A First-Timer’s Guide to Startup Weekend
If you’ve considered for even two minutes that you might like to become an entrepreneur, here’s why Startup Weekend is the place to start.
If you’ve ever had an idea that you wanted to share. If you like to compete…have fun…and make something from scratch, read why STARTUP WEEKEND is made for you.
If you like to design applications, code in JAVA or C++, or use WordPress applets…if you like to talk to customers about their problems, explain technical solutions in plain English, or make presentations in front of a roomful of people you’ve never met, learn why it would be a HUGE mistake to miss STARTUP WEEKEND.
Here’s the Not-David-Letterman Top 10 List of What to Expect.
10. Great munchies, a get-acquainted happy hour, and easy introductions to interesting new folks.
We’ll feed you, help you relax (a little), and have a bit of fun with an ice-breaker to two. Lots of people come on their own. You’ll meet people who are almost just like you and almost nothing like you.
9. A safe place to take a risk.
You might get a few laughs, but no one is going to call your idea dumb. Whether you know anything about technology or not, you’ll have a skill that some team needs. Part of the whole experience is putting yourself out there to be part of process.
8. 15 to 50 Fastball Pitches.
Right off the bat, anyone with an idea is invited to make a 1 minute pitch. Everyone votes with Post-it® notes. Over the next 50 hours, 10to 15 teams will turn a roomful of concepts into a bunch of companies.
7. Power teams.
This means you! Women and men. Millennials to Boomers to Gen X and Y. From multiple states, countries, continents, and cultures. Marketing, technical, finance, and more. A total mixed bag of value add.
6. All Action, no talk.
Tenacity. Passion. Determination. Once the top concepts are chosen, people self-select around those ideas. You’ll get a taste of what it takes to combine the right mix of talent to accomplish the near impossible. Who’s responsible for what? What are the deliverables? How fast can you get it done?
5. Concept validation.
Every good business plan begins with the entrepreneur surveying the market and talking to customers.
4. Minimal viable prototypes.
It’s a two-day hack-a-thon with a business spin.
3. Contacts, contacts, contacts.
1275 Kinnear Road will be packed with people you will be happy to meet: Wanna-be entrepreneurs, Gonna-be entrepreneurs, Already-are-entrepreneurs. Plus developers, designers, investors, mentors, business leaders, and more.
2. Fun.
There’s an esprit and collaborative feeling that comes about when you fill a space created for entrepreneurs with a hundred folks who want to concentrate for three days and give it a try.
1. The whole startup experience compressed into 3/365th of a year.
From concept validation to prototype, STARTUP WEEKEND delivers a dose of it all.
There’s the risk of putting your idea out there and having it voted up or down.
There’s the challenge of building the right team. And having a great idea, only to discover that a competitor in Texas is already doing it.
There’s the reward of winning the business plan pitch and getting some cool prizes.
There’s the satisfaction of living up to the commitment of delivering results overnight.
STARTUP WEEKEND is one of the cornerstone events of the Columbus entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is a catalyst for people to take risk and get a taste of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur.
Give it a try!
