Moving Boxes and Pizza giveaway wraps up E-Clinic project for Move Loot

On Wednesday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., NC State students needing boxes to pack up for the summer can pick some up for free – along with some pizza – from Move Loot, a Triangle-area startup company that has been working with the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic this past semester.

The moving boxes and pizza give-away will be held at the Witherspoon Field on NC State’s campus. It is the capstone project for a team of student clinicians that have been working with Move Loot at the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic since January. The event is being presented in conjunction with the Entrepreneurship Clinic and NC State CEO (Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization).

Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., the company – an online-marketplace for quality used furniture – opened a facility in Research Triangle Park in 2014, currently focusing on helping college students in the area both buy and sell their furniture by offering pick-up and delivery service.

In the course of the semester, the clinicians conducted market research and planned campus events to raise awareness of the company’s brand among the college audience. The moving boxes and pizza give-away is their capstone event for this semester’s work. The students will be distributing 250 moving boxes and pizza to students as long as the supply lasts. At the event, Mike Althoff, general manager, and other company representatives also will be asking students about their furniture shopping habits and needs.

“The eClinic clinicians are engaged, intelligent students with a mind towards market analysis and execution,” Althoff said. “We've had a great semester hypothesizing and testing unique features of the Move Loot value proposition with the college demographic. The NC State students’ work is driving Move Loot's national strategy for engaging the college community – this is exciting stuff!”

“This project was one of the most enjoyable of my college career because of the direct relationship you develop with a startup company,” said Emmanuel Larson, one of the clinicians. “As an aspiring entrepreneur, any immersion within a startup company is, I think, the best way to gain insight into what a singular idea could develop into overtime,” he said.

“My experience this semester has fueled my entrepreneurial spirit even further and I look forward to the day I get to try it out with my own company,” he said. “I had a blast working with Mike and the team and plan to stay in touch with them. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them.”

Based on the feedback from the eClinic work this semester, Althoff said, “we'll be back on campus in the fall, helping students furnish their dorm rooms with sustainable, cost effective items and even conducting a decorate your dorm room giveaway. We hope this will only get bigger each year,” he said.

“Waste is the enemy of all and Move Loot is here to ensure every item that once seemed like a throwaway now has a chance for a second life. And the original buyers make back some of what they paid, too,” Althoff said.

The NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic is an outreach of The Entrepreneurship Collaborative in the Poole College of Management. The Clinic is located in HQ Raleigh, in downtown Raleigh.