WYOMISSING, Pa. — As part of Startup Week, 弗莱明创意、创业和经济发展(CEED)中心 十大正规赌博平台大全的Berks将举办一场网络研讨会，讨论其成功 Customer Discovery Lab, which connects budding entrepreneurs with mentors. 网络研讨会将包括来自两家初创公司GroupIt LLC和Streamline Charging LLC的学生和导师, and it will be held at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, March 20. Registration is required in advance.
这两个创业团队都是由十大正规赌博平台大全商学院的学生创建的. 自从完成了客户发现实验室，GroupIt LLC最近在 欢乐谷LaunchBox由PNC快车道加速器竞赛提供动力. Meanwhile, streamlined Charging LLC团队最近获得了 CEED中心风险井项目种子基金.
Sadan Kulturel-Konak, CEED中心主任，赌博平台大全管理信息系统教授, stated, “streamlined Charging和GroupIt于2022年春季参与了客户发现实验室. CEED中心帮助他们找到具有必要专业知识的学术和商业导师，然后指导团队申请各种种子基金，以帮助进一步发现客户并建立原型, which both teams received.”
GroupIt LLC has developed a marketing agency allowing users to plan and book trips with friends; each person only pays their portion. It provides a solution to make trips affordable as well. The startup team includes Penn State Berks students Timour Almakaev and Mason Fontana; University Park students Matt Christianson, Jess Gordon, Josh Hedge, Josh Perrine; and Penn State Beaver students Noah Beck and Charlie Snow. Their academic mentor is Abdullah Konak, distinguished professor of information sciences and technology, and their business mentor is Timothy Hillert, CEO and founder of BenXchange.
Fontana, 主修网络安全分析与运营，辅修创业与创新, stated, “教授们找到我们，鼓励我们做客户发现实验室. Personally, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but through completing this lab, we learned so much about our target audience, customer needs/pains, and how to write a really strong value proposition. Without this support, we would not be as far as we are today.”
Hillert provided the perspective of the business mentor. “Mentoring has benefited the groups I have worked with tremendously. From the start, 我们讨论为实现 团队为自己设定的目标设定期望和时间表. Whether it is to enter a competition or to bring a product to market, 辅导帮助我工作过的团队把他们的想法变成了现实," he said.
流线充电有限责任公司为下一代电动汽车设计了创新的充电站. Its members include Berks students Melanie MacKinnon, Nathan Vreeland and Mark Yazemboski; and University Park student Jonathan Smith. Their faculty mentor is Kathleen Hauser, assistant teaching professor of engineering, and their business mentor is John Gatto, principal and CEO of JGO Services LLC.
MacKinnon, a mechanical engineering major, said, “弗莱明CEED中心项目的导师们为我提供了很多资源，并帮助我在创业这个复杂的网络中指导我. They have helped with application reviews, introduced my team to academic and industry mentors, provided advice regarding Penn State's entrepreneurship programs, and so much more. 客户发现实验室在为企业思维和实践提供框架方面特别有帮助.”
Gatto commented, “指导是一种与新一代商业领袖保持密切联系的方式，对我来说一直是一种学习经历. 学生团队从导师项目中获益最多，因为导师会分享真实的经历，帮助这些雄心勃勃的学生学习不要犯我们在商业旅程中犯过的错误. 帮助他们了解客户发现和市场需求的重要性，让初创企业的领导者确信他们的想法具有商业价值.”
About the webinar
该小组的主要焦点将是这些团队在客户发现实验室期间和之后如何从与他们的学术和商业导师的合作中获益. 讨论将集中于客户发现实验室模型如何组成团队, 为团队匹配学术和商业导师，并在整个过程中持续提供支持.
About the Flemming CEED Center
The Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship, 经济发展中心(CEED)中心成立于2011年秋，是盖革科技与商业创新大楼的一部分. 它的使命是激发十大正规赌博平台大全伯克社区的创业精神和创新思维. CEED中心通过基于技术的解决方案促进大雷丁地区的经济增长和发展, human capital development, and enterprise creation. 它为学生企业家提供了一个孵化器，让他们发展自己的创业想法，并得到教师的指导, as well as volunteers from the local business community. The CEED Center’s programs include the Customer Discovery Lab, Creativity Training Workshops, 3D Printing Workshops, Speaker Series, the STEM Business Idea Challenge, and the Student Enterprise Award. For more information, contact Kulturel-Konak at [email protected].
