This week, the Class of 2013 entered their second week of VFA Bootcamp. Along with the trainings and a handful of speakers, on Monday, the Fellows were assigned their second challenge: to conceptualize, design, and develop a product to solve a clear problem.
Early in the week, leading international design and innovation consulting firm IDEO spent two full days with our Fellows teaching them design thinking, how to identify problems, and how to create elegant and unique solutions. By sending them out into the Providence community, IDEO helped our Fellows decide which issues to address as part of their product challenge and get them off to a strong start.
Once they started working on their products, the Fellows heard from a handful of judges and speakers who tried to help each group identify their users or customers, create a business model around their product, and develop a prototype. On Wednesday, we heard from seasoned Angel Investor Dave Tisch, most recently of Techstars NY, who talked about what kind of businesses he invests in and ultimately, that “it’s an art, not a science”.
Finally, this afternoon, each group presented their products and businesses models to our panel of judges. We were extremely impressed with each and every product our teams came up with, and the progress, even over the last week, was incredible. Ideas included an app to find food trucks in small cities, a corporate outdoor workbench to allow professionals to get some sun, and the winning idea, a laundry service that increases the convenience of going to the gym by making it easier for members to show up at their fitness clubs as they are.
Sean Jackson, Alli Shea, Adam Rhoades-Brown, Eli Schwarz, and Franklin Weldon— team “Enginewity”– created “Washloop”, where members have their clothing collected from the gym, washed overnight, and returned the next day clean and folded.
Over the past few days, these Fellows visited local Providence gyms, and even washed a load of laundry for their first customer. In the end, the judges thought they had simple, straight forward idea that added significant value for its customers and could be implemented almost immediately.
Congrats, Enginewity! Stay tuned for the next challenge, and check out our Training Camp Blog to see what the Fellows are up to day-to-day.