Inception Studio (San Francisco, CA) just held its first Utah retreat at Deer Valley, bringing together 13 seasoned founders and Silicon Valley mentors in an intense, 72-hour retreat, culminating in a Demo Day pitch to a larger, curated audience in San Francisco.
Deer Valley, Utah — September 15, 2025
Inception Studio, a Bay Area non-profit incubator founded by Mike Morris and John Whaley, wrapped up its first Utah event today. Inception blends a small group of seasoned founders with experienced Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and mentors in a 72-hour intensive retreat designed to spark startup formation under pressure. At a posh mountain retreat at Moonshadow in Deer Valley, 13 solo founders formed teams, selected or refined existing business concepts and co-founders, and worked toward a Demo Day pitch designed to put even the most battle-tested entrepreneurs under the spotlight.
Inception's Demo Day took place in the evening of September 15 at the offices of law firm Morrison Foerster in downtown San Francisco. 100 thoughtfully-curated guests were invited to see five startup pitches from the 13 founders of the Utah cohort. Three of the startup pitches were ideated and built from founding teams that had met at Deer Valley over the previous 72 hours. "Everybody was surprised at the incredible progress those teams made in such a short period of time," said Morris.
The other two pitches were from existing early-stage companies in the Inception community that came to the retreat to prepare to raise their first round of venture capital.
As a “special guest,” Inception introduced Chad Goldstein—an buffoonish AI-generated caricature of a stereotypical Silicon Valley VC—who delivered tongue-in-cheek video commentary on each pitch and quickly became a fan favorite.
“All of the pitches were excellent and well-received. Afterward, attendees—mostly investors and early-stage entrepreneurs—engaged in high-value networking. We even curate our attendees to ensure every interaction delivers value,” said Morris.
Two local Utah startups whose founders are part of the larger Inception community were invited to attend part of the retreat:
Elnora AI, led by Carmen Kivisild, PhD, a Salt Lake City-based entrepreneur originally from Estonia. Kivisild relocated to Utah after receiving the inaugural Chris and Summer Gibson Founder Fellowship from Altitude Lab, which provides early-career scientists funding, scientific support, and mentorship. Elnora AI is building an AI-powered lab protocol optimizer that captures real-world experimental data directly from academic researchers—positive, negative, and everything in between—accelerating experiments and creating a rich dataset for drug discovery.
Intactis Bio Corp, based in Salt Lake City and led by Daniel Rodriguez-Granrose, PhD, is taking on one of the most urgent bottlenecks in AI: energy. They're pioneering scalable, neuron-based bioprocessors that deliver ultra-low-power, adaptive computation, opening new frontiers in how AI and machine learning can scale sustainably. Their bio-artificial neural network aims to reduce the environmental footprint of AI and machine learning by addressing the energy limitations of traditional computing systems. (intactis.bio)
Over the course of 18 cohorts over the past three years, Inception Studio has refined a founder-friendly approach to startup acceleration. When asked about the creation of their non-profit, Morris explained, “That was about the beginning of last year when we got serious about it. The LPs in our fund are primarily our own founders.” Unlike traditional funds, the group’s model prioritizes trust over formal obligations. “The founders don’t have to take the money. We don’t make anybody sign anything. We earn their trust,” said Morris. “We want there to be zero downside to joining.”
“When you’re in your 40s, you can’t just move into a hacker house for three months,” said Whaley. “You need to remove distractions, be surrounded by people who are at the top of their game, and have a deadline that matters.”
This philosophy sets Inception Studio apart from other accelerator programs that target first-time founders that are more willing to give up significant equity in their startups for expert mentorship and initial funding. Inception's nonprofit model underpins the program’s independence, funded entirely through sponsorships and donations rather than profit-seeking. “We’re always out hustling for money. Having a nonprofit is hard,” said Morris, explaining that service providers like law firms and cloud-computing companies support the retreats to meet founders early, without aggressive pitches. “We are very, very picky about protecting our community,” he emphasized.
Location is treated with equal care. Retreats typically occur within driving distance of the Bay Area—places like Napa or Lodi—balancing accessibility with the need to focus. Exotic locations are carefully curated for immersion: one winter retreat took place at a donated hot spring resort at the base of Mount Fuji, where Japanese entrepreneurs mingled with Silicon Valley founders, fostering cross-cultural collaboration. “It’s a critical element of what we do: you are in scenic beauty,” said Whaley.
The program also reflects an evolving approach to diversity. “So far, 24% of our entrepreneurs are women,” the team noted, actively seeking to expand that representation while maintaining rigorous standards. “We do not lower the bar at all. The best teams are diverse teams, coming from different backgrounds and experiences.”
The intensity of the operation is clear in their day-to-day commitment. “Up until Demo Day, we’re grinding 20-22-hour days for four days. Tuesday, the day after Demo Day, we start interviewing again for the next retreat,” Whaley said. Founders sleep on air mattresses, organizers sometimes sleep in cars, and everyone contributes to the shared work. Yet this intensity is paired with a strong network effect: early word-of-mouth and referrals now generate a steady stream of applications. “Now it’s completely different. We just sit back and get amazing applications,” Morris explained.
Fine dining is always a part of the program. Attendees require high quality nourishment as they expend lots of calories generating new business ideas and go-to-market plans.
Ultimately, the model is one of meticulous curation and genuine mentorship. “We fund all this via sponsorships and donations because there’s inherent value in curating the group and then trying to support that group. The goal of the nonprofit is just to break even,” said Morris.
The retreat mixes founders who have exited companies with those from other sectors, creating a dynamic, high-pressure environment designed to accelerate company formation. “Constraints breed creativity,” Whaley said. “A real deadline makes everything non-essential drop away and forces focus on what really matters.”
Inception Studio is planting seeds for long-term innovation. By hosting a cohort in Utah bringing together local founders like Intactis Bio Corp and Elnora AI with seasoned entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, the program fosters cross-pollination of ideas, mentorship, and real-world experimentation. The result is a high-intensity, trust-driven ecosystem where founders can iterate faster, take smarter risks, and walk away with relationships and insights that traditional accelerators rarely deliver.
To learn more, visit inceptionstudio.org.