Being a startup founder isn't easy. It can be a very lonely, difficult road where you end up having to pick and choose what you're going to succeed at and what you're going to fail at. There just isn't enough time in the day for everything. However, Tangible is giving hope to e-commerce founders.
Tangible is an e-commerce school where students learn by doing. Most students are small e-commerce founders who are weekend heroes. They are usually running their businesses on weekends, nights, or out of their garages.
Madelyne Van Hoff, Director of Operations at Tangible, described Tangible's hope for its students. "The end goal is to help them learn everything e-commerce A to Z so they can grow in scale. Some of our students are doing pretty well but they have only found one channel that has helped them grow and do well. But it’s just that one channel that they know so they’re directing everything towards that. We want to help them expand those horizons."
The ten week long accelerated learning program is taught by industry leaders through application learning. Most classes are held at Kiln Lehi on Tuesday nights and vary in format. The first part of each class features a big name from the Silicon Slopes community. This presenter comes in to inspire and share their story on the topic of the evening. Students are then given the chance to ask questions and get feedback from this expert. Some previous presenters include Susan Petersen of Freshly Picked, Rachel Nilsson of RAGS to Raches, and Jeremy Andrus of Traeger Grills.
After the presenter, the students participate in some type of hands-on activity. This includes things like a workshop or speed dating to get feedback on their company. Students also get to go on three to four "field trips" where they get to see and learn about real-time processes to help grow their businesses. "It's a very tangible experience where the students are work-shopping and getting deep on topics that are really going to help move the needle in growing their business," Van Hoff explained.
With sponsors like Jane.com, RAGS to Raches, Cotopaxi, and more, Tangible has a great foundation for their students to learn and build upon. Van Hoff mentioned that the students often express how important it is for them to hear from other people who have been where they are and understand the struggles. "One of my biggest takeaways thus far is that I can do this," said one of the students in the program.
Van Hoff expressed Tangible's ultimate purpose, saying, "We want to start an e-commerce community. We're in the middle of this tech-centric valley and that's great, but we want to put walls around this community that's already here. There is such a strong community of e-commerce companies and founders that are very knowledgeable and have grown amazing businesses. Come join us, come support us, come help bring up the next generation of founders. If you want to be a next generation founder, come join our program. Come one, come all."
Tangible's first cohort will finish the course next week and the next cohort will begin this summer. Tangible is currently accepting applications for the summer cohort - and you still have time to get early bird pricing.
Anyone interested in applying to or sponsoring Tangible, check out Tangible's website for more information or apply now.
