What Is Startup Weekend?

What is Startup Weekend?

Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.

Startup Weekend Global Site

Past event…

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The Ohio State Technology Commercialization and Knowledge Transfer Office


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Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success?

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now for the best weekend of your life!

Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur? The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success? Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups.

Schedule

Friday

Jun 29
  • Registration Starts
  • Dinner & Networking
  • Welcome & Speakers
  • Pitches Start
  • Attendees vote for the top ideas
  • Teams start forming and discussing ideas
  • Start to formalize teams and take an inventory of skills. Be honest, and direct about what resources and skills are needed for the weekend. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Saturday

Jun 30
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
  • Lunch
  • Call for needs & skills
  • Coaches help teams one-on-one. They are here to help!
  • Dinner
  • Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
  • Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Sunday

Jul 1
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
  • Lunch
  • Coaches arrive… ASK QUESTIONS
  • Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
  • Dinner
  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS
  • Judging & awards
  • Wrapup
  • Go home!
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Speakers

From the last Startup Weekend: Dave McClure

Founding Partner at 500 Startups & Venture Capitalist   |  

Dave McClure is a venture capitalist & founding partner at 500 Startups, an internet startup seed fund and incubator program in Mountain View, CA. He likes to hang out with entrepreneurs, and occasionally invest in startups foolish enough to let him. He has been an investor in over 250 companies including Mint.com, Twilio, Wildfire Interactive, SendGrid, TaskRabbit, SlideShare, Mashery, CreditKarma, KISSmetrics, and MakerBot, among others.

Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years, and has worked with companies such as PayPal, Founders Fund, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twilio, Mint.com, Simply Hired, O'Reilly Media, Intel, & Microsoft. Years ago he used to do real work like coding or marketing or running conferences, but these days he mostly does useless stuff like sending lots of email, blogging, and hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.

Dave also likes to play ultimate frisbee when his knees don't hurt.

He will be joining us at Startup Weekend Columbus via Skype.

From the last Startup Weekend: Ted Frank

COO of Sparkbase   |  LinkedIn

Ted joined SparkBase from JumpStart, a Northeast Ohio venture development firm where he served as a venture partner who advised emerging technology companies. He has an uncanny ability to help developing technology companies pursue new, high-growth markets without flaming out. In MBA-speak, this is commonly known as building a sustainable and scalable organization. Which is exactly what we want to do. His operations expertise provides the structure and discipline necessary for SparkBase to deliver exceptional user experiences again and again.

From the last Startup Weekend: Dan Rockwell

Cofounder of Big Kitty Labs & Program Manager of the Software Prototyping Center at The Ohio State University   |  

Dan comes from a heavy background of DIY self taught talents including video production and animation, design, and marketing. His mainline activities take him into the world of design research at Lextant where for 11+ years he’s been Lextant’s Tool Czar and key Futurist. In 2008 he stumbled upon Startup Weekend Columbus, and won the TechGenesis 50k grant fund for the creation of JoeMetric, a mobile survey startup he led and started with 7 others. With a compulsive vision and insane work ethic he created BKL in 2009 to explore the horizon of “what if and why not” with fellow JoeMetric co-founder and friend Tushar Kulkarni. Dan’s role in BKL is vision, concepts, brand, user experience, research and tactical yummyness.

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Judges

From the last Startup Weekend: Jason Ross

Founder, JackThreads.com

Founder of Jackthreads.com, an e-commerce leader in the private shopping club space. Jackthreads sells better streetwear and contemporary fashion for an audience of 18 to 35 year old guys. We hold 48 to 72 hour flash sales with brands in this niche and offer them a more discreet solution to move their previous season merchandise, with massive promotional value. Built company from an idea in 2006 to our acquisition in May 2010 by Thrillist.com.

From the last Startup Weekend: Danielle Walton

Co-Founder of BringShare.com & Adept Marketing   |  LinkedIn

The combination of business savvy and marketing expertise is what elevates Danielle’s game. It’s also how ideas such as creating an online tool for marketers to view all of their marketing data in one place effortlessly – a la Bringshare – move from good idea to VC boardrooms to reality.

In addition to launching BringShare, Danielle is co-founder of Adept Marketing where she counsels clients on developing interactive web projects and strategies that improve their online presence. But she’s also the marketing force behind Adept, becoming a frequent contributor to trade publications regarding insights into predictive internet marketing strategies for small businesses as well as patient-based healthcare practices. She has single-handedly cultivated and continues to grow a client base nationwide based on Adept’s proven methodology.

From the last Startup Weekend: Brian Cummings

Vice President at Ohio State University Technology Commercialization   |  LinkedIn

Brian Cummings has been the Vice President for Technology Commercialization at Ohio State University since June 1, 2011. In this role, he is responsible for coordinating all aspects of knowledge transfer and technology development with a special focus on building a proactive and responsive culture. He has also served as an Executive Director of the Technology Commercialization Office at the University of Utah. Mr. Cummings served as an Assistant Vice President of Technology Ventures and also served as President of a University-based personalized medicine company and has assisted in the establishment of three venture funds. Previously, Mr. Cummings led the life science commercialization efforts at the University of Texas. Mr. Cummings serves on the Board for The Utah Life Science Association, The Rocky Mountain Research Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Governor's Board for Business Resource Centers, The Kickstart Seed Fund, The Renaissance Foundation, Launch Magazine and the LES Board for Technology Commercialization Structure and Development. Mr. Cummings served as Director of Catheter Connections, Inc. and Edison Welding Institute Inc. Mr. Cummings has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, a Master's of Science in Genetic Engineering and a Bachelor's Degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia.

From the last Startup Weekend: Victor Thorne

Entrepreneur, Startup Advisor, Angel Investor   |  LinkedIn

Victor Thorne brings a background of both investment and operating management experience, spanning Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurial ventures. He is Co-Founder of Broadline Capital, a global investment management firm. In 2008, Broadline Capital received the industry award for Asia Venture Deal of the Year, named by Private Equity International (PEI) for Broadline’s investment in China Risk Finance. PEI’s Global Awards are voted by the industry to recognize transactions for their impact on the private equity landscape. China Risk Finance is a leading provider of credit management solutions and financial products within China.

A decade ago Victor co-founded the leading provider of supply chain management and intelligence solutions to the trillion-dollar food system. Creating the industry’s first SaaS electronic supply network, the resulting company became an innovator in the automation of core business processes. The company’s robust and secure transaction engine facilitates more than $220 Billion in supply chain commerce transactions annually and converts traditional paper-based processes into more efficient paperless transactions for more than 6,000 manufacturers and distributors, and 100,000 retail operators throughout North America. In 2007, the company was successfully sold to institutional investors at a nine digit valuation.

From the last Startup Weekend: Pam Springer

President & CEO of Manta   |  LinkedIn

As President and CEO of Manta Media, Inc., Pam's responsibility is for the overall strategic direction, growth, profitability and management of the company. Working with a talented team that moves very fast, Manta is the world's largest online community for promoting and connecting small business. Business owners and professionals use Manta to promote their company, connect with others and "be found" online by customers and prospects.

The ongoing worldwide adoption of Manta.com, combined with transferring world-class innovation into profitable monetization strategies, continues to be the primary driver behind the exceptional growth of our exciting company.

For the second consecutive year, Manta was recognized as one of the top 100 most valuable digital media start ups by Business Insider.

In 2011 Pam was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Technology category for the Central Ohio Region. She is a board member for JobsOhio, an initiative by Gov. John Kasich to pursue job creation and capital investment opportunities for Ohio. She is also a Board Trustee at Franklin University.

Throughout her career, Pam has been involved in raising capital, acquisitions and an IPO and have held leadership positions with a number of companies before joining Manta.

From the last Startup Weekend: Bryan Beal

Director, Cloud and Data Center Business Development at Juniper Networks   |  LinkedIn

Bryan Beal is currently the Director of Cloud and Data Center Business Development at Juniper Networks, where he is responsible for driving thought leadership in the areas of Data Center and Cloud Computing and helping companies define and execute on their cloud strategies. Bryan also leads research on new cloud computing startups and innovative products and is co-author on the US Federal Government NIST whitepaper on “Leveraging Cloud Services”.

Bryan holds multiple patents on cloud computing technologies, is an Advisor and Board Member to several startups including Iron.io and OneLinc, and serves as Adjunct Professor of Business and MIS at Ashland University. He has an MBA with an emphasis in Economics and Supply Chain Management from Kennesaw State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Maryland.

Collectively, Bryan has over 15 years of experience in the Cloud Computing, Enterprise Software and Network Infrastructure industries. Past employers include Microsoft, AT&T and Riverbed Technology.

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Mentors

From the last Startup Weekend: Mac Liaw

CTO of BringShare.com   |  LinkedIn

Mac Liaw is currently the CTO of BringShare.com and became known throughout the technology community when he entered The Ohio State University's Masters Program in Computer Science at age 15, now has more than 20 years of professional experience as a master programmer and technical strategist to internet-based companies.

Prior to joining BringShare, Mac Liaw served as CTO for GoAntiques Network, an online retailer of antiques, collectibles, and estate items. He continued as CTO for WorthPoint when it acquired GoAntiques in 2008.

Additionally, Liaw has numerous accomplishments throughout his career including serving as a member of the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) development team that established HTTP and HTML, and he is still active in the development of the Linux Kernel, and the development of the Groovy and Haskell programming languages.

From the last Startup Weekend: Bruce Parker

CEO of ModoPayments   |  LinkedIn

Bruce Parker has been a strategy professional with a series of leading payments concerns for much of the past decade, operating at the forefront of the market for technology solutions in the payments market. Beginning with S2 Systems in 2002, followed by eFunds and most recently ACI Worldwide, Bruce has had responsibility for corporate development, business development, strategic planning, new product planning, and industry thought leadership in a number of payments disciplines. Bruce is a noted speaker to the press, analyst, and industry, and is a recognized expert on emerging payments trends, business models in payments, technology foundations for payments infrastructure, and risk and fraud dynamics in the payments environment. Throughout his career Bruce has completed dozens of deals across the spectrum of business development and M&A. Bruce has led the planning of several major new products launched in the payments space, including build, buy and partner sourcing. Bruce has developed and implemented a number of strategic planning models for various businesses, and markets.

Specialties:
Corporate Strategy, Industry Analysis, Business Development, Strategic Alliances and Partnering, Market Evangelism, M&A and Corporate Funding

From the last Startup Weekend: Nick Seguin

Startup Weekend Facilitator, Entrepreneur & Strategist at The Kauffman Foundation   |  LinkedIn

Nick Seguin is manager of Entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where his responsibilities include developing and deploying programs, funding initiatives, and continuing to build networks that advance entrepreneurship both domestically and abroad. In addition, Seguin also works on programs for Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Seguin was a principal, strategy practice lead for dynamit, in Columbus, Ohio, where he was responsible for the strategic direction of the agency and led new business development. He also was a principal and founder of weBuild, a web and mobile accelerator formed to help companies move to product, revenue, and seed funding quickly. He remains a partner in both ventures. In addition, Seguin is a facilitator for Startup Weekend and assists in running global events.

Seguin earned a Bachelor’s of Science in marketing with a concentration in international business from Miami University. During this time, he studied abroad in Luxembourg.

From the last Startup Weekend: Mila Goodman

Strategist, Experience Architect, & Solutionist.

Mila Goodman is an independent strategist who has worked with Fortune 500 brands and brings that experience to startup and growth brands. Mila brings a blend of creative thinking and pragmatism to every business challenge. She has a strong knowledge of a broad range of technologies and a deep understanding of the consumer experience, business strategy, marketing, and process management. Her ability to think both conceptually and critically has helped her clients reach success over the past decade. Mila appropriately balances the needs of the consumer against the goals of the business. Her passion is helping brands build their business through addictive consumer experiences.

Most recently, Mila served as Executive Director of Strategy and Experience at Resource Interactive, ranked number four on Ad Age’s prestigious Agency A-List in 2011.

In her five-year tenure, she acquired, re-signed and led key strategic accounts across both retail and consumer goods portfolios. She also led a practice team focused on experience design and development. She has practiced, defined and contributed to the overall strategy & insights offering and capabilities for the agency. Additionally, Mila has played an active role in definition and application of the agency’s thought leadership.

Prior to Resource Interactive, Mila provided strategic ecommerce platform and marketing services to mid-size online retailers at Amazon. Her focus was creating technology-based solutions that were then optimized over time through feature development or marketing performance.

Mila also has client-side experience, working at 1-800-Flowers where she served in the functions of project management, promotions management and strategic development. Her passion for working with startup brands was discovered here as she had the opportunity to vet and launch new businesses within the parent brand.

From the last Startup Weekend: Heather Whaling & Megumi Robinson

Geben Communication   |  

Geben Communication has worked with startups and established companies at the forefront of some of today's most cutting-edge business trends, such as mobile commerce, crowdsourced product development, crowdfunding and social media. In fact, more than half of Geben's clients are in the startup/technology space, including Zaarly, VenueSeen and Startup Weekend. (In addition to working with Startup Weekend's global team, we're thrilled to lend our support to the Columbus event.)

Like their clients, Geben Communication also believes in innovating best practices. Whether they're launching new companies, announcing funding news, or developing strategies to acquire new users/customers, their creative blend of traditional and digital PR helps companies excel in today's social world. Want to learn more? Connect with Geben's president, Heather Whaling, via email (heather@gebencommunication.com) or on Twitter, @prTini.

Geben Communication has also committed to provide a full hour of PR consulting to the 3 winning teams.

From the last Startup Weekend: Matt Scantland

Co-Founder at CoverMyMeds & President at Innova Partners

Matt can build and sell software to the health care industry, and does what needs to be done at startups.

He is a co-founder at CoverMyMeds, one of the fastest growing healthcare technology companies in Ohio. CoverMyMeds is well on its way to fixing the prior authorization process, one of the most painful parts of healthcare. CoverMyMeds' customers include more than 300,000 physician users, most of the country's largest pharmacy chains, and more than 35 pharmaceutical brands. Strategic partnerships include McKesson Corporation and NaviNet, Inc.

Matt co-founded and is now President of Innova Partners, a thriving software development company serving the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Innova was responsible for development of key systems at MemberHealth, winner of the Inc. 500 for 2007, and now operating one of the largest Medicare Part D plan in the country as part of CVS Caremark Corporation.

From the last Startup Weekend: Alan Gilbert

Vice President of Engineering at CoveryMyMeds

Alan is a market-driven engineering and technology executive with 26 years of experience transforming ideas into commercially-successful products. He has held engineering and management positions at IBM, DuPont, and Codonics with a strong emphasis on vertically-integrated, FDA-regulated medical devices. He has served on or led teams that have brought more than a dozen medical products to market in over 100 countries. Alan has recently joined CoverMyMeds, a Columbus healthcare startup, as their Vice President of Engineering. CoverMyMeds is well on its way to fixing the prior authorization process, one of the most painful parts of healthcare.

Organizers
Brian Billingsley
Chris Anderson
Suzy Bureau
Wil Schroter
Steve Gacka
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Nov 9-11 2012
Jun 29-1 2012