Startup Weekend brings a meeting of entrepreneurial minds
Aspiring entrepreneurs and business gurus will gather at the Museao Building from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 to take part in Columbia’s first Startup Weekend.
With 54 hours to share business ideas, form teams and build products, anyone with an innovative business proposal is encouraged to participate.
“People with great ideas don’t know each other are out there,” said Kelsey Meyer, director of the League of Innovators, an organization working for the advancement of innovation in the community. “We want to give people a platform to share ideas. Sometimes people never get working, and good ideas get lost in the mix.”
Founded in July 2007, Startup Weekend began in Boulder, Colo., as a congregation of 78 individuals with unique proposals. The program rapidly morphed into a worldwide movement. In its first two years, more than 80 Startup Weekends occurred in cities around the globe. By the end of 2010, Startup Weekend thrived in more than 100 cities in 30 different countries. This year Startup Weekend is focusing on community empowerment.
“We saw a need to have the event in Columbia to bring the entrepreneurial community together,” Meyer said.
Although the event usually attracts a crowd of developers, designers, marketers and product managers, Meyer said the attendees are varied in skill set and age.
“Half the people might have a technical background, and the other half might not have a technical background,” Meyer said. “But that other half might have a good idea or an interest in business management.”
Participants will gather at the Museao Building at 6 p.m. Friday night to individually pitch their ideas. The crowd will then narrow down the list of presented ideas to a list of 10 to 15 final ideas. A team of five or six people will be assigned to each idea. The groups will work on their own until 6 p.m. Sunday evening, when they will present their business prototypes to a panel of judges.
“It’s up to them how much they work,” Meyer said. “There’s a lot of variety in how seriously people take it, but no one has to be in the building at all times by any means.”
By Sunday, the groups will hopefully have something tangible to present to the judges. Although not a requirement, groups will have the opportunity to create mobile applications and websites for their business proposals, Meyer said. The groups also will have the opportunity to win an award up to $1,000.
Aside from the chance to make an idea bloom, participants will receive mentoring from local AdVentures CEO Brent Beshore. Providing equity investment, marketing resources, strategic planning and operations management to companies across various platforms, AdVentures ranked 28 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list of businesses from around the country that are growing the fastest while broadening the landscape of the privately owned business world.
With the atmosphere set for launching business plans, Startup Weekend will set Columbia apart, Meyer said. “(Startup Weekend) is great for economic development. It puts CoMo on the map.”
Anyone interested in participating in Startup Weekend can register at columbia.startupweekend.org.
With 54 hours to share business ideas, form teams and build products, anyone with an innovative business proposal is encouraged to participate.
“People with great ideas don’t know each other are out there,” said Kelsey Meyer, director of the League of Innovators, an organization working for the advancement of innovation in the community. “We want to give people a platform to share ideas. Sometimes people never get working, and good ideas get lost in the mix.”
Founded in July 2007, Startup Weekend began in Boulder, Colo., as a congregation of 78 individuals with unique proposals. The program rapidly morphed into a worldwide movement. In its first two years, more than 80 Startup Weekends occurred in cities around the globe. By the end of 2010, Startup Weekend thrived in more than 100 cities in 30 different countries. This year Startup Weekend is focusing on community empowerment.
“We saw a need to have the event in Columbia to bring the entrepreneurial community together,” Meyer said.
Although the event usually attracts a crowd of developers, designers, marketers and product managers, Meyer said the attendees are varied in skill set and age.
“Half the people might have a technical background, and the other half might not have a technical background,” Meyer said. “But that other half might have a good idea or an interest in business management.”
Participants will gather at the Museao Building at 6 p.m. Friday night to individually pitch their ideas. The crowd will then narrow down the list of presented ideas to a list of 10 to 15 final ideas. A team of five or six people will be assigned to each idea. The groups will work on their own until 6 p.m. Sunday evening, when they will present their business prototypes to a panel of judges.
“It’s up to them how much they work,” Meyer said. “There’s a lot of variety in how seriously people take it, but no one has to be in the building at all times by any means.”
By Sunday, the groups will hopefully have something tangible to present to the judges. Although not a requirement, groups will have the opportunity to create mobile applications and websites for their business proposals, Meyer said. The groups also will have the opportunity to win an award up to $1,000.
Aside from the chance to make an idea bloom, participants will receive mentoring from local AdVentures CEO Brent Beshore. Providing equity investment, marketing resources, strategic planning and operations management to companies across various platforms, AdVentures ranked 28 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list of businesses from around the country that are growing the fastest while broadening the landscape of the privately owned business world.
With the atmosphere set for launching business plans, Startup Weekend will set Columbia apart, Meyer said. “(Startup Weekend) is great for economic development. It puts CoMo on the map.”
Anyone interested in participating in Startup Weekend can register at columbia.startupweekend.org.
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