news & events

Summer Speaker Series

Learn from experts (and eat some lunch). Our Summer Speaker Series features experts and experienced entrepreneurs who share tips, tools, and actionable advice to help you engage customers, add value, and increase your chances of success. Select Wednesdays from 12:00 – 1:00 (at the LaunchBox). Each session includes: 35-40 minute “actionable advice” and best practices 20-minute Q&A Afternoon office hours Light lunch Meet 1-on-1 with experts (afternoon office hours available). Want 1-on-1 advice from our expert speakers? Sign up in advance for office hours to dig deeper and discuss your specific challenges with these experts. U P C O M...

10 common startup mistakes: #1 an idea = a business

About this blog post series… I was recently asked to give a talk at a conference about my work with startups. In thinking about what to talk about, I realized that a question I get over and over is, “What is the biggest mistake that startups make?” Always a great question. Learning from those who have “been there done that” so you can “be there and not do that” is an excellent way to de-risk your business and avoid costly mistakes. Having worked with teams for a number of years, I’ve definitely seem some patterns. So, I decided to create...

Phospholutions continues to build

Phospholutions continues to make the world greener, and make great progress with their 1st full-course application of Rhizosorb right here at the White Course. President Eric Barron, always a huge supporter of our startup teams, was there to lend his support.

“The Investment” competition. PennTAP supports student startups.

Six student startup teams competed last weekend for $30,000 in seed funding provided through the PennTAP Inc. U program. Mod Zero, Musical Minds, Phospholutions, Rain Reality, Reflexion, and Securo pitched in a shark tank style competition at WPSU studios. Four of the six startups were LaunchBox Teams (and we take every chance we can to brag about our startups). To see who walked away with some prize money, watch the show on WPSU, May 4th at 8PM.

Experience asymmetry – creating amazing experiences.

Solving problems isn’t enough any more. For decades, we’ve preached the need for startups to focus primarily on figuring out how to provide value to their customers by fixing a problem or meeting a need. But today, fixing a problem or meeting a need isn’t enough. Today, companies must think beyond the solution to ensure that their customers are having an exceptional experience as well. Experiences are critical to success. Harvard Business Review, 1998 Today, we are entering into the experience economy. Coined by Joseph Pine, the experience economy views experiences as “distinct economic offerings, as different from services as services are from goods”...