news & events

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”...

New product for garden enthusiasts. Phospholutions launched their 1st consumer product Soil Saver at a spring launch event here at the LaunchBox (no, that’s not why we call it that). Celebrating the arrival of spring, Hunter Swisher and Ben Nason put together an event designed to bring together garden enthusiasts and connect them with local companies that specialize the nursery and garden space. Local companies share products, food, and music. Around 80 people showed up to check out what these companies have to offer. Ben Nason commented that he was pleased to see the number of gardening enthusiasts who came out to the...

We were lucky to have Herbert Reininger, Creative Director for Penn State Outreach, as our 1st speaker in our Spring Speaker Series. In a nutshell, here are his top 7 tips for crafting compelling presentations: Slides are not documents. Remember, people can’t read and listen at the same time (no matter how good a multi-tasker they think they are). Pictures say a thousand words. In other words (pun intended), reinforce your message with images not words. Keep it simple. Nuf said. Keep it consistent. Ditto. Show data clearly. Thinking about #2 above, consider a visualization of data instead of raw numbers. Start...

Learn from experts (and eat some lunch). Our Spring Speaker Series features experts and experienced entrepreneurs who share tips, tools, and actionable advice to help you engage customers, add value, and improve your products and services. Meet 1-on-1 with experts (sign up for office hours). 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 speakers. We meet select Wednesdays from 12:00 – 1:00 (at the LaunchBox). Each session includes: 35-minute “actionable advice” and best practices 20-minute Q&A Afternoon office hours Light lunch Upcoming speakers… :: March...

Delivering products and services that solve problems is no longer enough. Solving a problem is critical to startup success, but companies must also take into account their customers’ end-to-end experience. The ability to deliver on both is becoming critical for success and competitive advantage. While design has always been part of product development, today, design considerations are critical not only in terms of how a product functions, but also in terms of designing more engaging and delightful overall customer experiences - think Apple or Starbucks. Design thinking can spur innovative solutions. Design thinking is a repeatable process for innovation that...