Turning Proximity into Pipeline: Building a Strategic Event Series + Business Development Platform

The Opportunity

BZDesign had a relationship with NextCorps, but was primarily known for prototyping support — not the broader strategic brand, marketing, and commercialization work.

Sharing the 6th floor of the Sibley building with NextCorps gave us unique proximity to Rochester’s startup and product development ecosystem. Through that relationship, NextCorps knew BZDesign as a hands-on industrial design and prototyping resource, especially through our work supporting the Fabrication Lab. What they did not fully see was the other side of the company: the strategic brand, marketing, research, and design work that helps companies move from early product ideas to polished, market-ready brands.

At the same time, I was paying close attention to the growing momentum around the semiconductor industry in Western New York. It was clear that funding would increasingly flow toward companies supporting that ecosystem, including optics companies developing technologies for non-destructive semiconductor chip inspection. For BZDesign, the opportunity was not simply to get closer to NextCorps or gain access to more startups. It was to build stronger visibility with the specific companies and sectors most likely to grow.

I saw an opportunity to close the positioning gap, strengthen a key ecosystem relationship, and place BZDesign closer to the kinds of companies with the highest strategic potential.

The Strategy

Create a partnered event series that positioned BZDesign as a strategic resource for startups and manufacturers moving from concept to market.

NextCorps is a trusted advisor to startups, manufacturers, and growth-stage companies, often helping them access resources through programs connected to organizations like Empire State Development, RG&E, and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Many of those companies need more than a prototype; they need positioning, messaging, visual identity, websites, sales materials, launch strategy, and marketing support to turn a product into a business.

To strengthen that relationship and create a more intentional lead-generation channel, I proposed a partnered event series with NextCorps called Beyond the Sketch. The series was designed to bring founders, manufacturers, innovators, and ecosystem partners together for practical conversations about moving ideas from concept to market.

It allowed BZDesign to show up not just as designers, but as strategic partners who understand product development, brand-building, commercialization, funding pathways, and growth. We put our best clients under the spotlight and let their experiences working with BZDesign speak for themselves.

My Role

Concept development, positioning, messaging, event programming, partner coordination, promotion, attendee experience, and follow-up strategy: Soup to nuts as they say.

My role included shaping the event concept, positioning, developing a co-branded visual identity for the series and working iteratively to gain leadership’s buy-in on locking their name up BZDesign’s , messaging, programming, promotional strategy, outreach, partner coordination, speaker coordination, speaker presentation design, overall attendee experience, event photography, networking at the event to create relationships and potential leads, event follow up (emails, posts, blogs, etc.), lead follow up, and finally lead capture.

The Outcome

Strengthened BZDesign’s relationship with NextCorps, increased visibility in the startup/manufacturing ecosystem, and generated the largest pipeline growth in the history of BZDesign.

After only two Beyond the Sketch events, the relationship with NextCorps began turning into measurable opportunity.

When the next Luminate cohort arrived in Rochester, NextCorps invited BZDesign to participate in its Lunch & Learn program and introduce our services to 10 optics startups preparing to develop competitive products for the accelerator’s $1M prize. We adapted the Beyond the Sketch format for that audience, using the session to explain how strategic design supports commercialization while showcasing previous Luminate companies within BZDesign’s portfolio. The follow-up created exactly the kind of qualified visibility the series was designed to build. NextCorps referred roughly half of the cohort to BZDesign based on fit, and we converted all of those opportunities into engagements at more than double the rate of the previous year’s Luminate-related work.

The semiconductor prediction also proved correct. Of the five Luminate companies now under contract with BZDesign, we were able to secure semiconductor-related SCAN grant funding for three of them, directly supporting design and commercialization work tied to that growing market.

The series also strengthened our broader referral network. After participating in the Lunch & Learn as one of our speakers, a previous client introduced us to a mentee with a pre-seed startup who needed a strategic design partner to help guide the commercialization process. That relationship became a $300K contract — BZDesign’s largest product design engagement since the 2020 shutdown.

The result was more than an event series. Beyond the Sketch became a relationship-building and business development platform that increased BZDesign’s visibility within the startup, optics, manufacturing, and semiconductor-adjacent ecosystems; strengthened our position with a key regional partner; and contributed to the largest pipeline growth in BZDesign’s history.