LaunchBox Programs

5 Entrepreneurial Programs - Free For PA Residents & Businesses

  • Brainstorm with LaunchBox: Get immediate help with your idea or business.
  • Idea TestLab: Testing your idea, identifying customers, & the first steps towards starting up.
  • LaunchBox Ladies: A speaker series and member events focused on women in business.
  • Masterminds: Peer to peer monthly support and community for business owners.
  • Teen Entrepreneur Challenge: A summer camp for high school students.
  • Customer Discovery 101
    • Customer discovery helps you de-risk your startup process. It asks you to identify and test your core business assumptions, so you can adjust your plan before you invest your money, effort and time into building a business.
    • Acting on assumptions that haven’t been validated creates unnecessary risk. By taking the time to validate your assumptions, you can reduce risk and increase your chances of identifying a solution that customers actually want.
    • Interested in participating? Contact lvlaunchbox@psu.edu
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Brainstorm with LaunchBox

No applications, just help with your idea or business from day one. “Brainstorm With LaunchBox” is a new name for our original open-door policy. If you have an idea for a new company or want help to grow your current company, we’ll keep you inspired and moving in the right direction. Available free to any PA resident or business. LVLaunchBox@psu.edu.
  • 1:1 Brainstorm and coaching.
  • No application = faster help with your idea or business.
  • Email LVLaunchBox@psu.edu today!

Teen Entrepreneur Challenge

A summer camp that incorporates STEAM programming to teach rising high school students the key strategies for starting a business and developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Students gain exposure to real-world problems and collaborate with business leaders.
  • Developing an entrepreneurial mindset.
  • Learn key strategies for starting a business.
  • Learning from real-world experiences through local companies.
  • Camp culminates in a team pitch competition to a panel of judges.
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Business Bootcamp

A workshop to help an early-stage company map out their business and focus on their business model.
  • 1:1 Coaching support for your business.
  • Access to free PSU legal and intellectual property services.
  • Access to additional advisors.
  • Continued support after program.

LaunchBox Ladies

A conversational speaker series focusing on the unique challenges and victories of female entrepreneurs. Using interviews, video, and interactive presentations, invited speakers will share with students and the community their personal experiences running a successful business.
  • Virtual & in person speaker events.
  • Member meetings for networking.
  • Resources focused on female entrepreneurs.
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Idea TestLab

Have a business idea? Figure out how to turn it into a viable business. Idea TestLab is a "customer discovery" deep-dive designed to help you better understand the customer problem you're trying to solve and how to provide value in a differentiated way. No affiliation with Penn State is required for participation. Applications are welcomed from any Pennsylvania-based entrepreneur. Idea TestLab is free to participants and takes no equity.
  • A four week virtual program on Tuesday nights from 6-8 PM.
  • 1:1 Coaching support for your idea.
  • Final elevator pitch competition with grant money prizes.
  • Continued support after program.

FastTrack Accelerator

Once you really understand your customer's need, it’s time to start testing the market. Our FastTrack Accelerator helps you, avoid common startup mistakes, build an actionable plan to launch your business, test the market quickly with “smokescreens,” and build a solution based on real customer feedback.
  • A six week virtual program on Tuesday nights from 6-8 PM.
  • 1:1 Coaching support for your business.
  • Access to free PSU legal and intellectual property services.
  • Access to additional advisors.
  • Continued support after program.
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Masterminds

A monthly program specifically designed to engage LaunchBox grant recipients and program attendees to provide them opportunities for coaching and peer-to-peer networking and support to help them address current challenges and advance their businesses.
  • Monthly Tuesday morning virtual events.
  • Peer-to-peer feedback & accountability.
  • Subject matter experts for specific topics.
  • Community of entrepreneurial support.

Don’t know where to start or how to get involved?
Come Brainstorm with LaunchBox & we’ll figure it out together!