Startup Weekend Set For Bloomington
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe fifth Startup Weekend Bloomington will begin Friday night and run through Sunday. Entrepreneurs will convert business concepts from an initial pitch to a viable company over a 54 hour period. The event will include high school students for the first time. November 13, 2013
News Release
Bloomington – Startup Weekend Bloomington will host its fifth event November 15th-17th at the City Hall-Showers Building. Entrepreneurs, designers, developers and startup enthusiasts are invited to participate in this weekend-long event to take innovative business ideas from concept to launch. Tickets are available at Bloomington.startupweekend.org.
On Friday night, attendees will take the mic to pitch their ideas- typically web and mobile applications – to the group in 60 seconds or less. After groups form around the best ideas, the rest of the weekend is spent transforming those ideas into a viable company with the help of coaches and seasoned startup entrepreneurs. By Sunday, teams will be ready to present their ideas in front of a panel of judges who will award prizes to the winning team, including a partial membership to Cowork Btown and free consultations with local support organizations, all of which are targeted to help teams build their startups after the weekend.
“Startup Weekend Bloomington isn’t just about putting on a great 54 hour event to accelerate startup creation,” said organizer Sola Lawal. “It’s about expanding the existing startup community in Bloomington and supporting economic growth in our city by fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Startup veterans and mentors will be on hand throughout the weekend to provide expertise and give talks on their experiences in the fast-paced world of technology startups. On Friday night, participants will hear Gerry Hays, co-founder of Slane Capital and FounderSuite, talk about his experience advising founders like Derek Pacque of CoatChex through the early stages of a startup company.
“One of the best benefits Startup Weekend has to offer to entrepreneurs is the opportunity to interact with local CEOs, founders, investors and startup veterans who coach the teams during the weekend. Working with these coaches not only gets the teams advice from the experts, but helps connect them with all the resources the growing startup community in Indiana has to offer,” said organizer Meghan Turner.
Alongside members from the local tech and entrepreneur communities, Startup Weekend Bloomington will welcome a new kind of participant: three high school students from the Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship in Bloomington.
“We’re excited the Academy students are attending this event and we hope to help these young students with an interest in entrepreneurship get a valuable, first-hand learning experience,” said Turner.
Startup Weekend Bloomington runs from Friday November 15th at 5:30 pm to Sunday November 17th at 9pm at the City Hall-Showers Building, 401 N. Morton St. For more information about the event, and to purchase tickets, please visit http://bloomington.startupweekend.org
Startup Weekend Bloomington is sponsored by the City of Bloomington, Innovate Indiana, Gener8tor, the Bloomington Technology Partnership, the Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship, Veer West, KA+A, Smallbox, Blast Media, Pizza X, and Dan and Tina Peterson.
ABOUT STARTUP WEEKEND BLOOMINGTON:
Startup Weekend Bloomington is an intense 54 hour event where a community of entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers, marketing gurus and anyone interested in building a business will come together over the course of a weekend to share ideas, form teams, and launch a startup. No Talk, All Action. Launch a Startup in 54 hours. For more information about Startup Weekend Bloomington, visit bloomington.startupweekend.org.
ABOUT STARTUP WEEKEND: Startup Weekend is a 501c(3)non-profit based in Seattle, Wash. Founded in 2007 in Boulder, Colo., by Andrew Hyde, the organization has been based out of Seattle since 2009 under the direction of Marc Nager. Supported by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation, Startup Weekend has held over 325 events around the globe, inspiring nearly 30,000 entrepreneurs to take an idea from concept to launch. Source: Startup Weekend Bloomington