At Huddle Up Learning, we recently experienced two transformative breakthroughs within the same week, each with unique clients and unexpected use cases. These instances underscored the power of dialogue and collaboration in shaping innovative solutions that truly meet our customers' needs.

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One breakthrough occurred with Valparaiso University, where our Huddle Up platform was intended to facilitate authentic learning and collaboration among students sharing solutions. Through insightful conversations and discovery calls, Valparaiso helped us measure soft-skill learning goals (eg 'creativity' 'analysis' 'collaboration', etc.)  over the duration of a project. They funded an add-on to tag peer feedback scores to key skills, allowing them to tell a growth story for each learner over time.

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During the same time, we were working with the SPAN organization to help them create a global learning community. Again, through a bit of dialogue, we were able to envision parent community which included everyone, yet which also allowed the flexibility they wanted for SPAN members to organize themselves into multiple break-out projects focused on specific topics of interest. While break-out members can collaborate and learn from each other by sharing solutions and feedback, all of SPAN's members are able to access each of these projects, ensuring they too can see how others around the world are solving similar problems. We've helped their community learn and grow members as a result.

The break-through moment came during the dialogue process. In both cases, the eventual use case was a solution that neither party originally envisioned. At that moment, we knew we had a really unique learning tool for teams - and it wasn't incumbent upon us to pitch solutions. It became far more important to listen, ask questions, and brainstorm how we can best add value to the way different organizations collaborate and learn. It changed the way we engage with potential and current customers. It's helped us say 'no' much faster when the fit isn't perfect. And, it's really helped us better understand the needs of those we serve so we can be better partners.  

Although it may have taken us a while to get there, the realization was a pretty natural extension of the customer-focused Go-To-Market strategy that Prepare4VC stressed so often. We're grateful to continue to work with - and learn from - Jason and the team with their future cohorts.