Startup Weekend is a three-day hands-on experience for anyone interested in entrepreneurship to join forces, join teams, and see what ideas can turn into a real business in a weekend. Essentially, people offer up their most pressing and exciting business ideas, and then everyone gets to choose a team to join and attempt to bring that business to life in a weekend.
The event is open to the community – anyone who wants to be a founder, startup enthusiast, or learn about innovation through new ideas. We are seeking all sorts of leaders to make a startup idea work, not just CEOs. If you are someone interested in playing a role in a budding business - operations, design, finance, marketing - we want you, too!
The hope is that one or two real businesses come out of the weekend and some members of that team move forward in growing the business. Otherwise, the hope for everyone else is to gain some new skills and have fun learning what goes into making a business.
There will be a strong set of experienced mentors to guide teams through the weekend, and some big prizes for the winning teams.
Register on Eventbrite here: Techstars Weekendf DSM | $25 plus fees
Techstars Startup Weekend DSM Friday
Friday: Participants typically arrive at 5 p.m., begin networking, and have dinner. After an ice-breaking game and an introduction by the Facilitator, there will typically be a short talk with a speaker. Then, the “Pitchfire” will commence: anyone intending to pitch will have 60 seconds to give their best pitch. No presentations are needed for Friday, it will just be you and a mic. After pitches are finished, all participants will vote on their favorites, and using these votes, the top ideas will be selected to be worked on over the weekend. The Facilitator will provide guidance on team formation. Then teams will form organically, consolidate, and get to know each other and begin working.
Techstars Startup Weekend DSM Saturday | 8 am
Saturday: Teams will work all day, with the occasional breaks to eat, listen to short talks, or attend a short workshop. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks will be provided. In the afternoon mentors will be circulating to provide advice in the field of their expertise for those teams that want it.
Techstars Startup Weekend DSM Sunday | 8 am
Sunday: Breakfast will be provided on Sunday. Teams will work uninterrupted from morning until mid-afternoon. They’ll begin wrapping up their product/prototype and presentation around 3 PM to do tech checks and practice their presentation. After all judges have arrived, presentations will begin. Each team typically has five minutes plus around a three to five-minute Q&A from the judges (this varies occasionally). The judges will select the top teams, who will be awarded prizes.