At this year’s graduation, friends and family members can sit in stylish comfort, thanks to the new student start-up selling Penn-themed graduation seat cushions.
The venture is a one-man operation by College senior Langston Smith, who handled everything the small business needed — from product design to marketing to website development.
“I had never done anything like this before, and I thought this would be a good way to learn,” Smith said.
Although he is a communication major, Smith said he has always been interested in business and could see himself going into the field. “I have an entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
The idea to sell cushions came from having gone to many events in Franklin Field, he said, including last year’s graduation ceremony, which he called “awfully uncomfortable.”
In addition to allowing family to more thoroughly enjoy graduation, the cushions also function as souvenirs, he said.
With Penn colors and festive writing, a cushion “can be something to remind you of commencement weekend,” Smith said.
According to Smith, the UPenn 2010 Grad Cushions project was an extremely rewarding experience for him.
“It was just really fun putting all the different pieces together,” he said, referring to all the components of running the operation.
The seats will be sold during commencement inside Franklin Field and on the corner of 33rd and Spruce streets.
The cushions are “kind of quirky,” Smith admitted, but are “a product that makes sense.”
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