Our story

Our journey thus far

From a passion for designing digital interfaces and people-friendly technologies, to a desire to generate positive impact through responsible innovation.

Founded by Nicolò as GNV&Partners, we became Tangible in 2017. What was the world like in 2004? Literally another era, which we have seen change quickly and evolve in projects as well.

Today Tangible is an organization that we conceive of as a community of people. Individual skills and paths create a collective intelligence aimed at pursuing our four co-created and shared goals of common benefit. This allows us to be able to concretely measure the positive impact we want to impart in each of our activities.

It is on this foundation that Tangible evolves. It is to increase our impact and curiosity that we want to grow.

Key facts

  • 2004: On February 4, Nicolò founded GNV&Partners
  • 3 partners, independent company based on private capital
  • 2014: first client billing 1B
  • 2017: Tangible® is our new brand name
  • 2019: Bologna Airport's new website wins first prize in its category for accessibility
  • 2020: our revenue exceeds 1M
  • 2021: GNV&Partners becomes Tangible and we become a Benefit Corporation
  • 2022: we are certified B Corp and Great Place to Work®.

Organizing 5 events

For years we traveled to attend conferences and courses where we could learn from the world's best designers. Since 2014, we have been working to bring them to Italy and enable our communities to more easily participate in discussions on design leadership and maturity, as well as workshops on new design tools and processes.

Our events have been attended by more than 400 people from more than 12 European countries

  • Designing for what’s next con Josh Clark (2019)
  • Design Sprint con Jake Knapp (2017 e 2018)

  • Lean UX con Jeff Gothelf (2015 e 2016)

Cultivating curiosity

To prepare for the design challenges of the future, each year we organize Inspiration, a series of thematic meetings with people, associations, and companies outside our target communities.

We have created an open source framework for ethical design: Ethical compass.

Value driven

The results we strive for require constant teamwork and pervasive alignment. Our growth is organic and patient, so it allows people to assimilate complexity, exchange knowledge, experiment with solutions, and curate the quality of delivery.

Talent & Culture

Processes, methods, and tools evolve and change, so we reserve time and budget for our people to study, train, experiment, have fun, and exchange ideas. We want our community to have ways and spaces to embark on development paths, to change our organization, and the courage to open up to new opportunities.

1500+

Received applications from 2015 to 2022

5x

Increased investment in consulting for internal development from 2014 (5000 € /year) to 2022 (25000 € / year)

Timeline

Some photos of the team in 2004

On February 4, Nicolò founded GNV&Partners snc, at the age of 21 and with an investment of €5,000 between share capital and equipment.

The goal is to have a formal structure with which to do web design and consulting projects for companies.

The first office is a room with a desk, next door to Nicolò's house.

Some photos of the team from 2005 and 2013

We work with Italy and abroad, with many projects of gradually increasing size and partnerships with development companies, of which we are the design department.

These are the years in which we come into contact with the startup world and in which we breathe and absorb the principles of Agile and Lean from the developers and coaches with whom we collaborate.

Marianna and Luca join as partners and from 2010 the first collaborators join.

Some photos of the team in 2014

After a year of collaboration, it is clear that there is a common vision and common intention to build a solid design company, and Ilaria becomes a partner.

In May we move into our new office. We inaugurate it with an in-house event and workshop with Erin Casali and Jacopo Romei to align the team's vision. This event will be the founding moment of the company culture.

In the fall we hire our first employee.

Some photos of the team in 2015

In January we bring Jeff Gothelf to Italy for the first time, organizing the Lean UX workshop in Bologna. The event is sold out.

The year starts off slow, but in the second half we have a surge and end with remarkable economic growth.

Some photos of the team in 2016

On January 14, we complete the company transformation into a limited liability company (SRL) increasing the share capital to 30,000 euros.

We are ready to grow again, and we want to do so with a stronger foundation than ever before.

We activate our first training program, assigning employees an economic and time budget to spend independently on shared topics.

We organize another event together with Jeff Gothelf, this time the Lean UX for Enterprise workshop in Milan.

International events (Brexit, US elections) as well as Tech Giant scandals trigger internal discussions that will forever mark our DNA.

Some photos of the team in 2017

In March, for our 13th anniversary and after a year of work, we announce the brand change to Tangible. The collective effort helps unites the team.

We launch the new event: the Design Sprint workshop with Jake Knapp of Google Ventures, in Bologna.

In June the Design Sprint event is sold-out with over 100 people from 12 different countries.

After months of construction, we move into the new office in December.

For the first time we start looking at the B Corp model.

This is the first year of Tangible. We also promote the new brand through a second edition of the Design Sprint workshop, bringing Jake Knapp back to Italy, and starting a new event of international significance.

We go to the Festival of Participation in L'Aquila and the B Corp Summit to study the benefit business model and B Corp certification.

The training program is enriched, integrating contributions for B2 certifications in English and Scrum to improve in project and team management.

Some photos of the team in 2019

We invite Josh Clark to give a workshop for the first time in Italy on the methodologies and implications of designing with artificial intelligence. A large and international audience participates.

We invest heavily in internal training, events and team rituals to create cohesion and work on culture. We activate coaching paths for people.

We fine-tune our skills and roles matrix, designed to better govern individual and corporate growth paths.

It is a year marked by periods of adjustment and strong investment to consolidate the foundational framework on which we intend to build the future.

Some photos of the team in 2020

We start a path of operational reorganization: from teams on projects to teams on clients. We move from hybrid work (mandatory office presence for 5 days a month) to distributed work, with office presence only for training and team-building activities.

We launch the Inspiration format, all online, in which to open conversations to topics bordering on design and involving non-designer people and speakers, in thematic paths of mutual contamination.

We start a collaboration with Nativa to become a Benefit Corporation and B Corp within a two-year period.

We dedicate an internal team to create an Ethical Design framework.

We return to double-digit growth in turnover and business volume.

Some photos of the team in 2021

Tangible transforms into a Benefit Corporation by incorporating 4 common benefit goals into its bylaws to generate positive impact.

After 17 years, Tangible also becomes the corporate name, replacing GNV&Partners.

We officially apply for B Corp certification.

We start the Marketing and Communications function formally.

With the goal of providing working and especially social spaces for the now distributed team, we open a co-working office in Bologna.

Inspiration proposes 4 initiatives on the theme of school digitization.

The employee training program is enriched with specific tasks dedicated to training on social and environmental issues.

Some photos of the team in 2022

We come of age: 18 years have passed since Nicolo founded the company.

In April, we file our first impact report as a Benefit Corporation.

In May, we receive Great Place To Work 2022 certification.

In July, we obtain B Corp certification, effectively becoming unique in Italy in the field of digital design.

We start a journey to analyze, reduce and offset our emissions, with the goal of achieving zero impact on the environment (Net Zero) and becoming a Carbon Neutral company by 2025.

We launch Ethical Compass with a public workshop in Milan at Accessibility Days. Employee Experience is the guiding theme of this year's Inspiration initiatives.