Nova Popup - Season 2 Idea Jam 5
- Matt Pacyga
- Aug 2
- 7 min read
Season 2 Idea Jam 5
Season 2 Recaps brought to you by our partners Hypercolor Digital and the University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship
Spotlight Business for June 2025 - Season 2 - Idea Jam 5
What Does Nova Popup Do?
Nova Pop-Up creates curated markets, workshops, and experiences where small businesses and creatives grow their visibility, build community, and show up with impact. Their mission is centered around "Real People. Real Brands. Real Connection."
"Nova Pop-up helps small businesses through strategic events. We do curated markets, brand events, and we specialize in telling their stories and really emphasizing what they're bringing to the community on a personal level. We work with businesses that are ready to grow and invest in their brand and we do handle all the logistics while they are able to focus on building their relationships with the community. Our track record so far, we have hosted over 15 events this year. We have helped over 100 small businesses and we are based in Twin Cities.
Core Offerings
Curated Pop-Up Markets: Nova Pop-Up hosts carefully curated markets that bring together local artisans, entrepreneurs, and small businesses in thoughtfully designed experiences.
Vendor Services: They provide opportunities for small business owners, artisans, and entrepreneurs to showcase their products or services at pop-up markets, stores, and events.
Community Building: Nova Pop-Up focuses on creating spaces where people feel seen, celebrated, and supported, with every pop-up designed to build something meaningful together.
Partnership Opportunities: They collaborate with creative minds and businesses to bring new ideas to life and create extraordinary experiences.
Volunteer Programs: Nova Pop-Up offers behind-the-scenes volunteer opportunities for community members to gain experience and meet new people.
Nova Popup
Founder Profile
Connect with Angel Yang on LinkedIn
Company Vision
"We believe in creating spaces where people feel seen, celebrated, and supported. Every pop-up is an opportunity to build something meaningful together." Nova Pop-Up is rooted in community and powered by creativity, aiming to create a world where creativity knows no bounds and where entrepreneurs, artists, and small businesses come together to inspire and support each other.
“Our approach is that we are very picky with who we work with, quality over quantity. We want to make sure that everyone that comes to us is very serious about building their business and why they're engaging with the community."
Clickable Chapters:
Event Pictures
Event Deck
Problem Statement
Nova Pop-Up is pivoting from traditional pop-up market hosting to an innovative model where they operate vendor booths on behalf of multiple small businesses. Think of it like a curated boutique store that travels to different markets, representing multiple brands simultaneously while business owners focus on their core operations. The challenge is building trust with small business owners to entrust their products and brand representation to a third party, while developing strategies that make this multi-vendor booth model successful and sustainable in saturated markets.
"One of the problems that we were seeing while we were planning these markets is small businesses wanted to be at more than one place at a time, but there are only so many hours in a weekend. So a lot of our members would come to us and say, I'm already booked for that weekend or I don't have the staff to cover multiple events and I wish I could be in two places at once."
Idea Jam Summary
During the Innovate MN Idea Jam, participants brainstormed ideas to help Nova Pop-Up address two key challenges:
1) building confidence with small business (creating trust) owners and defining mutual success metrics, and 2) developing market positioning strategies that differentiate their multi-vendor model in competitive markets.
The discussion focused on identifying barriers preventing small businesses from trusting a third party with their brand representation and exploring ways to position Nova Pop-Up's multi-vendor approach as more effective than individual vendor booths. Participants generated a wide range of ideas covering trust-building mechanisms, success metrics, pricing models, and strategic positioning approaches.
Over 100+ sticky notes!
Come and be part of our upcoming jam!
Idea Jam Analysis
Topic 1: Building Trust & Mitigating Risk
Key Themes:
Trust-Building Mechanisms:
"Trust is earned from being knowledgeable - accurate"
"Build confidence - of clarity - mentorship - turnkey services"
"Testimonials - product innovation - representation"
"Relationships with Nova staff"
Knowledge and Expertise:
"Nova must have deep knowledge of product they are representing"
"Training sales people on every vendor's product (or use an AI Model?)"
"Product training - understand inspiration - origin story"
"Speak the language of the brand"
Success Metrics and Accountability:
"Success metrics: Number of current customers that visit the event"
"Track & show how businesses walk benefited from participation with Nova"
"Display previous success metrics"
"Define success"
Operational Transparency:
"Explain in detail your process for building up the knowledge to represent the product"
"Create videos explicitly showing the execution of Product Representation"
"Event communication and feedback to the business owner"
"Have a feedback card or app to recorder to analyze customer interactions"
Topic 2: Market Positioning
Key Themes:
Differentiation Strategy:
"Successful & sustainable better than the last model"
"Highlight a unique aspect of your business"
"Nova's guarantee our businesses are supply chain/distribution ready"
"Signage differentiation"
Multi-Vendor Advantages:
"How do we get attract people to a table w/multi businesses"
"Selling more than one vendor product (non-competing) would help draw attention/marketing power"
"Have compatible products to the same booth"
"More multi tables per event"
Experience Enhancement:
"Make the popup an actual experience"
"Multi-model experiences: Live music, Live dance"
"Add entertainment to event"
"Photo booth for viral moments"
"Themes - seasonal - cultural"
Pricing and Business Models:
"Consider pricing model % vs flat"
"Share profits not a slot fee model change"
"Charge business per shopper who visits markets (or booth)"
"3 month trial 3 months + bond"
"It's almost like I just hired 20 more people to represent my brand." ~Innovate MN Member
Innovative Ideas, What Stands Out, Insights
Innovative Ideas:
AI-Powered Training Model: "Training sales people on every vendor's product (or use an AI Model?)" - leveraging technology to scale product knowledge
Performance-Based Pricing: "Charge business per shopper who visits markets" - aligning Nova's success with vendor outcomes
Digital Integration: "QR codes linked to website/purchasing" and "Create digital 'pop-up' stores"
Vendor Collaboration Network: "Build social relationship between vendors with possibilities for collaboration"
Experience-First Approach: Positioning as entertainment destination rather than just retail space
What Stands Out (Patterns):
Knowledge as Trust Currency: Repeated emphasis on deep product knowledge as the foundation for trust
Metrics-Driven Accountability: Strong focus on demonstrable results and transparent success tracking
Community Over Competition: Shifting from individual vendor competition to collaborative success
Experience Differentiation: Moving beyond traditional retail to create memorable experiences
Technology Integration: Using AI and digital tools to scale expertise and engagement
Additional Notable Ideas from Sticky Notes:
Revenue Model Innovations:
"Share profits not a slot fee model change" - shift from flat fees to performance-based pricing
"Charge business per shopper who visits markets (or booth)" - pay-per-visitor model
"3 month trial 3 months + bond" - specific trial period structure
Technology Solutions:
"NFC chip" technology mentioned for product information access
"AI service loop" and "AI builds curriculum" - comprehensive AI integration
"Platform SB - articulates biz to platform" - systematic business onboarding
"QR codes linked to website/purchasing" - multiple mentions of QR integration
Operational Strategies:
"The same people represent the same vendors at events - know the brand" - consistency in staffing
"Revenue brand - Nova popup for individual table branded for vendor" - co-branding approach
"Host networking events between like minded clients" - building vendor community
"Focus on established, bigger clients" - target market refinement
Experience Design:
"Ballpark 1 mo/sales to pitch customers" - specific timeline expectations
"Make the popup an actual experience" with "Live music, Live dance"
"Photo booth for viral moments" - social media integration
"Weave + Bundle" - product combination strategies
Implementation Ideas:
Vendor Onboarding Program:
Create comprehensive training on each vendor's products, brand story, and selling points
Develop standardized knowledge assessment and certification process
Implement regular refresher training and updates
Trust-Building Framework:
Establish transparent communication protocols with regular vendor updates
Create detailed performance dashboards showing real-time sales and engagement metrics
Develop vendor testimonial and case study library
Multi-Vendor Experience Design:
Curate complementary (non-competing) product combinations
Design booth layouts that encourage cross-vendor discovery
Create themed experiences that tie multiple vendors together cohesively
Technology-Enhanced Operations:
Implement AI-powered product knowledge system for sales staff
Deploy QR codes linking to vendor websites and product information
Use customer feedback apps to capture real-time interaction data
Key Metrics Identified
Attendance & Traffic Metrics:
"Number of current customers that visit the event"
Foot traffic/visitor count
"Cost per user who comes to the door"
Demographics of attendees
Sales & Lead Generation:
"Sales lead generation"
"QR code that opens work & its lead rate"
Number of inquiries generated
Revenue/sales conversion
Engagement Metrics:
"How much giveaways you have. How much swag you give away"
Customer interactions tracked via "KPIs on every interaction"
Questions asked by customers (tracked for vendor insights)
Trust & Performance Indicators:
"Display previous success metrics"
"Success? # of businesses # of years target #1"
Testimonials and case studies
"3 month trial" performance tracking
Pricing Model Metrics:
Performance-based pricing: "one cent, one person or 10 cents"
"Share profits not a slot fee model"
"Charge business per shopper who visits markets"
Post-Event Deliverables: From Frost's presentation:
"What kind of demographics you can collect on the people that came to the pop-up. That's like a deliverable that you can give back to the business."
Key Challenges and Considerations:
Trust Barrier: "Why should I trust you to sell my products?" - overcoming initial skepticism about third-party representation
Knowledge Scaling: Maintaining deep expertise across multiple vendor products as the business grows
Success Definition: "What does success look like?" - aligning expectations between Nova and vendors
Market Saturation: Differentiating in a crowded pop-up market landscape
Quality Control: Ensuring consistent brand representation across different events and staff members
Vendor Relationship Management: Balancing needs of multiple vendors while maintaining operational efficiency
Way to go, you made it!
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