Ascender

Creating Team Culture: Going Beyond the Matching T-Shirts
2018-03-29 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER BUILDERS SERIES – FOR ANYONE GROWING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
Creating Team Culture: Going Beyond the Matching T-Shirts
Team culture. What does that mean? Is it the beers the team grabs on a Friday? Is it the standard of people getting to the office by 8:00AM? Team culture is often a confusing topic. Join us this month to determine what kind of culture works best for your team, as well as how to influence and shape your team dynamics.
Speaker:
Alexander R. Schwall, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chief Scientist
Rhabit Analytics INc.

You're CEO, Now What?
2018-03-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER STARTER SERIES – FOR ANYONE STARTING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
You’re CEO, Now What?
Founders or founding team members often take on the role as CEO in a startup. As the organization grows, carrying out management and CEO responsibilities can be a tricky transition. Join us to discuss tips and tactics for fulfilling this role of CEO on a small team from people who have been there. Learn where they went wrong and how they manage being a founder and CEO.
Panelists:
Avishai Geller, CEO at Maven Machines
Lynsie Campbell, Founder of LaneSpotter
Brian Gaudio, CEO at Module

Unchained: Decrypting Blockchain Technology
2018-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
RSVP HERE
Have you heard the words blockchain and cryptocurrency a lot lately? Have you considered investing in bitcoin or lamented that you haven’t without really knowing what bitcoin is? You’re not alone.
Come join us for an introduction to blockchain technology. We’ll talk about what it is, how it works, and current projects in the marketplace. Our goal is to keep the night informative, open, and interactive and to learn from each other!

Pittsburgh VR MeetUp with Schell Games
2018-02-23 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States

Stakeholders: Identify, Manage, & Leverage
2018-02-22 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Ascender Builders Series – For anyone growing a business, non-profit, side-project, or initiative.
Stakeholders: Identify, Manage, & Leverage
A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization that has interest or concern in an entity. Your company needs to deeply know all your stakeholders – how they can help you and how they might hurt you. During this workshop, we will discuss how to identify all the stakeholders in a market, manage your stakeholder landscape, and leverage these groups to move your company forward towards success.
We will be cover specifics to help you accomplish the following:

Identifying all stakeholders in an industry or market (paying customers, end users, decision makers, government agencies, union, the community, etc)
Determine which stakeholders are most important and why
Develope tactics for managing different stakeholder relationships
Learn tips and tricks for leveraging your stakeholder community

Featured Speaker:
Babs Carryer, Director of Education and Outreach Innovation Institute, University of Pittsburgh

Evaluating Your Market
2018-02-06 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Ascender Starter Series – For anyone starting a business, non-profit, side-project, or initiative.
Evaluating Your Market
Researching your market can be difficult and costly. From google searching information on your industry to utilizing databases, trying to find compelling statistics for your business model or pitch can be a daunting task. For our first Starter Series of 2018, we have teamed up with the Carnegie Library to present relevant tips and tricks for conducting market research.
We will be covering how to extract the following information:

General industry reports with IBIS World
Annual revenue for your competition
Census Reports
Using A to Z Database for client lists
Deep web research (overcoming the database paywalls)

Featured Speaker:
Rachel Masilamani, Reference Librarian Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Downtown & Business

Employment Law for Startup Founders and Executives - With Andrew Horowitz
2018-01-30 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE

Many startup founders quickly find themselves thrown into to the role of employer. They need to define expectations and manage risk while at the same time being a desirableemployer to attract top talent. Employees are people, who by nature are quirky and difficult.
The objectives of this session are to arm founders and others who make personnel decisions with:

An understanding of the risks inherent to having employees and strategies to manage them.
An understanding of the role of personnel policies and manuals.
Best practices for hiring, firing, compensation, and other personnel administration issues, including sticky situations that can arise with employees.

Because we want participants to be able to ask candid questions without their employees present, this session is limited to founders and other C-Level executives who make personnel decisions or anticipate having to do so.
Refreshments will be provided.

Incubator Bootcamp
2018-01-26 16:30 - 2018-01-28 16:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Invite-Only Bootcamp for Incubator applicants.

Bootcamp Orientation
2018-01-18 16:30 - 20:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Invite-only orientation for incubator applicants.

Pittsburgh VR Meetup
2018-01-12 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Come hang out with other VR enthusiasts at the Pittsburgh VR Meetup on Friday, January 12, 5:30-7:30, at Ascender. Ralph Vituccio from Carnegie Mellon University will give a brief talk about what’s happening with VR at CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center. Karen Alexander will share some of the most exciting news and developments from VR conferences she attended in the US and in Europe in 2017. Schell Games has generously agreed to let us demo two of their games, I Expect You to Die and Water Bears. You’ll have the chance to test different types of VR headsets, to chat with others who are interested in VR, and to enjoy some light refreshments. Parking is free, and you can BYOB! Doors open at 5:30, program at 6:30. Stop by–we’d love to meet you!

INCUBATOR APPLICATION DEADLINE
2018-01-04 - 2018-01-05 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Deadline to apply for Ascender’s 2018 Incubator in 11:59 PM on December 5th.

Disability Proud Meetup
2017-12-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
For Inclusive Innovation Week 2018, we want to celebrate the achievements of the local disability community and raise awareness to the barriers that the disability community still face. Join us for a planning session at Ascender. We hope to have an event that can bring together all types of abilities and innovators working in the field to increase access for all Pittsburgh’s residents. You are invited to partner with the City and others to shape an event (or multiple events) around this topic for Inclusive Innovation Week 2018. If you have ideas or want to be a part of the conversation and planning of this event, please come and join the discussion.
Goals for Meetup:
1. Identify event(s) and what partners are working on each
2. Designate leadership, communications and next steps for each event
3. Identify resources available within the group and resource gaps to investigate and research
Accommodations:
• Bus: The 71C,74,75,77,82,86 and 88 bus lines drop you right in front of the East Liberty Shopping Center. The P1 is nearby but is about a 10 minute walk
• Parking: FREE. Plenty of space
• Ascender is wheel-chair accessible
• Light refreshments will be provided
• ASL interpretation will be at the event
• Please reach out with any additional accessibility questions at todd.smith@pittsburghpa.gov
Inclusive Innovation Week 2018
Amplify | Connect | Encourage
Unfamiliar with Inclusive Innovation Week? It is an event week and platform spearheaded by the City of Pittsburgh and Urban Redevelopment Authority to amplify opportunity for all and encourage cross-sector collaboration. Partner with the city, organizations, businesses and individuals to raise important conversations to the forefront, create welcoming and inclusive experiences and showcase commitment to a Pittsburgh for everyone.
@PghIP ( https://twitter.com/PghIP )
#WeInnovatePgh
WeInnovatePgh.net

Incubator Office Hours
2017-12-13 07:30 - 09:30, 2017-12-11 15:30 - 17:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Have a question about our incubator or your application? Stop by our office hours to meet one on one with an Ascender team member.
Please RSVP below if you plan to stop by.

Celebrate Pittsburgh's XPRIZE Competitors
2017-12-12 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Join us on Dec. 12 at Ascender for a celebration of Pittsburgh teams competing in XPRIZE competitions, as well as announcements of additional initiatives and opportunities on the horizon.
RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrate-pittsburghs-xprize-competitors-tickets-40946038704
This month, seven Pittsburgh teams (Behaivior, BlipIQ, Choitek, CleanRobotics, Expii, Marinus Analytics, and SCAD AI) advanced to Round 2 of the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, among 59 globally. This is more than any other U.S. city, and second only to Montreal as the global leader. With a few more Wild Card applications (due by Dec 20), Pittsburgh could take the lead in 2018 and further increase our chances of winning!
Pittsburgh boasts an impressive track record of other XPRIZE sucesses as well. The city is home to RoboTutor, one of 5 finalists in the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, and Hera Global Tech, one of 21 semi-finalists in the $1M Women’s Safety XPRIZE. Astrobotic, a previous competitor for the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, has been developing their highly successful business of delivering affordable space robotics technology and planetary missions.

Incubator Info Session & Application Workshop
2017-12-05 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Ascender is now accepting applications to our 2018 Incubator. Join us on December 5th to learn more about our incubator and application process.
5:30 to 6:00 PM – Meet our team and other applicants.
6:00 to 6:30 PM – Learn about how our incubator works to move your entity towards success.
6:30 to 7:00 PM – Hear tips and tricks on how to nail any business application.
LEARN MORE.

Pittsburgh VR Meet Up
2017-12-01 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Pittsburgh VR Meetup
Organized by Karen & Elliot of the Pittsburgh VR Meetup Group

Stitchbridge, a Pittsburgh VR studio that creates interactive, live action VR to will be presenting! In addition to the presentation, Karen will bring her Insta360 Pro camera and Samsung Odyssey headset for people to try. Elliott will bring his Oculus Rift.
Karen will be providing pizza! Yay for Karen! BYOB or Filtered water is available! There is free parking.
The event starts at 5:30 with socializing and equipment experience demos. The program will start at 6, with welcome, announcements, and group introductions, followed by the presentation by Stitchbridge. After that, time allowing, we will have more time to experience the equipment that people have brought.
Anyone else that has equipment they could bring would be appreciated! Let us know!

RSVP below or join the meetup group here.

Buchanan LABS Speaker Series
2017-12-01 11:00 - 12:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Getting Over the Hurdle: Lessons for FDA-Regulated Industries
Friday, December 1, 2017​​
12 – 1 p.m.
ASCENDER | 6401 Penn Avenue | Pittsburgh 15206
Presenter:
Barbara Binzak Blumenfeld
Buchanan Labs
Registration is free, but required. Lunch will be provided.
REGISTER

Completing Your Team
2017-11-30 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Growing a team can be challenging at any stage of a startup. How do you choose your next employee? Should your decision be based off of merit or, perhaps, certain personality characteristics? We’ve assembled a panel of entrepreneurs who have been there. Bring your tough questions Thursday, November 30th, for our Completing Your Team panel.
Panelists:
Bobby Zappala, Co-Founder and CEO at Ascender
John Dick, Founder and CEO of CivicScience, Inc.
Sophia Berman, Founder and CEO of Trusst Lingerie
What is the Builders Series?
At Ascender, our Builders Series is hyperfocused on helping individuals and entities strengthen their existing organizations. With the help of cross-industry experts, educators, and hand picked mentors, the Builders Series takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues that face growing companies in the Pittsburgh area. Attend our Builders Series the last Thursday of each month to experience for yourself how an in depth conversation can provide a new outlook on your organization.

Incubator Info Session
2017-11-16 11:00 - 12:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Join us for lunch on Nov. 16th to learn more about Ascender’s Incubator.
Lunch will be provided.

CMU: "How AI Is Transforming Business"
2017-11-15 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
CMU: “How AI Is Transforming Business”
Modern breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are allowing automation and insights that are transforming modern business. Ask an expert panel of some of the region’s most successful local AI executives. Learn how AI is transforming modern business, what the current trends and future predictions are, and how you can apply these new opportunities directly to growing your company and industry.
Panelists include:
Eben Adams (IM/TPR 1993, MBA 2005), VP Growth & Partnerships, LegalSifter
Dan Beaven (MBA 2003), CFO, Argo AI
Mark DeSantis, Roadbotics / KWantera / CMU Professor
E. Austin Webb (MBA 2017), CEO & Co-founder, RoBotany Ltd.
Panel moderator:
Barry Rabkin (MBA ’13), CMO – Identified Technologies
Event supported by J.P. Morgan Chase.

Registration for CMU-Tepper Alumni

Buchanan LABS
2017-11-15 11:00 - 12:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Building the Right Foundation: Capital Considerations and Use of Equity Part II
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
12- 1 p.m.
ASCENDER | 6401 Penn Avenue | Pittsburgh 15206

Presenters:
Michael Fink
Buchanan Labs

Registration is free, but is required. Lunch will be provided.

REGISTER HERE

Co-Founders: Navigating Your Business Marriage
2017-11-14 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Finding a co-founder can be a defeating task for many entrepreneurs. Even after you’ve found someone, do you know what you’re getting yourself into? For every success story, there is at least one horror story. Join us on Tuesday, November 14th, for an insightful panel on navigating your co-founder relationships. We will be discussing ways to identify, work with, and protect yourself from co-founders.
Panelists:
Doug Bernstein, Co-Founder/CEO at Peca Labs
Lee Kimball, Founding COO at Thread
What is the Starters Series?
In partnership with Pittsburgh’s acclaimed thought leaders, the Starters Series at Ascender provides a first look into the most crucial elements of starting a business or organization. In line with our monthly themes, the Starters Series targets individuals and entities from ideation to early execution, providing a compelling educational experience on each curated topic. Join Ascender the second Tuesday of each month as we explain proven strategies and explore new tools and techniques driving success.

Product Management: What You Need to Know
2017-10-26 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
“Product management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company dealing with the planning, forecasting, and production, or marketing of a product at all stages of the product lifecycle.”
Sounds simple right? … not so much. This month’s Builder Series will address product management head on. We will be discussing how to achieve product market fit, listen to customers, and create a systems thinking approach to your product.
Speaker
Joe Lipple, Product Manager for Wombat Security Technologies;
Former positions: Co-founder, Lily&Strum; Principal Product Manager, Amazon; Director of Product Management, Nowait, Inc.
What is the Builders Series?
At Ascender, our Builders Series is hyperfocused on helping individuals and entities strengthen their existing organizations. With the help of cross-industry experts, educators, and hand picked mentors, the Builders Series takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues that face growing companies in the Pittsburgh area. Attend our Builders Series the last Thursday of each month to experience for yourself how an in depth conversation can provide a new outlook on your organization.

Estate and Wealth Planning for Startup Owners
2017-10-25 12:00 - 13:00
Estate and Wealth Planning for Startup Owners
Buchanan LABS Speaker Series
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
12- 1 p.m.
ASCENDER | 6401 Penn Avenue | Pittsburgh 15206
This presentation will consist of a two-part discussion:
(1) basic estate planning tools to protect individuals and their families and businesses, and
(2) best practices for companies to avoid common problems that arise when an owner dies or becomes disabled.

Presenters:
Curt Schaffner
Buchanan Labs

Registration is free, but is required. Lunch will be provided.

REGISTER HERE

MVP: Getting There Without Writing a Line of Code
2017-10-10 17:30 - 19:00
When you have an idea for a new product, one of the trickiest decisions you’ll make is simply what to tackle first. The temptation might be to start courting investors and hiring a team, but you would be missing out on what of the most important—and most enjoyable—parts of building a product: creating your MVP.

On Tuesday, October 10th, Cameron Scott will cover the basics of a good MVP; how to break down your product idea into testable theories; and some of the different tools and tactics you can use to validate those theories—no coding required. Plus, we’ll talk about the humble (and analog!) beginnings of some of today’s most successful companies, and what lessons you can take away from their experiences.

What is the Starters Series?

In partnership with Pittsburgh’s acclaimed thought leaders, the Starters Series at Ascender provides a first look into the most crucial elements of starting a business or organization. In line with our monthly themes, the Starters Series targets individuals and entities from ideation to early execution, providing a compelling educational experience on each curated topic. Join Ascender the second Tuesday of each month as we explain proven strategies and explore new tools and techniques driving success.

Thrival Music Day 2
2017-09-30 14:00 - 23:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
BUY TICKETS

Thrival Music Day 1
2017-09-29 16:00 - 23:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States

Thrival Innovation Day 2
2017-09-28 13:00 - 22:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Thrival Innovation HUMAN X TECH
Thrival Innovation addresses key challenges and opportunities relevant to our local, national, and international ecosystems. It is part platform and part convening power.
As a platform, Thrival Innovation offers unique, accessible, and thought-provoking programming that draws inspiration from Pittsburgh’s fast-evolving startup landscape. It celebrates new ideas and examines pressing trends and developments.
As a convening power, Thrival Innovation brings together industry experts, creatives, entrepreneurs, and the generally curious from around the world to explore pressing issues that affect us all.

Thursday, 9/28
1:00-4:00pm | Human Touch: Culture & Communication in the Age of AI @ UPMC Enterprises
5:00-6:00pm | VIP reception @ Carnegie Museum of Art
6:00-10:30pm | Intelligence: Humans X Tech @ Carnegie Museum of Art

BUY TICKETS

Thrival Innovation Day 1
2017-09-27 13:00 - 23:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Thrival Innovation HUMAN X TECH
Thrival Innovation addresses key challenges and opportunities relevant to our local, national, and international ecosystems. It is part platform and part convening power.
As a platform, Thrival Innovation offers unique, accessible, and thought-provoking programming that draws inspiration from Pittsburgh’s fast-evolving startup landscape. It celebrates new ideas and examines pressing trends and developments.
As a convening power, Thrival Innovation brings together industry experts, creatives, entrepreneurs, and the generally curious from around the world to explore pressing issues that affect us all.
Wednesday, 9/27
1:00-4:00pm | Tech Forward: Entrepreneurship, Cybersecurity, & Emerging Technologies @Ace Hotel Ballroom
4:00-6:00pm | Thrival Innovation Happy Hour @Ace Hotel Gym
6:00-8:00pm | #AIforGood: Risks & Opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution @ Kelly-Strayhorn Theater
8:00-11:00pm | Late night networking and after-party @ Ace Hotel
BUY TICKETS
