2 TWO TANGO

BARTERING WITH SKILLS TO

BRING IDEAS TO FRUITION
NANCY GUETSSOYAN | STRATEGIC DESIGNER & INVENTOR | MS, PARSONS, THE NEW SCHOOL
DESIGN RESEARCH CAPSTONE | SPRING 2018
 EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

Originally when this design research journey began it was focused on the fashion industry, The purpose of the design
research was to solve the problem at hand: To develop strategic methods that will help fulfill imperative business needs
by equipping fashion designers with access to reputable industry resources they can trust in order to help
them collaborate, learn and extract value to develop successful businesses with real purpose.
However, during the co:creation process, a major shift took place. The participants during these co:creation sessions
shifted from testing with fashion designers to testing with all types of designers and entrepreneurs who were building
an idea or business. This lead to a major discovery and a shift focusing on a new target audience: startup entrepreneurs.
The same problems & constraints startup fashion designers were facing were also being faced by most startup designers
or entrepreneurs within 18 months of their development phase. With a new focus, the research also took a turn and lead
to a lot of new insights and finally a pivot to a new solution called 2TwoTango. 

However, the goal of the solution has always remained the same; challenging designers to adopt a collaborative mindset
and providing them access to valuable resources in order to build scalable businesses that will remain competitive and
allow them to become successful entrepreneurs with integrity. The final solution, 2TwoTango is built with these
foundational principles at it's core. Although the DNA will always remain the same, the best attribute about 2TwoTango
is that it is adaptable to an environments needs. It has interchangeable parts that are customized for a specific network
of individuals seeking a database of specific resources. Dive in and read on to find out how and the direction in which
the journey continues..  
 90% OF STARTUPS FAIL
WITHIN THE FIRST 18 MONTHS

SOURCE: FORBES.COM
 THEY WEAR TOO MANY HATS
 THINKING THEY CAN DO EVERYTHING
ALONE.

SOURCE: FORBES.COM
THE RESEARCH 
OPPORTUNITY
The research conducted was primarily focused among the issues
revolving around emerging fashion designers within the preliminary
stages of their design business careers. It was then shifted to a focus
on startup entrepreneurs as a whole as opposed to just fashion
designers.  More specifically, entrepreneurs entering the market &
grossing between 150k-350k were targeted. This sector of designers are
finding it hard to find their niche, build a scalable business and remain
competitive in a cutthroat industry.  Within the first 18 months of
establishment they fail. There are many reasons why this is the case. A
lot of clues lead to the conclusion that they wear too many hats, they
don’t have access to resources, proper business acumen and
community support to run all aspects of their business well.

The second is a an entire industry problem: it's lacking innovation

and the ability to quickly adjust to global and economic shifts. Industry
actors rely on outdated strategies and take a familiar approach
neglecting consumer & economic shifts. The same traits are being
passed down to new emerging designers in schools and in the
workforce. They're simply oblivious to change or avoid it out of fear or
discomfort so the lack of adjustment leads to failure. 

Throughout this design research journey, further investigation went

into the questions behind why this was happening, What is causing
this issue and what's being done to solve this issue. Over the course of
four months, relevant insights were discovered that lead to intriguing
opportunities for how we can solve this issue and help designers
succeed in this new economy filled with an abundance of 
opportunities.
“HOW CAN WE CREATE A RELIABLE
AND ACCESSIBLE STARTUP
COMMUNITY IN ORDER TO HELP
DESIGNERS HAVE ACCESS TO
REPUTABLE INDUSTRY RESOURCES
TO HELP THEM LEARN, COLLABORATE
AND EXTRACT VALUE TO DEVELOP
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES WITH REAL
PURPOSE ?"

CHALLENGE
 FROM THE FASHION RUNWAY

b e f o r e
“HOW CAN WE CREATE A RELIABLE
& TRANSPARENT GLOBAL FASHION
COMMUNITY IN ORDER TO HELP
FASHION DESIGNERS HAVE
ACCESS TO REPUTABLE INDUSTRY
RESOURCES TO HELP THEM LEARN,
COLLABORATE AND EXTRACT
VALUE TO DEVELOP SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESSES WITH REAL PURPOSE
?"

TO THE STARTUP RUNWAY 

a f t e r
HOW CAN WE HELP
ORGANIZATIONS COLLABORATE
ACROSS DEPARTMENTS TO
HAVE ACCESS TO THE SKILL
SETS OF ONE ANOTHER TO
BRING MORE FRUITFUL IDEAS
TO FRUITION?!..
RESEARCH
METHODS
 The Process

Customer
Problem
Relations
Statement 
Channels
Customer  Validation
Discovery

Value
Proposition
Risk
Identification
DESIGN PRODUCT
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

Business
Model

Target 
Market

Investment
Strategy
Pitch+Story
Values  Landscape
For Impact Cost
Motivation 
Revenue
Vision
THE RESEARCH STRATEGY WAS GUIDED BY THE DESIGN THINKING PROCESS. QUANTITATIVE &  
AND QUALITATIVE METHODS WERE USED THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS TO HELP GAIN VALUABLE
INSIGHTS AND A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGE. EXTERNAL PARTNERS,
STAKEHOLDERS AND EXPERTS PROVIDED INSIGHTS TO FURTHER UNDERSTAND THE
CONSTRAINTS OF DESIGNERS AND & WHY 90% OF STARTUPS WERE FAILING.

SOME OF THE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES THAT WE USED ALONG THE PROCESS WERE: 

  

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

#%
• IN PERSON INTERVIEWS
• PHONE INTERVIEWS
• SURVEYS
• JOURNEY MAPPING
• STORY BOARDS
• WALK THROUGHS
• SHADOWING
• CASE & USE STUDY ANALYSIS 
• DOCUMENTARY REVIEWS
• ETHNOGRAPHIES
• OBSERVING 
the immersion
plan
The discovery process included "Normal"individuals, or the
average user. In this case, Normals were the emerging
designers/entrepreneurs and anyone apart of the
designer's supply chain including their stakeholders. We
spoke to manufacturers, sales representatives, industry
experts, CEO's of startup brands. The "Deeps" or experts
within the startup industry,provided relevant insights
from a experienced stand point and "Weirds" described as
individuals who aren't directly involved in the industry,
but offered insightful information that lead to relevant
data for the development process. For example, we
interviewed coders, block chain experts & data scientists
for digital & software development intelligence to get
their perspective from a more scientic & technological
stand point of the problem at hand.
Through literature review, both quantitative and
qualitative insights were found through industry trend and
consumer behavior reports as well as prerecorded
interviews from various credible sources which will be
mentioned throughout this report.
Tool Source: What if ?! Innovations
NORMAL: PEOPLE WHO HAVE AN EVERYDAY
RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS CHALLENGE.
DEEP: PEOPLE WHO HAVE IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF OUR
CHALLENGE
WEIRD: PEOPLE WHO HAVE A STRANGE CONNECTION
WITH THE CHALLENGE
THE OUTER CIRCLE: METHODS THAT WILL BE USED
DURING RESEARCH
WITH THEM: FRESH WAYS TO INTERACT WITH CUSTOMERS
BEYOND TRADITIONAL FOCUS GROUPS (E.G. GO FABRIC
SOURCING WITH THEM, WALK THROUGH A RETAIL STORE
WITH THEM
ABOUT THEM: PEOPLE OR PLACES THAT WILL HELP GET AN
EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE CONSUMERS AND THEIR
ISSUES (E.G. SPEAK TO THEIR EMPLOYEES AND SALES
REPS)
BE THEM: CREATING AN EXPERIENCE THAT PUTS US IN
THE SITUATIONS OUR CONSUMERS FACE, THINKING ABOUT
WHERE OUR TARGET SHOPS/WORKS/HANGS OUT, THEN
GOING AND SPENDING TIME IN THEIR HABITATS (E.G.
GOING TO THEIR DESIGN STUDIO) 
 A survey was conducted with over 100 students and faculty
across The New School University who were working on a
projects and asked why they thought startup designers wore too
many hats and end up working alone. Below are the top four
common responses that were received: 

A VE $$$E$
ON'T H SOMEON
D
I O HIRE HELP!
I DON'T KNOW WHERE T FOR
SO WHY DOES IT TO GO FOR HELP! I JUOSWT DWONH'TO
KN ASK?
BECOME A TO I'M TOO SHY TO AS
FOR HELP! K
ONE MAN
DANCE?..

 
1 PERSON
TRYING TO DO
EVERYTHING IN A
BUSINESS.. 
 REASONS WHY EXPERTS
THINK DESIGNERS ARE
FAILING..

FORBES & ENTREPRENEURS.COM HAVE

DETERMINED TOP REASONS FOR WHY  STARTUP
DESIGNERS FAIL: 

Lack Business Acumen

Lack of Reliable Resources
Lack of a Reliable Network or
Team Incompatibility
Lack Community Support
Lack of Adequate Testing
Lack Communication Skills
Run Out of Funding
Wear too Many Hats and Lose Focus
THROUGHOUT THIS RESEARCH PROCESS, FURTHER
INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED FOR A BETTER
UNDERSTANDING OF EXACTLY WHY THEY WERE
FAILING IN THESE SPECIFIC AREAS AND HOW
OTHER DESIGNERS, CONSUMERS AND OTHER
FASHION EXPERTS RANKED THESE RESULTS FROM
THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES AND UNIQUE
PERSPECTIVES.   
  

SOURCE: FORBES.COM AND ENTREPRENEUR.COM

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
CO:CREATION
 THE CO:CREATION
SESSIONS
Co-creation sessions were carried along with fashion industry stakeholders and also
students at Parsons. The goal was to gather additional user feedback and learn about
how users would envision and use The Fashion Economy. Four different types of sessions
were developed:
- Users drawing a world and describing what was happening and who else was apart of
this world.
- A group of users being asked questions about their constraints in the fashion industry.
They were asked to describe a perfect world that eliminated those problems.
-Other users were asked to rate the importance of items in a list of supplies, tools and
resources given to them
- Students across the university at The New School
working on all types of various projects (fashion- non-fashion related) shared and were
asked to write what they needed help with right now to move their project forward and
also what they could give or offer someone else with a skill set they had. -Users thought
of all types of experts being apart of the fashion world, not related to the fashion
industry, but relevant to what they were working on.
There were some extremely interesting
insights learned from these exercises..
-Users listed a lot of technical skills as resources they needed access to such as graphic
designers, coders, developers, strategists, etc.
-Faculty members shared their willingness to help connect students with others they
knew in their own networks
-Students were willing to barter with skills to build their projects. They are willing to help
others if others can help them.
- Across the University, there's an immense number of skills that students can offer one
another across an array of disciplines.
The
Fashion
Economy
Co:Creation Session 1
 
Designers were asked to help draw the fashion economy
the way they envisioned it.  
A Utopian world for fashion designers that provided
the resources they needed and  helped solve their
problems as designers. These were the top 4
favorites:  

#3 "Open Source Collaborating World #6 A world full of resources that revolved around designers #23 Designers & Consumers
Cocreate Garments Together with a set of template built by the designer #12 A platform with open source tools for designers

WWW.FASHIONECONOMIST.COM 
The
Fashion
Economy
Co:Creation Session 2
 
Students across the university
at NYU were asked to state
what they needed to push their
projects forward and skill sets
they had that they were willing
to offer to others in need. We
tested with designers of all
types for this experiment and
found that there was an
interest across all designers
working on projects across an
array of disciplines.There were
only a few designers innovating
around fashion, but we found
that all designers of all
disciplines were willing to offer
help to get help in return. The
fashion economy was quickly
shifting to The Designers
Economy since it was no longer
just about fashion designers
experiencing constraints while
innovating and building a
business that can scale.   

FASHIONECONOMIST.COM 
 T h e P i v o t
After all the research, insight gathering, assumptions &
co:creating with users, The Fashion Economy concept
lead the research to a turning point and a new focus.
The moment the lens moved from focusing on fashion
designers to all designers of all disciplines, I
realized the lack of access to resources wasn't just a
fashion designer's problem, but it was every designer
or entrepreneurs problem. Everyone building a business
and designing an idea all lacked access to resources.
They all experienced a moment where they felt stuck in
their development process because they needed access
to a skill set they didn't have. They didn't know what
to do or where to go for help. It was time to change
the focus of the research from fashion designers to
designers as a whole.

It wasn't just a fashion designers problem.

It was every designers problem. 
 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

EXCLUSIVE
MEMBERSHIP

2 TWO TANGO

INFORMATIONAL T R A[ M NA T CSH I AN G CA LTG O IR IOT H NM ] A L

OPEN
MEMBERSHIP

2 TWO TANGO's competitive advantage is in it's ability to be exclusive only to a network of individuals within a specified organization. Its pairing algorithm is also what makes it
unique unlike other pairing sites such as dating platforms that pair based on more generic and less custom to a users unique preferences.

As a collaborating platform, the  skills  are considered its unique entities which will be determined and customized based on the skills and curriculum of a specific organization.
The following page shows an example of all the programs available throughout The New School to give an idea of it's unique data. 2TwoTango extracts skill sets across all disciplines
within a university to determine the valuable skills that members can give and get from one another and will pair accordingly unlike other platforms. 
The New School is a private University with over 12,000 students and faculty and over 60 programs and curriculums made up of students from all over the globe with multiple backgrounds & extremely
diverse skill sets. Parsons is one of the top design schools in the world with some of the most creative and talented individuals. After spending a lot of time getting to know the directors of various
programs, the professors from an array of disciplines and students of various programs, we found that many shared a common frustration. They felt the lack of access to resources because they lacked
knowledge of the students and faculty around them with limited opportunities to meet one another. Many didn't know the efforts of other programs, projects other students and faculty were working on,
let alone the variety of skill sets people around them carried. Others shared, it's difficult to network with other students across the university because of time constraints while others felt they simply
were shy to meet others outside of their classrooms. When students and faculty were asked how many students and faculty they knew across the university, most said it was limited to students in their
classrooms and the professors they personally learned from. The following are some of the direct quotes that were heard from students and faculty of The New School:

"There's a lack of communication amongst all the other students & faculty across the university. I wish I knew more of the professors
teaching this program." 
- Johan Verheem, Adjunct SDM Faculty

"We have limited opportunities to meet other students, let alone in our own program. I only know the people I've had class with and maybe a
handful of others I've met through my friends"
- Jeff, Journalism + Design

"I feel limited only to the resources offered to us within our own program." 
-Ashima, Parsons Student  

"I work full time and go to school full time so I don't really get to meet that many people from the university, but I wish I could."
- Chris, Eugene Lange, Economics 
 Common Trends & Themes

FRAGMENTED WALLS 
INEFFICIENT METHODS
OF COLLABORATION

During the research process, there were many insights that lead to the belief
that the lack of collaborative work taking place among members of an
organization was a common trend existent in many types of organizations. It
wasn't just a universities problem. Many CEO's and executives of companies
shared their interest in trying to find ways to strategically develop a more
collaborative economy within their companies. They wanted to find ways in SOURCE: FORBES.COM
which their employees could collaborate on projects more and take advantage
of the skills available to them from the people around them within the same
company. Many stressed the importance of being able to collaborate across
company departments so employees weren't just constrained to their own
teams.

To the right are ethnographies taken from some of the walls at The New School. These were common areas
where students and faculty placed advertisements proposing opportunities to collaborate and offering their
services to teach a skill. With so many ads placed on on top of one another, many simply pass them by
without a glance or sense of interest.
UNIVERSITIES
BUSINESSES
COMMUNITIES
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS
In order to better understand the infrastructure of each type of organization and team dynamics, much time
was spent visiting & shadowing different types of organizations to learn how individuals worked to complete
projects and bring their ideas to fruition. A lot of time was spent at college universities, various
companies, churches & non-profit organizations to pinpoint a clear problem taking place across all types of
networks: collaborative work was limited & members didn't take advantage of the skill sets that
existed across their entire organization simply because of the lack of communication and knowledge of what
existed & was available within their own networks. There also is a lack of networking taking place across
departments among large organizations especially among organizations with members over 300 hundred.
Most members of an organization were constrained to their own teams within their own departments with very
little knowledge of the skill sets of all the other members across the various disciplines and
departments within their own organizations.
 THE SHARING project based
ECONOMY
learning

THE BARTERING THE GIFTING

ECONOMY TRENDS ECONOMY
These are the relevant trends found during the research
process. Many company owners and executives stressed
community building and collaborative thinking in the
workplace. Many organizations are strategIzing ways in
which they can implement collaborative working across
company departments.

collaborative  COMMUNITY
BUILDING 
thinking
Reason #1

TRENDS
The Sharing Economy 

"The Sharing Economy is real relevant and a tangible opportunity

rather than a temporary distraction, a passing fad or a threat.."

- The Boston Consulting Group

Reason #2

TRENDS
Gifting Economy
Reason #3

TRENDS
"Let's Barter"

"It isn't about breaking away or rejecting traditional economics, it's about meeting
new people and sharing hard work, time and passion between professionals and
amateurs alike and creating a new sense of community. "

- David Amsden, Rolling Stone

 Reason #4

TRENDS
Community Building

"Business leaders will have to learn that to succeed in today’s market, they need to take the long, community-centric view in developing relationships with their customers. They’ll have to
make purpose and culture a priority. They’ll to have faith that investing in community will create long-term value, even if the metrics don’t show have a direct line to profit (yet)."
- David Spinx, Founder of CMX
Reason #5

TRENDS
Project Based Learning

"Student creativity more important than ever as we

usher in the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. An era
said to be marked by the fusion of digital, physical
and biological systems in our world."

“PBL and Design Thinking to Unleash Student Creativity. PBL stands for project based learning which is a process by which classroom practices embrace innovation and creativity as a means of educating
our students. It has a strong focus on the student’s development of things such as problem-solving, brain-storming and adaptation.
-Education Week, Article by Beth Holland
Reason #6

TRENDS
Collaboration

"86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures. "

-Salesforce
PROTOTYPE
As a current graduate student in the Strategic Design & Management program at The
New School of Parsons, we had immediate access to members of the organization to
continue learning and co-creating with deans, directors & students across the
university and start testing the new idea. With a new perspective solving a more
defined problem for designers & innovators across the university a new challenge
statement was shaped:

"What if we created a cross

university platform that allowed
students & professors access to
one another to collaborate &
network in order to bring more 
ideas & projects to fruition?!..
 THAT'S WHY WE NEED

2 TWO TANGO

A CROSS UNIVERSITY PLATFORM

THAT ALLOWS STUDENTS AND FACULTY
TO BARTER WITH SKILLS & COLLABORATE ON PROJECTS
TO BRING IDEAS TO FRUITION.
Moving forward with a new solution..

2TWOTANGO
Bringing ideas to fruition
collaboratively 
 2 TWO TANGO
TO BRING YOUR IDEAS TO FRUITION.
After further research, insight gathering, testing assumptions and cocreating with more users, we realized one important thing. Everyone is looking for someone to collaborate with to push a project along. In other words,
they're looking for someone to tango with. For this reason, 2TwoTango was born. We will help design thinkers of all types to not only be able to conceptualize amazing ideas with others, but to be able to bring them to
fruition by having access to resources & skills from people within reach of their own organization.

Although the insights proved that a lack of access to resources amongst designers is prevalent in many types of organisations, we're going to develop our first pilot with the constraints of university students & faculty in
mind.

2TwoTango will allow students and faculty to barter with skills & collaborate on projects to bring theoretical ideas to fruition.

For the first pilot, we'll be working with The New School. We want to first solve for the problems people are experiencing on campus. Students and faculty feel limited to connect with people only in their programs or
the people they only see in their classrooms. Now with 2TwoTango, anyone working on a project and in need of a skillset or a collaborator to further develop their project can connect with some of the most talented
individuals they couldn't simply access before. They can also have clear knowledge to the inventory of skill sets available through individuals apart of their university network.

2TwoTango will connect someone with the skills they need with another individual who just might be sitting next to them in the library, the innovation center or even a brilliant faculty member who also happens to work
at their favorite company, or a super talented individual taking online classes from Paris. They're all people within their network and 2TwoTango will make those connections possible.

Even if the collaborations don't work out, think about all the amazing people everyone now has a chance to meet across the university that could potentially evolve into everlasting relationships!
 ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A
SHORT TERM OR LONG TERM PROJECT RELATIONSHIP?..

Give & Get Short Term,

Bartering w/ Skills

+ =

or
Collaborate
Long Term,
Joint Partnership

Find Join
A or A =
Partner Team
THE MVP
We developed an minimal viable product to test our assumptions with The New
School. After discussions directors of the university, we found that they're
developing a website that will highlight student and faculty work across the
university to encourage collaboration throughout. We found this to be great
opportunity to collaborate. The New School agreed that we shared similar efforts
and found that 2TwoTanog could be complimentary to the website they'll be
launching called Collaboratory Symposium. Their website will simply be informative
sharing various projects members are working on, while 2TwoTango will be more
transactional. We'll be the tool that will pair students who are interested in
working together versus search through an entire database of information. The
copy on the right illustrates the details to what our first MVP offered. We
developed a website that lead users to form they had to fill out asking them
questions about what type of skills they were looking for. We learned about job
descriptions and the skills sets people were interested in. Most importantly found
that of the 200 people we tested with,

98% were willing to

barter with skills to
help bring their ideas
to fruition.
 HOW DOES IT WORK? WEB & MOBILE

2TwoTango will initially be developed as a website platform to learn as much as we can about our users and functionality. A mobile application version will follow once we feel we are more informed about our users needs
through their experiences with the web platform. Here is how 2TwoTango will work. There will be 2 options that users can choose from once they sign up and become a member.

Give & Get

Simply barter with skills. Let's pretend someone needs a coder to push their project forward. A coder would be their GET. We'll introduce them to coders on campus. If they want to GET help they also have to GIVE: offer a
skillset(s) that others can benefit from.
"GIVE & GET" is not always a 1:1 connection. Your "Give" can be given to a different person than who you "Get" from. One thing's for sure, it's always a two-way street on 2TwoTango..

Collaborate
Let's say you're looking for a long term partner to collaborate with. You can choose to find a partner to collaborate with you on your project or you can request to join a team to collaborate with another member's project.
2TwoTango will then provide users a list of people they matched with and they will have the option to meet with them on campus and further discuss the project/collaboration or chat via the platform. The value here is in the
social interaction. 2TwoTango not only aspires to bring ideas to fruition, but also help students and faculty build friendships across the university to increase the quality of life on campus.

www.2TWOTANGO.COM

Get Paired
Above is an example of a matched transaction.
Jay is looking for a back end developer for a
product he's building. He's been matched with
Pablo in the Strategic Design program and
Samson in the Design & Tech program also at
Parsons.
HOW DOES IT WORK? WE PAIR YOU
View Profile
Jay is interested in Pablo. He clicks on "view
profile" to see what Pablo is looking for. He
sees that Pablo is interested in a Design
Strategist. Since Jay is a strategist, this
connection happens to be a 1:1 Connection,
meaning they can give & get directly from
each other.
www.2TWOTANGO.COM
View Portfolio
Jay clicks on view profile on Pablo's image to
view samples of his work and get more details
about Pablo's skill set.
Jay is intrigued. He clicks on "First Coffee" to
get coffee with Pablo on campus or near by to
meet personally and decide whether or not the
2 will Tango.
Tango
2TwoTango sends Pablo a notification letting
him know that Jay would like to "Get Coffee"
with him. Pablo will decide whether or not he
will and a message will be sent back to Jay
with notification of his response.
 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

EXCLUSIVE
MEMBERSHIP

2 TWO TANGO

INFORMATIONAL T R A[ M NA T CSH I AN G CA LTG O IR IOT H NM ] A L

OPEN
MEMBERSHIP

2 TWO TANGO's competitive advantage is in it's ability to be exclusive only to a network of individuals within a specified organization. Its pairing algorithm is also what makes it
unique unlike other pairing sites such as dating platforms that pair based on more generic and less custom to a users unique preferences.

As a collaborating platform, the  skills  are considered its unique entities which will be determined and customized based on the skills and curriculum of a specific organization.
The following page shows an example of all the programs available throughout The New School to give an idea of it's unique data. 2TwoTango extracts skill sets across all disciplines
within a university to determine the valuable skills that members can give and get from one another and will pair accordingly unlike other platforms. 
Determining the type of business model..

(This is a survey conducted by students at The New School asking how they would want cheaper access to software. Most students marked
"pay-per-use for software." This lead to the assumption that a pay-per-use concept would be most appealing and the best option. )

To determine the best business model suitable for 2TwoTango, a lot of testing with users took place. It lead to the belief that the best route would be to offer it as a software as-a-paid for subscription based
model. Pricing would be based on number of users an organization had and the level of complexity of the algorithm. The unique value of 2TwoTango is it's formulated unique algorithm that is customized based on
the skill sets of a particular network of people. It's able to pair individuals based on specific skill sets unique to their specific network and the skills contained by the people within. The options will range from an
out-of-the-box version that will have the more basic & generic skill sets suitable and categorized by type of institution, i.e a university or a type of business within a unique industry. A company like WeWork has
a network of members with a very different set of skills than perhaps students at a university like The New School more related to design and the arts.

Price will vary based on the level of complexity of the algorithm, how unique it will be to the network of the client and the number of users they would like to provide access to.
 BUSINESS MODEL: SOFTWARE AS-A-PAID-FOR-SERVICE SUBSCRIPTION MODEL

Tango Tango Tango Tango

Essentials Professional Enterprise Unlimited

Out-of-the-box 2TwoTango Complete Collaborating Platform Deeply Customizable Unlimited Customization

for up to 5 users with tools for any size team Collaborating Platform for your Power & Support
organization

$2 $5 $9 $ 12
USD/user/month USD/user/month USD/user/month USD/user/month
Billed Annually Billed Annually Billed Annually Billed Annually

Try For Free Try For Free Try For Free Try For Free
 PAM 92 Million
MARKET Potential Available Market
MILLENIALS
VALIDATION > DESIGNERS

TAM
The market size for 2TwoTango is quite large and continues to grow.

21 Million
Fortune.com reported that for the quarter ending December 31, 2016, 7.4% of
job seekers in the United States started their own businesses. That is up
Total Available Market
significantly from 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015. This means that more UNIVERSITIES
designers and entrepreneurs are leaving traditional jobs and starting their own > COLLEGE STUDENTS & FACULTY
businesses and will need access to resources. 2TwoTango aspires to be every
designers and entrepreneurs tool connecting people with the right partners or

SAM 90K 
collaborators to get the skills and resources they need to bring their ventures
to fruition & scale.

Serviceable Available Market

2TwoTango will first begin building for University students & faculty to
> COMPANIES & ORGANIZATIONS IN US WITH MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS
facilitate collaborations across universities in the most seamless manner. With ( > 100 EMPLOYEES)
over 21 million college students & faculty across the US, 2TwoTango will have
a lucrative market to leverage from. To kick off the first pilot, 2TwoTango will
work with The New School to develop the first product for it's students and
faculty across the university. The timeline following will illustrate 2TwoTangos

SOM
goals as far as the first product launch to market and future growth plans.

SERVICEABLE OBTAINALBE MARKET

> STUDENTS & FACULTY
12K 
@ THE NEW SCHOOL
source: fortune.com
TARGET
MARKET

UNIVERSITIES: ILLUSTRATES THE NUMBER

OF STUDENTS PER UNIVERSITY IN US
WHY 2TwoTango aspires to be

2TWOTANGO
every designers go-to tool
for collaborations. We
want every designer
to adopt a collaborative

WILL SUCCEED
mind set to build ideas
together by sharing their
skills to make a venture
come to fruition. 

EVERYONE IS NO MORE MORE BANG SOMETIMES

WORKING ON A BARRIERS NO
PROJECT ON MORE CHAINS
CAMPUS
Why not bridge the gaps and allow
students to collaborate on projects
instead of working alone? Anyone
designing a business or project needs
access to resources & skil s &
2TwoTango wil facilitate towards those
needs.
Students no longer have to feel limited
to their own resources , but feel
empowered to share them and in return
get what they need to push their
project or business forward with
2TwoTango.
FOR YOUR
BUCK,
STUDENTS
The New School provides added value
for it's students and faculty by adopting
2TwoTango. They become a school
that helps build relationships, facilitates
collaborations & connects people to
resources & skil s they need to succeed
WE NEED AN
EXCUSE TO
NETWORK
Meeting new people can feel
intimidating. Every student has a
project, now they have an excuse to
meet more people by sharing &
talking about their efforts.

UNIVERSITIES FOR STUDENTS & FACULTY

 GROWTH PLAN

$ 4.3M $ 210M $ 90M $ 765M

$ 72k

The New School Universities in New York Universities across the US Businesses > 100 members 2 Two Tango Social Network

437k 21M 9M 153M

12k 35 Colleges/Uni in NY 5,300 Colleges in US @ average 100 employees
of 90K Businesses in US
92M Millennials & 61M Gen X
in US $5/U/M
Pilot

2TwoTango won't stop building collaborations at The New School. It will continue on to build custom platforms for more universities across New York and eventually across the country.
2TwoTango will then develop another version customized for businesses and niche industries. Eventually, the long term goal is to evolve 2TwoTango into its own social community network
specifically to help professionals across the globe collaborate on projects and bring amazing ideas to fruition globally. Members will still have the capabilities to connect with people within
the same networks based on specific categories such as affiliated universities, companies, professional communities etc. Users can have the option to keep their network as micro to their
their personally affiliated networks to as macro as their third degree networks may allow them. At the end of the day, 2TwoTango is not just about acquiring skills, it is about bringing
passionate designers together and building relationships upon that because the value is always in the social interaction and the rapport that humans build with each other. That unique
type f human connection is what will always divide the difference between an okay venture and an awesome one.  
 Roadmap
ROADMAP

Co:Creation 
Y Combinator Hackathon
Co:Creation  Tested Form with Hackers at YC
Session with Designers of all Helped Hackers Pair in Teams,
disciplines "Need it" & "Got It" Collected Skill Type Data

B2B
Collaboratory
Test & Co:Create Build Questionnaire Form Symposium x 2TwoTango Software -As -A-Paid-For-Service Subscription Model :  Pilot  2TwoTango
"The Fashion Economy" with Determine skills &  Tested Website Form Custom to The New School  Members 
fashion designers categories for users With Users Open-Source Software - Template For Universities- Drag & Drop +/- Skills
Open -Source Software Template for Businesses, Organizations, ie. WeWork
Open-Source Software- Template for Niche Industries,                                     
 i.e Fashion Industry, Gaming, Sports, Music, etc. 

B2C

Launch Open-Source Platform for Niche Industries, i.e Fashion Industry,

Gaming, Sports, Music, Religious Groups , etc.

Social Network

Combine All Universities Into One Platform & Launch as Social Network
2TwoTango. Offer Design Thinking & Innovation Strategies                    
Test Pilot  Invite NYC Students to  Invite Members of Selected Companies to Join                                       
1.0 New Idea Concept  2.0 2TwoTango.com with 2TwoTango  *must signup with University or Professional Work Email
First Idea MVP Release  2TwoTango 2TwoTango The New School
"The Fashion Economy" Bartering With Skills Website Launch
FashionEconomist.com Users can sign up, fill out Pivot
a form to Tango &
Collaborate
If business model is not successful at any point, will pivot. 

Pivot  1.0 2.1 1.0

Target customer segment New Idea MVP Develop Back End & Build 2TwoTango 
pivot from fashion designers 2TwoTango Algorithm to Pair & Match Mobile App
to designers of all disciplines Mobile App Prototype Users to Tango
(innovators & entrepreneurs)  UI/UX
 Don't wear too many hats
because now you don't have to.. 
 Barter or Collaborate 

2 TWO TANGO
BRING YOUR IDEAS TO FRUITION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wagner, Eric T. “Five Reasons 8 Out Of 10 Businesses Fail.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 Sept. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/#5e8369e26978.
Patel, Neil. “90% Of Startups Fail: Here's What You Need To Know About The 10%.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 Sept. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/16/90-of-startups-will-fail-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-10/#68a640466792.
“Is Fashion Education Failing Young Designers?” Essay | Feature | NOT JUST A LABEL, www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/is-fashion-education-failing-young-designers. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.
Mellery-Pratt, Imran Amed and Robin. “Is Fashion Education Selling a False Dream?” The Business of Fashion, 26 Aug. 2015, www.businessoffashion.com/articles/education/global-fashion-school-rankings-2015. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.
“4 Reasons Why Fashion Businesses Fail.” Fashion Business Insider, www.fashionbusinessinsider.com/4-reasons-why-fashion-businesses-fail. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.
Mellery-Pratt, Imran Amed and Robin. “Is Fashion Education Selling a False Dream?” The Business of Fashion, 26 Aug. 2015, www.businessoffashion.com/articles/education/global-fashion-school-rankings-2015. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.
“Fashion & Textiles in the US 2017.” Www.Statista.com, www.statista.com/study/15806/industry-report--textile-and-apparel-manufacturing/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.
Craig , and Karl. The State of Fashion 2017. Mckinsey & Company and Business of Fashion , 2016, The State of Fashion 2017, MCKINSEY.COM . Accessed 15 Sept. 2017.
Mellery-Pratt, Imran Amed and Robin. “Is Fashion Education Selling a False Dream?” The Business of Fashion, 26 Aug. 2015, www.businessoffashion.com/articles/education/global-fashion-school-rankings-2015. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.
Lakhani, Marco Iansiti Karim R. “The Truth About Blockchain.” Harvard Business Review, 17 Feb. 2017, hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain.
“Is Fashion Education Failing Young Designers?” Essay | Feature | NOT JUST A LABEL, www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/is-fashion-education-failing-young-designers. Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.
“Sign On For Literacy | InnoCentive Challenge.” Innocentive, www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/9934006?challenge=9934006
“Seeker FAQs.” InnoCentive, www.innocentive.com/offering-overview/seeker-faqs/.
Craig , and Karl. The State of Fashion 2017. Mckinsey & Company and Business of Fashion , 2016, The State of Fashion 2017, MCKINSEY.COM . Accessed 28 Nov, 2017.
“What's the Difference Between Centralization and Decentralization?” Blockchain WTF, blockchain.wtf/what-the-faq/centralization-vs-decentralization/.
Wagner, Eric T. “Five Reasons 8 Out Of 10 Businesses Fail.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 Sept. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/#5e8369e26978.
Craig , and Karl. The State of Fashion 2018. Mckinsey & Company and Business of Fashion , 2017, The State of Fashion 2018, MCKINSEY.COM . Accessed 1 Dec. 2017.
Immersion Tool Source: What If?! Innovations
Houlihan, Michael, and Bonnie Harvey. “The Top 4 Reasons Startups Fail, According to 14 International Accelerators.” Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur, 7 Apr. 2018, www.entrepreneur.com/article/311064.
“Gartner Says Enterprise Application Software Spending Is Increasing Rapidly in India and China.” Hype Cycle Research Methodology | Gartner Inc., Gartner, Inc., www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3868263.
Pettey, Christy. “Moving to a Software Subscription Model.” Hype Cycle Research Methodology | Gartner Inc., Gartner, Inc., 12 Oct. 2017, www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/moving-to-a-software-subscription-model/.
 THANK YOU
NANCY GUETSSOYAN | DESIGN STRATEGIST | PARSONS, THE NEW SCHOOL
 appendix
business model canvas,
co:creation form, insight videos & ethnographies
A business model describes the rationale of how an
organization creates, delivers, & captures value..

-Bartering with skills

-Collaborating on Decentralized Platform  Millenials &
Projects  match making algorithm 
Designers lack -Having access & custom database & GenX
communication  to Create access to a exclusive membership Universities
access to platform
people across an vast & diverse Startup
resources, organization
network of people Communities
knowledge & across an Businesses w/
collaboration organization to ne over 100
twork, Partnerships  employees
Number of collaborate, build Universities Niche Industries
subscribers/clients relationships Use Case Studies (fashion, music)
User ROI 
Solution Success Rate
& bring ventures Word of Mouth  Co-Working
to fruition. Marketing Organizations
Collaborations Non-Profits

Digital Platform 
Marketing  Software as-a-paid-for
Transaction Costs service-subscription
(legal, IP, etc)  model
Development
Video - Ethnographies 

Cartoon &   Form

2 TWO TANGO