foreUP

The Challenge

In 2011, Evan Teshima was a BYU student when he co-founded foreUP with Joel Hopkins and Joel Ragar. They saw an opportunity to modernize golf course management — an industry stuck on legacy desktop software and manual processes. But finding the right product-market fit in a fragmented industry meant navigating multiple pivots and tough decisions about where to focus.

The Bootcamp Experience

Evan and the foreUP team connected with John Richards during their time at BYU. The mentorship they received through the Startup Ignition ecosystem was pivotal in helping them think through their business model during a critical early period.

The company went through 5-7 rapid pivots in its early days. Through SI's mentorship — grounded in real-world experience working with hundreds of startups — they were able to systematically test and discard approaches until they found the model that worked.

The Results

foreUP grew to serve 2,300+ golf courses across the country, becoming one of the first cloud-based systems in the golf industry and the second-largest player in the public golf course management space.

Perhaps most remarkably, they achieved this with only $200K in outside capital. Founders and employees owned nearly 90% of equity at exit — a testament to disciplined, lean growth.

The company was eventually acquired by Clubessential Holdings, delivering a strong outcome for the founding team and early supporters.

Key Takeaways

• Pivots aren't failure — they're discovery. foreUP went through 5-7 pivots before finding product-market fit. Structured mentorship made each pivot faster and cheaper.
• Capital efficiency creates optionality. With only $200K raised, founders retained 90% ownership and controlled their own destiny at exit.
• Real-world mentorship beats theory. Advice from people who've worked with hundreds of startups provides pattern recognition no textbook can match.