done. Each cohort is limited to 20 participants to ensure personalized attention.
LaunchWakeForest is completely free. There is no tuition, no fees, and no equity taken. The program is fully funded by the Town of Wake Forest, the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary Club of Wake Forest.
The program runs for 14 weeks and meets on Tuesday evenings at the Wake Electric Training Room in Wake Forest, NC. It culminates in a public Pitch Night and graduation celebration where participants present to the local business community.
The curriculum covers the full spectrum of running a real business: competitive positioning and business model clarity, financial fundamentals and reading your numbers, sales process and conversion, marketing strategy and customer acquisition, operations and systems, and leadership. Every session is taught with direct application to your existing company — no hypothetical case studies.
Brad J. Walker serves as the lead instructor and program administrator. Brad is a serial entrepreneur who has built, scaled, and sold multiple companies — including InfiniEDGE Software, an Inc. 5000-recognized technology company. He teaches from direct experience, not a textbook. Guest speakers from the local business community also contribute throughout the cohort.
Apply at launch.kairossoftware.online/launchwakeforest/. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Cohort size is capped at 20 participants, so apply early to secure your spot. If you have questions before applying, use the contact form below.
LaunchWakeForest and LaunchRolesville are sister programs — same curriculum, same instructor, same format — but run as independent cohorts on different schedules. Both were founded by Brad Walker through the Rotary Club of Wake Forest. LaunchWakeForest runs in the fall at the Wake Electric Training Room in downtown Wake Forest, NC. LaunchRolesville runs in the spring at Arise CoWorking in downtown Rolesville, NC. If the timing of one session doesn't work for you, you're encouraged to apply for the other.
A business accelerator is a structured program that helps existing business owners grow faster by providing mentorship, education, and peer accountability over a fixed period. Unlike incubators (which focus on early-stage startups), accelerators like LaunchWakeForest are designed for businesses already in market that want to sharpen strategy, improve financials, and scale operations. LaunchWakeForest is a free 14-week accelerator in Wake Forest, NC that has graduated over 150 local business owners since 2018.
LaunchWakeForest is different in several key ways: it is completely free (no tuition, no fees, no equity taken), it is taught by a serial entrepreneur who has built and sold multiple companies (not professors), it integrates AI tools like ChatGPT and Canva AI directly into the curriculum, and it culminates in a live Pitch Night where participants present to real business leaders. The program has been running for 9 years and has graduated over 150 local entrepreneurs, making it one of the most established free business accelerators in the Triangle region of North Carolina.
Over 9 years and 150+ graduates, LaunchWakeForest participants have reported improved financial clarity, stronger pricing strategies, better customer acquisition systems, and increased confidence in presenting their business. Graduates leave with a complete business plan, a tested pitch deck, a working marketing plan, and lasting relationships with fellow Wake Forest entrepreneurs.
No, you do not need a formal business plan to apply. In fact, building and refining your business plan is part of the 14-week curriculum. What you do need is an existing business that is actively in market (or significant progress toward launching one). The program will help you develop your business plan, financial projections, and pitch deck throughout the cohort.
LaunchWakeForest integrates AI tools directly into the curriculum rather than banning them. Participants learn to use ChatGPT for business planning, marketing strategies, and financial modeling; Canva AI for professional branding and visual assets; and Jasper for high-quality business content and messaging. These tools are taught as practical skills that give small business owners a competitive edge.
Yes. While LaunchWakeForest primarily serves the Wake Forest business community, entrepreneurs from surrounding areas are welcome to apply if their business serves or is connected to the Wake Forest area. The sister program LaunchRolesville, which runs in the spring in downtown Rolesville, NC, is also an option. Both programs share the same curriculum, instructor, and format.
Get In Touch
Have Questions?
Reach out and we'll get back to you within one business day.
Message Sent!
Thanks for reaching out. We'll be in touch within one business day.