 By Shannon Marshburn and Melissa Egts "Without a customer, you don't have a company," Melissa told us in an interview about her journey with, O2 FRESH™. The O2 FRESH™ is a nasal cannula cover that is a simple way to keep nasal cannula prongs clean and prevent oxygen tubing from falling on the floor. We talked with Melissa about her journey through our I-Corps program and reflected back to look at how things have pivoted. You can learn more about the product on their website, https://www.hartfielmedical.com/ How did the idea for your product/service come about? I use home oxygen and the oxygen tubing is a pain in the neck. Literally! Like many people prescribed oxygen therapy, I take my nasal cannula off several times a day (a nasal cannula is the tubing you see on patient's faces that delivers oxygen into the nose via a prong in each nostril). The nasal cannula prongs were often hung over door knobs that other people had touched or the backs of chairs. And they often fell to the floor. Can you imagine having to put something back in your nose that fell on the floor? That's like putting a finger in your nose your dog has licked. YUCK. Do you know, there isn't a safe place for the 1.5 million people who use oxygen at home to put a nasal cannula when you take it off? Asthma inhalers have a cover. Toothbrushes, too, for the same reason - hygiene!  The nose is a direct route of infection into the body! It really worried me because I'm prone to respiratory infections so I set out to create a solution - the O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover. There are three important things about my O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover. One, it has an opening with a patented latch that gently compresses the tubing and holds it securely so the user can just insert it and go. No hinge, lid or moving part to fumble with. Two, it has a universally attachable handle so it's always nearby the user. It attaches in seconds to nasal cannulas, wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, and portable oxygen concentrators like Inogen. And three, it is inexpensive to purchase and clean, sanitize, and reuse. Just toss it in the dishwasher to clean or use one of four other methods to sanitize.
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 Written by Kendall Martis and Alyssa Riker There are many different financial statements, each highlighting different areas. All of these statements talk to each other, meaning that certain information comes from one statement and then shows up on another. The three most important in the business are the profit and loss by class, balance sheet and cash flow. These statements show a snapshot of what your business is doing.
 Written By Nick Glavan It’s hard to believe we’ve been running our I-Corps course virtually for nearly 3 years at this point. While at first, the switch over to online meeting sessions was a challenge, we’ve tried to iterate on our approaches to make our virtual classroom achieve the same outcomes (or better) as our old in-person sessions used to. Here are some of the best methods we’ve learned along the way:
 By Linda Hale
Here at UARF, we usually concentrate on problem validation and customer discovery. If you have participated in I-Corps or Starting Line, we generally ask you to think about what you do, who cares, and why they care. Then we ask you to interview potential customers to test risky assumptions about your customer's problems and motivations. And, if you've successfully completed the I-Corps program, you should have walked away with a good understanding of what it will take to motivate your customer to buy your product. Now what? How do you take your idea to the next level? By Shannon Marshburn  Networking is a social skill I was not fully prepared for upon graduation. Networking is a heightened conversation where it benefits you to talk about work, but not too much work that it is boring, try to be memorable, but don’t talk too much about yourself. If you are trying to land a job or new position you should drop some experience or knowledge, but don’t make it seem like you are reciting your cover letter.
At UARF we have a few networking events coming up and I would like to help you prepare so you can make meaningful and lasting professional connections with confidence.  Written by Nick Glavan
Have you ever felt tired, in spite of getting a good night’s sleep? Or felt lacking in energy right after a long weekend away from work? It turns out that time away and sleep are only a portion of the rest we need to avoid running ourselves into burnout mode. To truly recuperate from daily stress, entrepreneurs should be addressing the seven different aspects of wellbeing.  By Elyse Ball
As our deadline for I-Corps applications nears, I’ve become fascinated by the way asking customers simple questions can teach us so much. Teams that have completed the I-Corps program have launched more than 100 startup companies, raised $27.6 million in funding, been accepted to accelerators like Y Combinator and TechStars, and achieved 2 exits (selling their company to larger companies so everyone makes money). All of this grew out of a commitment to learn about their customers’ problems before they try to build something. Written By Linda Hale We just completed the summer cohort of I-Corps in July, and I had an opportunity to watch the final presentations in-person at the Bounce Innovation Hub. It was fun to meet some of our entrepreneurs in person and learn more about the ideas and technologies that drove them to I-Corps in the first place. We don’t allow the participants to focus on their technologies during the program, so the finale is usually an eye-opening experience for everyone.  I-Corps focuses on Customer Segments and the Problems those customers face. When emerging technologies can solve those problems for the customer segment, we call that Product-Market Fit.
Most businesses fail because they didn’t take time to identify product-market fit before spending time and money on product development. I-Corps provides a safe space to delve deeper into the motivations of a customer segment PRIOR to expensive R&D, working prototypes, or software platforms. Once you identify your customer and the problems or pains they face, you will be able to identify your technology’s unique value proposition, which will guide your product development process. For those who haven’t participated in I-Corps, let’s define some of the topics above and explain why they are so important to startups and emerging technologies. Written By Julia Meyers An employment contract is an essential part of the relationship between employer and employee. If the employment agreement is drafted properly, it will protect both the employer and employee. These contracts are designed to create job security for the employee and labor certainty for the employer. The understanding of position and duties comes from an employment contract. Further, an employment contract is a great way to maintain trade secret or confidentiality for an employer. An employment contract gives a good foundation for a healthy relationship between employer and employee. Below are six tips for employers when drafting an employment contract and for employees when signing an employee contract.  Written By Shannon Marshburn While going into part two of a business card blog, it really is safe to say that business cards are exciting to me. The challenge of putting a business’s worth of branding, identity, and individuality into a 3.5” by 2” space is such an exciting challenge. Bad design is expensive and good design can pay for itself in time. Bad design could cost you customers and be forgotten in someone's wallet, but good design will pull Its weight, get a buzz going and be remembered by investors.  |
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