From a Dorm Room to Classrooms Nationwide
Writing something down is the first step toward acting on it, and that simple belief has carried Think Board from one idea on a college wall to classrooms across the country. Today, most of what we do is help schools make the most of the boards they already have: refreshing tired rooms for a fraction of the cost of replacement, with less waste and far less disruption. The people we serve most are teachers and students.
How It Started
In April 2014, Hanson started Think Board in his dorm room as a sophomore at Babson College. He needed a writable surface for his business ideas, but couldn't drill holes or use whiteboard paint, so he invented a dry erase film that was easy to install, and stuck the first one on his wall to jot down ideas.
After about 50 ideas, friends kept asking the same thing: “Where can I get one?” He stayed up until 4am to launch a rough website and woke up to 4 online orders. A $0-budget Kickstarter raised $10,000 in 30 days. A primetime feature on ABC in Boston (three nights in a row) drove more orders overnight than the entire campaign.
In 2016 he graduated and brought on his best friend Ken as COO. Together they upgraded every product, launched the Premium Series, and eventually found the work that mattered most: the classroom.
The best part of the job
I started this in 2014 selling clear peel-and-stick whiteboard films. The work that mattered most turned out to be the classroom. 12 years in, the best part of the job hasn't changed: the Monday after an install. A teacher walks into their room to find it almost unrecognizable :) A brighter space. One that functions. A board that erases. And a classroom full of students excited to use the new boards!
— Hanson
What We Do Today
Today, our work lives in the classroom. We help schools get a clean, dependable writing surface without ripping anything out:
- Whiteboard resurfacing. Bring tired, no-longer-erasing whiteboards back to like-new with a fresh dry erase surface.
- Chalkboard-to-whiteboard conversion. Retrofit existing chalkboards into smooth dry erase boards, no demolition required.
- Magnetic whiteboard resurfacing. Upgrade any board, even a non-magnetic one, into a smooth magnetic whiteboard that holds schedules, posters, and student work.
- Full-wall coverage. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling: we turn entire walls into dry erase surfaces, including over drywall or failed whiteboard paint.
- Custom dry erase solutions. Our full product line, including the Premium Series, built to get beat up over and over on walls, tables, and desks.
- Professional installation. Clean, careful installs that work around your existing classroom infrastructure.
Tens of thousands of Think Boards are out in the world, and we stand behind every one with our 100 Day Happiness Guarantee.
Why classrooms
Here's the part we'd want you to check our work on. Resurfacing costs a fraction of replacing boards. At that price a school doesn't have to choose which rooms get done. The same budget that would have replaced boards in a few showcase classrooms covers the whole building.
We didn't set out to build an equity program. We set a price, and the price turned out to be one every school can pay.
Real Cost Savings
Resurfacing and retrofitting cost far less than replacing boards, and avoid changing your classroom's existing infrastructure entirely.
Less Disruption
No demolition, no tearing out walls. Nothing behind the existing board gets disturbed. That's especially valuable in older buildings, where it can mean avoiding a major abatement project.
Less Waste
Our surfaces need less material, manufacturing, and shipping than a new whiteboard, and we save old boards from the landfill.
Professional Installation
Careful, clean installs handled for you, designed to work around the existing fixtures in your room.
A Long-Lasting Surface
Perfected over years to get written on, erased, and beat up over and over on walls, tables, and desks, and still erase clean.
What resurfacing isn't
Resurfacing is not a renovation. We don't paint, we don't fix the floors, and a bright whiteboard won't raise a test score by itself.
What it does: every board in the room writes and erases like new for 10+ years, at a fraction of replacement cost. If the old board is asbestos-era, it stays sealed on the wall. No abatement project, no dust. Nothing goes to the landfill. Teachers do the rest.
See the Difference
Have Old Boards That Need a Refresh?
Send us a photo of your current whiteboards or chalkboards and we'll help recommend the best option for your classroom, whether that's resurfacing, a chalkboard conversion, or a fresh custom surface. No pressure, just a real human who knows boards.
Contact Us, or email your photos straight to hello@think-board.com