The Right Stuff: LOFT & SI Partner to Educate on Blockchain
Manulife/John Hancock has had a strategic partnership with Startup Institute in Boston for the past year. Students of the eight-week program choose to focus in one of four areas: web development, web design, technical marketing, or sales and account management. Startup Institute strives to equip their enrollees with the technical and cultural skills high-growth companies need. Networking opportunities, industry-taught skill sessions, in addition to regular discussions with corporate leaders and company founders, are also a valuable piece of the curriculum.
Through our partnership with Startup Institute, we had the opportunity to work with four students from their spring cohort on a consulting engagement. My colleagues (Anurag, Edward, Mustafa) and I challenged the group to help us explain the power of blockchain. The team was comprised of members who each had a specific skillset:
Carrie Asprinio (Technical Marketing)
Pia Faxon (UX Design)
Greg Attra (Web developer)
Frank Flahive (Technical Sales)
We tasked Carrie, Pia, Greg and Frank with accomplishing the following goal:
“Blockchain is an emerging technology slowly making its way into the world of fintech. We want to communicate the potential and power of this technology so that it can be leveraged and applied to new business solutions. Our goal is to gain traction and raise awareness about blockchain within Manulife/John Hancock.”
Over the course of five weeks, the group spent every Thursday working out of our Boston LOFT lab. We established a routine upon our first meeting, which continued throughout the duration of the partnership. The students would arrive at the lab and begin each session with a standup meeting. The day would conclude with a project status update and a discussion of any questions or concerns. Members from our LOFT team were always available to answer any questions or provide guidance along the way.
Given the condensed timeframe, it was important to clarify project deliverables and start executing immediately. We were impressed with how the students dove in, researching blockchain and talking with potential users for insights. That’s just the tip of all of the hard work the group put into this project.
Rich DiTieri, Head of Global Partnerships for Startup Institute commented “With our Partner Project program, we look for engaged, innovative teams who need to get things done quickly and can use the sharp viewpoint and action-oriented mentality of our students. At the same time, we want our students to be pushed while learning in the real world, and the blockchain team at LOFT gave them exactly that and more. Some are even considering careers in blockchain technology as a result. We can’t wait to work with them again on the next project.”
The end product? An interactive webpage that educates a visitor, helping to widen the understanding of blockchain. They even went above and beyond with an engaging and educational video that provides a simple explanation of this new and game-changing technology.
