Since its creation in 2020, the BYU Sandbox program has empowered students to transform their entrepreneurial dreams into reality by working in small teams to create, launch and scale tech businesses — all within just two semesters.
Students team up in groups of 2-4 with a software engineer, product manager and a designer. Though they have class time to devote to their projects, the majority of the work is self-motivated.
Scott Evanson has worked on dozens of start-ups — whether as a co-founder, investor or advisor — and is the managing director of the Sandbox program. He loves the early start-up process and said he can’t think of a better time to give it a try than as an undergrad.
“If you do Sandbox right, you either build a great company that's worth something,” Evanson said. “Worst case, you're getting in reps at trying to build something, which I would argue sets you up as a better potential employee than just about anything else you can do in your early career.”
Students can earn up to 18 school credits while in Sandbox, Evanson said. This way, students can work on starting their business while still progressing through their major.
Alexander Densley and Adam Chandler went through the program last year and are currently living in Los Angeles doing the Y Combinator program, a prestigious technology startup accelerator that has funded 5,000 companies including Doordash, Airbnb, Reddit and Twitch.
Densley owes much of his success to Sandbox and the mentorship he received from the directors, Scott Evanson and Chris Crittenden, he said.
“They provide invaluable support, motivation, advice and encouragement to help you get through those times when you might quit if you were alone,” Densley said. “They have changed the trajectory of my life, hands down.”
Densley and Chandler created an AI model that checks construction blueprints for code compliance called Permitify. It is currently being used by 8 cities across Utah, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Izzy Kallas is a finance major at BYU and is currently in the Sandbox program. The best teams are the ones with the most compatible co-founders, she said.
“If you guys work well together, then the idea is more likely to be successful,” Kallas said.
Kallas and her co-founder, Kamila Turapova, started a software company for beauty professionals to grow and manage their clientele called Beauty By You.
Their company has grown more than Kallas imagined going into the program, but she had to learn tons of new skills to get there, she said. Students in Sandbox have to be willing to learn anything as you solve all the problems that come up along the way.
“I feel like because you're so passionate about it and because you want to see it work and you love what you're doing, you just find these crazy ways around it,” Kallas said.
Weston Burnett is currently in the Sandbox program and says doing Sandbox has helped him grow his network and make more connections.
“If they hear that you're doing Sandbox, they're way more likely to talk to you,” Burnett said. “We've been able to connect with all kinds of CEOs at big tech companies and learn from them.”
Burnett and his team created a wedding marketplace app called Bidi that makes wedding planning easier by helping couples find vendors, videographers, photographers, caterers, florists, DJs and hair and makeup artists.
Burnett said he feels a constant pressure to move faster with his business.
“The roller coaster that is starting a company is like some days are incredibly awesome, some days are awful,” Burnett said.
Although starting a business can be demoralizing and stressful, Sandbox has helped him realize "if you never give up, you can do anything." The program and his co-founders help him feel motivated and excited.
“My expectations are starting to really be understood (that) some companies just explode, right? But it also takes a long time,” Burnett said.
He and his team currently have over 390 users and have brought on 250 vendors. They plan to continue developing Bidi after finishing the Sandbox program.
Some students will complete the Sandbox program, realize entrepreneurship is not their thing and sell their company, Evanston said. But the skills they gain from the experience continue to be beneficial. Data shows those who go through the program are likely to have a higher starting salary after they finish school.
Though college students can always start a company on their own, those who participate in the program say Sandbox is the best option.
“The most effective way to navigate that learning curve is to build surrounded by faculty and mentors and peers that are either all wrestling with similar problems or who have done it before,” Evanson said.
Densley said his best advice for college students wanting to start a company is to participate in Sandbox.
“Sandbox was that program that allowed me to have those moments where I felt like I was waking up to what life could be (and) should be,” Densley said. “I got off of that path … of just checking boxes (and) into how can my life can be worth living a bit more.”