Our journey thus far

On February 4, Nicolò founded GNV&Partners snc, at the age of 21. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.