Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Monday, July 28th, 2008
The next in our series of guest posts comes from Ted Pin of the Intermz team that managed to get exactly what they needed, and more, from the recent Ann Arbor Startup Weekend. He has a series of posts that cover what it is like bringing an idea to Startup Weekend and below is the fourth installment in the series.
I mentioned Startup Weekend in a couple of posts in this series, but I never really got into the details of how it actually worked for us. I promised an honest, nitty-gritty blog about starting up, so here are the details about how events like Startup Weekend can really change the course of your dream. (And if it sounds like I’m pitching for Startup Weekend in spots, I am. It was just that awesome.)
What is Startup Weekend (from a founder’s viewpoint)?
Their website defines it as “an intense 54 hour event bringing together brilliant tech minds (developers, designers, marketers, ect.) together to create a company (or as many as the community wants) from concept to launch!” Well, from a founder’s standpoint, it ended up being a lot more than that.
Startup Weekend actually began as a kind of “traveling Y-Combinator.” If you’re not familiar with Y-Combinator, they run annual gatherings of startup companies that Y-Combinator fund at a seed level and helps them get going. Y-Combinator then takes a small share of those companies. One of the biggest drawbacks for founders is that Y-Combinator is stationed in CA and not all founders/startup-teams can get out there for a couple of months at a time. In contrast, Startup Weekend holds events in all parts of the country (as determined by vote) and no longer take a financial interest in your company. They gather a group of incredibly generous local volunteers like Laura Fisher who organize and manage the event, which basically gives you a space, an Internet connection, and a bunch of willing people to throw stuff at (and believe me, they will throw stuff back at you, too).
For Intermz.com, it was definitely intense, and it is definitely helping us go from concept to launch. But I want to share with a lot of the other more subtle (and less subtle) benefits that a founder can gain from events like this.
Self-selected crowd
This might seem really obvious, but if you are a founder looking to recruit people to get behind your vision, you can waste a lot of time sending emails and trying to convince folks to actually join your team and do work for your idea.
Imagine being able to give your pitch to a room full of people who have already said, just by being there, “I’m here to work. Just convince me your idea is worth working on.” Then it’s simply up to you to give them a good reason. Intermz ended up attracting one of the largest groups at Startup Weekend which had a diversity that is became the major factor in our progress.
Energy, inspiration and momentum
This is the soft stuff that I don’t think gets talked about enough. Don’t discount the soft stuff. Startups are based almost entirely on passion and energy. Why? Because you’re probably not going to have any money in the beginning and the work is going to be really hard–and your statistical chances for success barely register. The only thing that keeps people (including the founder) working on an idea is love for it and how much belief there is in it.
As I see it, entrepreneurship events help ignite and sustain that belief in one most-important way: When you see that other people believe your idea, it makes you, the founder, believe in yourself. That belief translates into apparent commitment, which signals to the team that the people are in place to make it really happen. Before Startup Weekend, I began to have doubts about my idea, which made me doubt myself. But the response Intermz received at the event gave me, and us all, reason to row in the same boat.
Network
So you’re in a room full of other like-minded, enthusiastic people. If you wanted to talk to, get advice from, and get help from like-minded, enthusiastic people, why would you not go to an entrepreneurship event? Always keep in mind that these events are full of self-selected people who are like you. Help them and they will help you.
Opened up
I would wager that how you think you can achieve success before you attend an event like Startup Weekend, and how you think you can achieve success afterward are going be shockingly different. Not only that, I would also wager that after such an event, the plan will be clearer, the goals better defined, and your confidence will go up. (This all assumes of course that you had an idea that attracted enough help.)
You may not enjoy the process of getting your mind opened, but if you’re not uncomfortable, then you’re probably not learning. Engaged people are going to ask the tough questions that help you focus and understand.
Entrepreneurship events make this kind of eye-opening a very good thing because: 1) You’re getting feedback from people who presumably want the idea to succeed (or they wouldn’t be there), and 2) they aren’t you.
Who entrepreneurship events are not for
These events are not for people worried about non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and the like. There is an implicit code at these things that if you come up with an idea, no one will try to rip it–otherwise these events wouldn’t work. If you go to one and expect people will sign your NDA, don’t count on getting people to join your cause.
The reality
To make your web-startup, or any startup for that matter, succeed, you’re going to need people with ideas, passion, and the willingness to work. Without them, you can only go so far. I challenge you to find a better way to recruit more of those people in one place than by attending an entrepreneurship event like Startup Weekend. Go find one and give them a good reason to join you!
Good luck, and go get ‘em.
Thank you to Ted for the great post and we’ll have more on the way later this week!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Posted in Startup Weekends, Uncategorized, entrepreneurship |
Friday, July 25th, 2008
In the spirit of Startup Weekend it seemed like a good idea to get more guest posts going regarding lessons learned, experiences, and tips for future Startup Weekend attendees. With that, we’ll start off with a post from Mike Gray (Code and Management) about things to consider for developers attending Startup Weekend. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments and lets get a discussion going about best practices. Post below:
Having just gone through Startup Weekend Columbus last weekend, these were some thoughts I had that might help developers or architects attending future Startup Weekends:
- Bring a laptop, pre-loaded with the development tools you are comfortable using.
- Create a source code repository on a public site in advance (github, bitbucket.org, google code). For EventStart, one of our developers already had a github account.
- Know your tools, use what you know, don’t try to learn over the weekend. If you haven’t used git before, don’t make this the weekend you try to convince people to use it and then try to learn it on the fly. You have more important things to worry about and learn this weekend - i.e. getting a company launched.
- Have a public web server host available. For EventStart, one of our developers already had a slicehost account setup. This was immensely helpful.
- Don’t be religious about your development methodology. Not everyone does pair programming. Not everyone is a Ruby on Rails developer. Not everyone uses emacs or vi or vim or TextMate or Visual Studio 2008. Allow the other developers in the group to work the way they are used to working.
- Divide and conquer. Startup Weekend is very intense. Lots of ideas, lots of tasks. Most people that come to these events are extremely bright. Leverage the strengths of the developers by assigning tasks and responsibilities then let them loose. Go, go, go.
- Remember, the assignment for the weekend is to get something done. This code does not need to live forever, does not need to work for every edge case, does not need to do everything you can possibly imagine. You are building a prototype more than a real, working production scalable solution. Keep that in mind, take shortcuts.
Stay tuned for future posts from a variety of attendees about all sorts of topics and again, comments welcome!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Startup Weekend Columbus (our largest yet) was an excellent weekend with some really exciting developments moving forward post-SW activities. In addition, they were the first weekend in our second year of operation and were nice enough to get us a cake! Check out their projects below and be sure to stay tuned to their local blog as there will be more news and continued buzz and excitement regarding these great projects.
GiggleSeed is a new approach to running a virtual application development business for the Apple iphone and ipod touch. Their first project at Startup Weekend Columbus developed itoot™. With just the touch of your finger, itoot will deliver Multi-fart pack - Short ones, long ones, loud ones and even a few wet ones. All for 99 cents.
CorkShare allows users to create CorkBoards for sharing web media and personal content with friends, group members, or organizations. Users of CorkShare can add objects, called Corks, to their own personal CorkBoard. Both Corks and CorkBoards are conversational, in that other users can comment on postings as well as add postings of their own.
uPropel.com is a new website connecting students in need of tuition assistance with charitable philanthropists in the online community. To use uPropel.com, students pay a small fee to create a profile online and upload a brief video. Videos might tell a story, demonstrate a unique talent, or go on a humorous rant: basically anything that might garner the interest of a donor.
Clearwish is an interactive service that allows a user to create, grow and share their wish lists with family and friends. Users can capture their items from any site or location and add them to their wish list. Users can then share their lists with family and friends.
EventStart is an application that will make event hosting and set up a seamless and relatively simple activity. By combining registrations, wikis, twitter, and a variety of other useful applications, EventStart will simplify event planning and empower its users.
Spotwurk is a new service that connects brands, market researchers and advertisers to consumers by engaging them on a whole new level of ubiquitous computing. They make consumers part of the design process by tapping into the pulse of now. As an added benefit, brands get back on the radar, they engage, research, discover trends and begin to understand their dynamic consumer.
FindShelternow.com is an application focused on the management and distribution of same-day, last-minute hotel rooms. The availability and location of hotels for evacuees is a critical function of the overall evacuation process and this service will enable users to find the nearest hotels and their availabilities for those last minute needs.
Skibble is a creative and powerful white boarding application that allows users to share a Skibble and whiteboard on the web without all the hassle and problems sometimes associated with real time sharing. Users can share a link and save their Skibbles as images at any time.
FreightChatter is a company that will revolutionize the way independent trucking professionals and shippers connect and interact. It is a web-based network where drivers and dispatchers instantly connect to fill empty trucks and reduce deadhead miles.
Cloud 9 is a conversation-based matching service for the single or solo traveler. Similar in functionality and feel to a dating site, Cloud 9 will enhance the overall personal flying experience through targeted introductions of fellow passengers who are either socially or professionally motivated to engage in this service offering. Cloud 9 will facilitate the introduction of people flying on the same plane, so that they may sit next to one another and engage in a mutually interesting topic of conversation.
Litigation Desktop is an application that is currently in development aimed at the huge legal exhibits and documentation market that currently exists. Their application will be a desktop app that enables trial attorneys to better manage their exhibits and huge sources of data in a case.
I also wanted to send out a big thank you to Chris Anderson, Alvin Borromeo and all the other organizers for doing such a great job with this event!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Posted in Columbus, Uncategorized |
Friday, July 18th, 2008
Just saw a great piece on Startup Weekend on CNBC (those with tivos please record!) here. Thanks to the NBC news team for coming out! Can’t wait to see more footage from the weekend.
I wanted to thank the whole RTP weekend, as well as Jess Martin and Wayne Sutton for showing them such a good time, and showing what the concept is all about.
Columbus is this weekend, starting in just a few hours, should be the largest weekend this year (around 150 in attendance). Everyone should that the team putting it on, with Alvin Borromeo leading the charge.
Have a great weekend, I will be following along here.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
Just a quick reminder and announcement that Startup Weekend Columbus starts tomorrow. Check out their local blog here and check back here next week for an update on their developments and progress.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Posted in Columbus, Uncategorized |
Sunday, July 13th, 2008
Alright everyone, despite the delay (insubordinate carrier pigeons) we’ve managed to get the information to cover the developments that occurred at Memphis Startup Weekend a few weeks ago. Several projects came out of this weekend and although most are still in high-level talks and development, we’ll give you a taste here.
1. Digital asset management — a content distribution idea focused on bringing exchange services to the end-user within a personal drm portfolio (of video assets/etc.) to allow for better management and portability of all digital content.
2. Sensor technology targeting elder care to detect movement/location within a controlled environment
3. A GPS device on your Blackberry for golfers that calculates yardage, location, direction etc. for someone playing a round
4. An iPhone gaming app developed via the app store development software
5.
— a social networking application for Facebook to support the needs of the individual who wishes to find and organize pick-up sporting events such as Ultimate Frisbee, basketball, football etc.
6. Franchise site that aggregates financial/operational data amongst interested parties to be used as a basis for comparison on what others are doing with projected growth etc. Information would be gathered by category on locations within certain geographical segments.
Hope to see more updates on these in the near future and stay tuned for an RTP update early this week!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Startup Weekend is officially one year old today and congratulations are in order for Andrew and all of the weekends that have been put together to make this possible! Please pass the cake down as it’s distributed…
Popularity: 10% [?]
Tags: birthday
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Mark your calendars for October 24-26, 2008 as Startup Weekend is coming to State College, PA and is going to be a great event. Check out the local blog and their registration. The event is being held on the Penn State campus and should provide for some interesting break-time opportunities and/or college football arguments for those interested.
This one will likley sell out fast so get your tickets early!
Popularity: 17% [?]
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Well I was struggling for ideas today but luckily Andrew fed me some good material to expand upon. Thus far in my ‘career’ I’ve dealt with basically the entire spectrum of management styles and have seen how large a role that can play in organizations/groups. Like most people, I’ve had leadership that limited delegation of power and duties completely, ensuring that our roles were fixed and certain. Other leadership has given total leeway in how things are done and allowed challenges to be solved by any (ethical) means. Each style has its advantages and disadvantages but for this post I wanted to delve a bit into how Startup Weekend has really shown the benefit of bottom-up leadership.
As you may or may not know, weekends are put together and launched when a local organizer elicits interest, finds a location and solidifies a date. From there, we come on board and help with the rest and are there for questions/support/experience but really, organization is almost totally bottom-up. There is no one delegating tasks, giving orders, or requiring TPS reports every Friday and that is part of what makes the weekends such a great community event. Everyone attending the weekend and participating can take responsibility for their own success and weekend communities are stronger for that reason. Absolutely great people pull together to make the events happen and motivation is something that seems to be naturally instilled in the startup community.
This somewhat laissez-fair approach was put in place by Andrew and has yet to really hit any obstacles. With the groups of people that come together at these events, overt control would completely kill the creativity and vibe that is part of these events. Further, the startups and projects coming out of these weekends are not bueracratic monsters with a six level hierarchy of leadership (I hope) and so this works best.
It’s fair to say that every situation has unique characteristics that require a certain leadership structure (military vs. coffee shop) but in our case, bottom-up simply fits. I’d be interested to hear any thoughts on startup leadership structure and yes, this is an opinion post.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Tags: bottom-up, leadership
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 16th, 2008
As a reminder, the following are the top non-scheduled or in discussion cities. Please contact me [ clayton at startupweekend dot com ] to get something started!
- Cincinnati, OH
- Little Rock, AK
- San Diego, CA
- Austin, TX
- Chicago, IL
Popularity: 18% [?]
Posted in Uncategorized |
