Columbus Startup Weekend » bgilbert

Final Team Pitches

bgilbert — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:20:36 +0000

1. Rewardster – Loyalty programs digitized. 30% conversion rate at first Jimmy John’s test.

2. Haley Meals – Make home cooking easier. Pre-package ingredients into meal kits. Distribution through meal parties a la Mary Kay.

3. Foodcue.me – Buying groceries sucks. E-commerce support for local grocery stores so they can beat Wal-Mart. It’s like Instapaper and your local grocery store having a potluck and you’re invited.

4. Whotever - Dynamic, portable personal online profiles.

5. LifeList- The Mint.com for life experiences. Match you with companies that can fulfill your bucket list.

6. Cuptoopia.com – Social collaboration on digital projects. http://cuptoopia.com

7. Lasting.me – “Be Remembered the Way You Want.” Choose your guardians, leave messages, and plan your legacy.

8. ShortlistMe – “E-Harmony for Job Recruitment.”

9. UserTOS- People agree to Terms of Service without reading them. Businesses are just copying their TOS from other companies. Unified Terms of Service businesses and users can agree upon and extend.

10. CozyPress – Intuitive website builder based on WordPress.

11. SourceMatch – Microlending management

12. DemandZilla – “I really wish there was ____ in our city, ______.”

13. PortfolioBoost – Connect designers with communities and professionals to improve their portfolios.

14. WhyStay.In – Guys/girls can plan to hang out with other groups with similar interests.

15. Kuhcoon – Small businesses are not utilizing social media. Social media tools for businesses to build a local community.

16. MaxiMin – Unique UI for understanding World Bank and UN socioeconomic data. Connect with organizations to visualize their data.

17. chatKong – Easily embedded chatroom for any website.

18. Babelfish: Connect interpreters with businesses.

Sunday Panel Discussion

bgilbert — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:26:49 +0000

Before the StartupWeekend Columbus teams present their hard work from this weekend, we’ll be engaged by a panel discussion featuring:

Pam Springer- Founder/CEO, Manta
Michael Butler – Partner, NCT Ventures
Victor Thorne- Head of Ohio Tech Angels Fund (OTAF)
Alan Homewood- Founder, 2Checkout
Brooke Paul- Founders Factory

(5:20) Pam Springer: Be open to business models and opportunistic in solving problems.

(5:27) Victor Thorne: OTAF has invested in 35 companies since 2006 with an average investment of $500K. Portfolio companies have gone on to raise $200 million in VC funding. ”It’s about the people….You can be an entrepreneur in your job, you just have to take chances in the job you’re in.”

(5:31) Alan Homewood: If you see something you believe in, go for it. “I took longer than I should have to interact with other business owners.”

(5:34) Brooke Paul: I’ve had three startups that were successful and probably 30 that weren’t.

Q&A Time.

Q: What is the first thing you think about in the morning?

Pam Springer: It’s important to be organized. It can be overwhelming because there’s so much to do. Organizing at the quarter, then breaking goals down into months and weeks, you can stay structured.

Q: Is it money or people that keeps you up at night?

Springer: We’re growing, so I’m worried about building the next round of internal leaders as the company grows.

Paul: For me it’s customers and revenue. If you don’t have customers, you don’t really have a business. The biggest thing for me is getting customers and revenue.

Q: How do you manage work-life balance?

Homewood: I wasn’t married when I started. I had no balance once I was still working and married. I have balance now. The thing that gets me up every morning is tackling the next obstacle to make us more successful. It’s important to monitor results, not just activities.

Q: There’s a moment with a lot of startups when the momentum might stall. How do you keep momentum going after a weekend like SW?

Thorne: One of the important pieces when building an idea is finding people who have a problem and will pay for a solution. Try and validate your theories by talking to customers.

Q: Difference between a fundable business and a lifecycle business?
Butler: A fundable business is something that’s bigger than yourself and can scale beyond yourself. It can get to a point where you can make money while you sleep. It should have a large enough market where people will pay for your solution.

Q: How do you know where to direct/focus your business’s resources?

Springer: We already had a successful business, but when we found the direction that would be a bigger opportunity, we brought in bankers and consultants to confirm which opportunity would be the most promising. We phased out some revenue-generating business to push them toward Manta, which worked out. Also make sure whether you are building a company or a product. There is a difference and you need to manage them differently.

Thorne: A lot of times when people raise $100K from angels or family, they don’t build cash management into their initial plans. Make sure to think about where you will be in a couple years and your sales/marketing costs. Take time out to think through an executable business plan.

Q: Do VCs pay a salary to founders and how active are they in building out a company’s business plan?

Butler: We look for people who leave their jobs to jump into these opportunities full-time.

Paul: I think it’s fair to say there’s an expectation you’ve done that already before you raise funding.

Homewood: I kept my job so I didn’t have to raise funding, but the economics are different for every person and business.

Thorne: When I raised my first million for our business, I did not take a salary and used my retirement money. I felt like it was my skin in the game and allowed me to get more cash in the end than paying myself salary. We (OTAF) are taking a risk by investing in businesses without revenue, so we expect the entrepreneur to be taking income risks.

Q: What stage company are you looking at?

Butler: The perfect stage company for us is one that needs money to fulfill customer orders. They can show us that one dollar invested will earn $10 in revenue.

Paul: There’s support in this community for any stage company.

Q: What are the benefits and negative aspects of incorporating and operating in Columbus?

Springer: It’s been great for us. There’s plenty of talent. We have perspective and don’t get distracted by the rest of the startup buzz. I wouldn’t build anywhere but here.

Homewood: Columbus is a vibrant city in the Midwest. It’s also been a test market for major corporations because of the diversity in the local population.

Sunday Morning Updates (Continuously Updating)

bgilbert — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:35:29 +0000

Well, teams have been cranking through the night, and we’ve got a couple updates.

CozyPress has got a nice album up on their Facebook Page.

Kuhcoon’s got a Tumblr up with some nice snapshots of the weekend, and a preview of their site.

Teams – if you’ve got anything you’d like us to throw up here, tweet about it with #SWCbus!

Sponsorship Awesomeness and Twitter

bgilbert — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:55:58 +0000

Sponsorship Resources

We’ve got some awesome global and local sponsors, and they’re offering some pretty cool stuff to get your ideas off the ground. Consider these when you’re mulling over which ideas to pitch, and what resources you’ll have available.

Twilio.com provides a web-service API for businesses to build scalable, reliable communication apps. They’ll be providing $50 credit to teams to play around with, and more will be available by emailing help@twilio.com

Amazon Web Services is providing a $50 credit per team + an additional $200 credit to the 1st place team. Ask your facilitator for your team’s $50 credit code.

oDesk allows you to hire remote contractors including Web Developers, Graphic Designers, SEO/SEM experts and more. They’ll be providing $100 credit per person. To find info on how to redeem, visit https://www.odesk.com/w/l/startupweekend. Valid for new users only.

Microsoft BizSpark is a global program designed to help accelerate the success of early stage startups, providing Software, Support and Visibility. Request your enrollment code athttp://startupweekend.org/bizspark

OpenTok by TokBox allows developers to build live group video chat into their Web experience using an extensive set of Javascript or AS3 libraries.

How it can help: Use it to seamlessly add video chat to your site or mobile AIR app. THE DEAL: It’s free! Visit our getting started page for tutorials, documentation and an API key athttp://www.tokbox.com/opentok/api/tools/js/gettingstarted.

2Checkout has also told us that they’ll be giving out free accounts ($49 value). 2Checkout enables online payments on your website.

Blue Bridge Digital will be offering free accounts with http://www.redfoundry.com/. Red Foundry is a great way to quickly develop your mobile app on multiple platforms.

Twitter

When tweeting about the weekend, use the hash tag #SWCbus. You can follow along at @SWColumbus, @gilbert (Ben), and @bzuerche (Brian).

The Agenda

bgilbert — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:14:48 +0000

We’ve finalized the agenda, the speakers, and all of the details for the logistics down at CCAD, and without further adieu, here we go.

Friday:

5:30 – 6:30 – CCAD Featured Artists Reception

Three artists highlighting work, their creative process, and bridging the gap between the creative and business processes. Refreshments will be served. This is a great time to network and practice your pitch before the kickoff.

6:30 – 7:00 – Kickoff and Welcome, promos from sponsors

7:00 – 7:20 – Wil Schroter talk - “You can figure out if people want your product. Fast.”

7:20 – 7:35 – Mike Figliuolo talk on pitching

7:35 – 9:00 – Pitches

Pitches will be one minute, with no PowerPoint deck. One pitch per idea, and we’ll go for as long as we need to make it through all of the pitches. Pitches can be made by a single person or as a group. The goal here is to convince others in the room that they’ll want to work on your idea for the weekend and beyond. Be clear about the stage of your idea, who, and what it needs.

9:00 – 9:20 – Voting

Those representing an idea will move to an area of the room, and will be available to chat with anyone interested in joining their team. Team sizes should aim for ~5 people, and the set of talent should fit the needs of the idea.

9:20 – 11:30 – Break out

Time to start crankin’.

Saturday:

9:00 – 12:00 – Working and coffee, light breakfast

Coffee provided by Hogue’s Famous Gourmet Coffee

12:00 – 12:30 – Lunch and Dan Rockwell talk – “Protobaking”

Lunch catered by Freshbox Catering

12:30 – 1:00 – Tim Gasper and Jim England from http://keepstream.com – Turning your idea into a business, and life after Startup Weekend

1:00 – 3:30 – Working

3:30 – 4:15 – Break – Dave Gillespie talk – “Legally Blonde”

6:00 – 7:00 – Dinner

Dinner sponsored by Chipotle

7:00 – 11:30 – More working

Sunday:

9:00 – 12:00 – Working coffee, light breakfast

Coffee provided by Hogue’s Famous Gourmet Coffee

12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch TBA

1:00 – 5:00 – Working

5:00 – 6:00 – Panel discussion, Dinner TBA

6:00 – 8:00 – Final Presentations

Parking
CCAD has partnered with Columbus State Community College, so all Startup Weekend participants should park in the CSCC parking lot off of Long and Cleveland. It is directly across from theback of the Crane Center. Attendees will need to cross Long and enter from the front of the building.

Layout
The Crane Center has 3 floors. Food will be on the first floor, and teams will be working on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The 3rd floor will be set up with a projector and podium for presentations. Each team will have their own room as a “home base”, and can leave belongings in there for the weekend as there will be security at the event.

What To Bring
There will be wifi provided, but no computers. Bring your laptops, iPads, phones, and anything else you’ll need to get crackin’ on your product.

SOLD OUT

bgilbert — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:09:32 +0000

Well, we’re all sold out folks. Startup Weekend Columbus is only a four days away, and we’re bursting with excitement. We’ll post the agenda and start getting all of the logistical information out tomorrow, but in the mean time, check out this cool video, and dig into the first timer’s guide here: http://startupweekend.org/firsttimer/

Now This is a Startup Weekend Shirt

bgilbert — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:18:25 +0000

It’s bold. It’s beautiful. It’s elegant. And most importantly, it’s blatantly honest. This year, we’re lucky enough to have the Startup Weekend shirt designed by Columbus’s own Phil Franks, Creative Director at DynamIt. Not only that, but they’re printed on everyone’s favorite HOMAGE tee.

“To Talking Less and Doing More”. They’re more than words to us. They’re the spirit of the whole weekend. It’s not a networking event. It’s not just a conversation. We’re going to turn ideas into action, create products, and get our first customers.

Every attendee of the weekend will get a shirt, but be sure to grab your ticket today, because we’re only printing enough for 100 attendees. We’re just three weeks out from the weekend, and we can’t wait to see you there.

BAKE: Revisited

bgilbert — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:24:57 +0000

Dan Rockwell (Big Kitty Labs) gave a pretty awesome follow-up talk on protobaking at SW Columbus last week. Check it out in 3 parts here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Thanks to Aaron Friedman for shooting the video.

Last Minute Details

bgilbert — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:50:33 +0000

Folks, we’re almost there. Here are a few last-minute details before we get rollin.

1. Many of your tickets say Enarson Hall. This is an outright lie. The whole weekend is at Gerlach Hall in room 365 at OSU’s Fisher College of Business. We’ll be gathering at 5:30, and getting rolling with pitches at 6.

2. There will be pizza, so don’t eat too much dinner before you come.

3. Parking info is here: http://columbus.startupweekend.org/2011/01/11/parking-for-the-weeke/

4. Be sure to bring your laptop and any accessories you may need (always handy to have spare projector cables, power supplies, headphones, etc.).

5. Dress is casual. No problem if you’re sporting that tie from work, but feel free to be as comfortable as you want – tomorrow’s going to be a marathon of working on your team’s idea.

6. If Twitter’s your thing, it looks like people have started using the hashtag #swc11 already. Feel free to join the party. (We’re @nickseguin, @gilbert, @bzuerche, and @erickerr on Twitter, so feel free to reach out with any questions there.)

See you all at Gerlach!

Parking For The Weekend

bgilbert — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:30:24 +0000

Startup Weekend Columbus is almost here, and you know what that means – logistics!

If you’re going to be driving to campus, the closest place to park to Gerlach Hall is this garage. I’ve also heard a rumor that permit parking at the surface lot of the ROTC building nearby may not be enforced on the weekend, but we don’t know anyone who’s tested it

Another quick note – here’s the location of Gerlach, the building where the festivities will be held: http://www.osu.edu/map/building.php?building=250.

More details coming soon – see you all in a few days.