Vail is finally getting a Startup Weekend, March 27th-29th, 2015. Startup weekend is an intensive entrepreneurial event that will draw in 80 entrepreneurs who will work together to launch business concepts during a 54 hour period. Awesome!! Kristen and I did a Startup Weekend last year in Aspen and recommend you give it a go.
At the Aspen startup weekend, we worked tirelessly with a group of 6 people to create and launch a new business by the end of the weekend. Our group presented the idea on Sunday evening and won “People’s Choice” award from all the attendees. The business may have never gotten of the ground in reality, but, we did hand our group leader a business plan and fully mocked-up website and infrastucture.
Vail Startup Weekend will gather about 100 entrepreneurs, coaches, mentors, investors and judges together at the Vail Leadership Institute. On the first night, entrepreneurs will have 60 seconds to pitch their idea to the group with the hope of attracting a team. Developers and Designers are in great demand and become the foundation of the resulting teams. Once everyone forms teams, they spend Saturday and Sunday following the Lean Startup Process.
On the final day, Sunday, each team pitches their idea to a group of judges in a 12 minute format. The winner gets accolades, some goodies, and a cold beer.
Here is what you can expect from a startup weekend:
- Experience and insights into developing startup idea
- Networking opportunities and new friends! These passionate folks are great resources and super fun to connect with.
- Insights into your own areas of weaknesses and strengths
- Inspiration and Energy you can carry back into your worklife on Monday
- Maybe… your own new startup
Both Kristen and I are signed up for the Vail weekend – spaces are limited to 80 people, so go sign up now!