Startup Weekend

What Works at Startup Weekend I

The following is Part I of another excellent guest post from Doug Williams and George Junginger

After seeing two Weekends in action, we have some insight to share on how to be prepare yourself for a successful Startup Weekend.

Argue with work, not words
It is very easy for so many passionate people to argue and debate endlessly. In fact, it is almost a requisite for any successful founder to be able to successfully argue both sides of a problem to objectively arrive at the best possible solution. But time is so important that it is better to adopt a Ready, Fire, Aim mentality iterating with tangible results. Results here is a loose term referring to a working prototype, sketched interface, written copy — anything that serves as a starting point to concretely move forward. Otherwise, you may be left holding a bag full of your pulled-out hair rather than a startup at the end of the weekend.

Open is better than closed
One of the inarguable goals of the weekend is to build community that lasts long after everyone has returned to their normal lives. To facilitate such growth people have to meet, they need to talk, and most importantly they need to build relationships. This can only happen if people and the facility adopt a commitment to be open. Open space. Open conversations. No one will learn or meet if everything is private, secluded, and discrete. This fosters an environment where each team is as excited about every other team’s projects along with their own. There is a lot to be gained by walking around and being intrigued by someone else’s work.

Leave with full pockets
The company you help create may never generate a single cent of profit. If you’re like all of our co-founders at dealcastr, you may fold almost immediately when confronted with the commitment required to make a startup work. So if I tell you that the weekend won’t lead to a successful exit, and that your dreams of riches are completely unfounded, why do I reference to full pockets? Your pockets should be overflowing with your own business cards on Friday night, and packed with everyone else’s on Sunday night. There is no reason you can’t leave with something equally as valuable as a buyout: a network in your pocket.

Action
Startup Weekend favors the type of person who can be in a leaderless group yet find something to do. There is more work than can be done. Design, development, and marketing may seem obvious. But what about the intangibles such as blogging, planning for after the weekend, starting a wiki to keep communication flowing, managing Twitter accounts, et cetera? You must be a self-starter, confident in your abilities. You must know what you can contribute and make that work for the good of the group.

Media
Everyone loves their name in lights and their picture plastered across the Internet. Even those who don’t enjoy their work (as opposed to themselves) receiving attention and recognition. So the more blogging, Tweeting, video recording, and photography — MEdia [sic] — that is produced during the Weekend the better. Not only does this give people a little extra something to go home with, but it helps foster community and a feeling of permanency to the Weekend’s events. MEdia is one of the major builders of community.

Stay tuned for Part II coming a bit later this week!

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