I-Corps Helps Schwarz Lay Foundation for Startup Success

Andrew Schwarz knew exactly who his startup’s customers were. A professor of information systems and

decision sciences in LSU’s College of Business Administration, Schwarz had worked in market research for Fortune 500 firms and built trend-forecasting models for the credit card and food and beverage industries.

He called on all of that expertise in creating his startup, Betaversity. The software immerses students in simulations, applying elements of game playing to business and statistics, film production and information systems. In one simulation students apply analytical tools and key performance indicators to turn around a failing pizzeria. In another, students fight off a cyberattack and figure out who is behind it. The idea is to make the students want to come back to the simulation, to make learning fun.

“I thought our target market was higher education. We were trying to sell software to me, basically,” Schwarz said. “I thought I understood my market because I was the ultimate consumer.”

Still, Schwarz wanted to do everything possible to make Betaversity a success. He applied for and was accepted into an I-Corps training cohort. The program equips researchers with the business skills they need to transform research into market-ready innovations. A major training component is customer discovery.

“You're simply listening to what your potential consumer is going to want without offering them your solution,” Schwarz said.

As potential customer after potential customer talked about their needs and acquisition costs, Schwarz realized there were nuances and complexities he hadn’t considered. He had the wrong market altogether. Instead of targeting four-year institutions, Schwarz began focusing on community colleges and workforce development. Eventually, Betaversity added a competency-based education component.

“I-Corps customer discovery was key to really helping us to understand the actual market,” he said.

"Dr. Schwarz really embraced the I-Corps methodology: setting aside his personal bias and building the business around conversations he had with customers,” said Jacob Clemmons, LSU I-Corps program manager. “He took time to deeply understand their problems before selling a solution, and this kind of rapport is foundational for a successful business.”

Schwarz enjoyed I-Corps so much he went through training two other times. Once as “the glue” holding a joint venture together. The other in a startup with Z. George Xue, associate professor in the LSU of Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences.

The joint venture folded after I-Corps showed the partners that their target market, government contracts, limited their sales opportunities and there was much less demand for their services than they anticipated.

The second company, Gulf Dynamics, began with a focus on measurements related to carbon capture but shifted to modeling coastal flooding. The startup is still working through the customer discovery process for its new path.

Schwarz feels so strongly about I-Corps’ benefits that he went through the program’s mentorship training program. He serves as the LSU’s I-Corps faculty lead and is also certified to instruct participants in the program.

“I-Corps is a worthwhile endeavor for researchers, even if they only have an inkling of an idea,” Schwarz said. “In addition to the insights customer discovery generates, the program shows researchers what the commercialization side of innovation looks like. It also offers networking opportunities and the chance to bounce ideas off of faculty from other institutions, to see conversations are taking place elsewhere.”

Click here for more on I-Corps or email Jacob Clemmons.