Before the Weekend:
A: If you are interested in entrepreneurship the answer is most likely yes. Whether you are a serial entrepreneur or new to the startup scene, you’ll fit right in as long as you are motivated to build a product or startup and are open to new ideas. We believe that great ideas can come from anywhere.
The event is intended to be a collaborative and inclusive forum for sharing, learning, building, and having fun. We expect each member of the startup community to be inclusive of all people and their ideas at Techstars Startup Weekend and we welcome all, regardless of experience, industry or background.
A: Apart from the organizing team, mentors, speakers, event volunteers and judges, everyone
who participates in the event is expected to participate in all three days. This is important not
only to preserve your own learning experience, but also to minimize distractions or disruptions
for the team you choose to join. At many Techstars Startup Weekends, a “Saturday Presentation
Only” registration option is available for those wishing to only view the teams’ final pitch
presentations. We welcome any friends, family or colleagues you would like to invite to watch
your final presentation to see all you have accomplished in just one weekend.
A: Please click at register tab on our events webpage at www.startupweekendmcbs.com
A: Everyone who attends the event as a participant is expected to come to the event without a
team and then join and participate with a team at the event. This is important to preserve the
Techstars Startup Weekend educational experience. The ideal team consists of members from
diverse backgrounds and experiences who collaborate to build a great minimum viable product
(MVP) using the Lean Canvas framework. The more people you have on your team to help you
do market research and business model development, the quicker you’ll develop an MVP to
pitch on Saturday.
A: No, but we highly encourage you to. You can pitch an idea you've been thinking about for
years, or something you think of at the last minute during the event. Please don’t pitch an idea
that you’ve already been developing or have been working outside of Startup Weekend. The
point of the event is to learn how to go from ideation to product.
Pitching provides invaluable practice for public speaking. You won’t regret pitching, but might
regret not pitching.
A: Business Model: How does the team plan on making this a successful business?
- Is it a unique idea?
- What is their key value proposition?
- Have they thought about competition, how to scale, acquiring customers, and their revenue model?
- Have they identified a specific target market?
- How will they acquire their first 100 customers?
Customer Validation: Are teams building something that people actually want?
- Did the team talk to customers?
- Who will be their users, who will be their customers, and are they different?
- How many users have they interviewed?
- Did they target the correct people to interview?
- What did they learn from their customer interviews?
- What are the core needs of their users?
Execution & Design: Have they established an MVP — the minimum set of product features to be able to start collecting data?
- What feedback did they get to inspire their Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
- Did they build a prototype? Any medium is fine, including paper or Google Slides.
- How effective is their MVP for the purpose of the weekend?
- How functional is their technical demo, if applicable?
- How easy is it for the user to navigate and use their product?
- Were they able to incorporate customer feedback into the solution?
A: Click on Agenda tab on the event web page www.startupweekendmcbs.com
A:
- Laptop/Portable Computer
- Power cord for Laptop
- Notepad and pen
- Business cards
- Your phone - feel free to take pictures or video of the event
- Optional: A second monitor, keyboard, etc…. Whatever helps you to be most productive.
- Lots of energy!
A: There are rules and a code of conduct in place for the weekend which help to ensure that
everyone has a great experience. The Participant Code of Conduct Techstars Startup Weekend is always open to all. We’re committed to making everyone feel included and welcome — before, during and after the weekend. We want to provide all participants with an incredible networking and learning opportunity. The event is intended to be a collaborative forum for sharing, learning, building, and having fun. We believe that great ideas can come from anywhere. We expect each member of the startup community to be inclusive of all people and their ideas at Startup Weekend. As such, by registering as a participant, you acknowledge that any ideas shared by you or anyone else over the course of the event are contributions to the overall experience of the Startup Weekend community.
If you, as a participant, are worried about someone ‘stealing your idea,’ please reconsider sharing specifics about your idea. You can bring another idea to work on and take your experience, learnings, and contacts from the weekend to further develop your idea after the weekend. Bringing legal documentation to the event is not allowed, and Techstars Startup Weekend does not get involved in any legal matters. We believe that everyone should act with integrity and be held accountable for their actions. You agree to act professionally, treat everyone with respect and dignity, and treat the event facilities with proper care. You agree that you are responsible for any accidents or damages that you cause. You also agree to not hold Techstars Startup Weekend, your local organizing team, or any of the event supporters liable for any loss, damage, injury, or any other unforeseeable incident.
During the Weekend:
A: Thursday: Participants typically arrive between around 3-4 p.m., begin networking, and have snacks. After an introduction by the Facilitator, there will typically be a short talk with a speakers. Then, the “Pitchfire” will commence: anyone intending to pitch will have 60 seconds to give their best pitch. No presentations are needed for Thursday, 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.
Friday: 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 at an in-person event. In the afternoon mentors will be circulating to provide advice in the field of their expertise for those teams that want it.
Saturday: Teams will work uninterrupted from morning until mid-afternoon. They’ll begin wrapping up their product/prototype and presentation 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 and the event ends with a small celebratory get-together.
A: The Startup Weekend theme is “Innovation in Business Processes, Models and Fintech” therefore, All business ideas that are related to Business Processes, Business Models and FinTech are welcome, whether they're for-profit or non-profit organizations, however the event is typically tech-oriented. Approximately 90% of all ideas are Software as a service (SaaS) and given the short time-frame to develop your product, we recommend that even non-tech ideas focus on a scalable tech-related deliverable (for example, a website) by Saturday to be able to demonstrate the Minimum Viable Product.
A: Each participant gets to pitch one idea the first day, please choose your best idea to pitch on Thursday.
A: No. Techstars Startup Weekend is designed to be the most effective platform for growing new
businesses from the ground up over the course of a weekend. A key facet of the weekend, and
a central value for participants, is the spirit of complete collaboration, buy-in, and ownership.
We’ve found that having existing businesses in the mix undermines this spirit, in addition to
creating an unequal playing field alongside those ideas that are truly conceived at the
grass-roots level. The local organizers have the right to disqualify any existing ideas pitched
during the event at any time.
A: The purpose of the Thursday voting isn’t to exclude certain ideas, but simply to highlight the
most popular and high-potential pitches and end up with a manageable number of teams -
ensuring that each team has a variety of backgrounds and skills. If your idea isn’t selected, but
you’ve managed to form a team around the idea, you’re welcome to work on it over the
weekend. If you decide to do so, however, please tell the event Organizer and Facilitator.
A: A key part of every Techstars Startup Weekend is the valuable advice and assistance
provided by the event’s speakers and mentors. In the spirit of our motto, “No Talk, All Action,”
we try to keep talks short and sweet, focusing on practical issues (i.e. “How to give a persuasive
pitch” and “Best approaches to customer validation”) that can actually help you and your team
better achieve your weekend goals. Mentors - community experts in various fields ranging from
entrepreneurship, software development, marketing, finance, law, and more - dedicate their time
to provide advice. In addition to the most valuable resources at the weekend (the people), we’ve
put together a list of some useful resources and tools for before, during, and after the weekend.
Check out the Tools for Participants section above for more info.
A: To the extent intellectual property is presented or disclosed by participants during an event,
Techstars doesn’t retain or claim ownership to any of these ideas and any discussions of
ownership is left up to the teams. We do acknowledge that the issue of patents, copyrights, and
other IP is an important one but the decision to discuss any specific intellectual property during
the Startup Weekend is, in the end, a question of risk and reward for you.
Techstars Startup Weekend is about the educational experience of learning how to build a
business, so even if you don’t pitch the idea that you’re worried about disclosing publicly, you
can still take the learnings from the weekend and apply it to your idea afterwards. You might
also make valuable connections with mentors and other participants during the weekend who
you want to involve going forward, so participating is still valuable, regardless of the idea.
Beyond just intellectual property, keep in mind that Techstars Startup Weekend does not support
or take part in the signing of any legal documents between participants at the events, and while
mentors with legal backgrounds are often present and able to give general advice, they are not
permitted to give specific legal counsel.
A: While there are no specific requirements in terms of what teams should have accomplished by Saturday, it’s in your best interest to plan your execution around what you’ll be judged for on
Saturday:
Customer Validation: did you research your business idea?
Execution and Design: what did you build?
Business Model: do you have a plan for the future?
As far as presenting goes, some of the most common presentations include any, or a combination, of the following:
- Website wireframes or more developed sites
- Mobile App wireframes to fully functional apps
- Videos (for product demonstrations for example)
- Slide decks with product screenshots, embedded videos etc
- Live product demos
- Skits
A: Competition is not a central theme of Techstars Startup Weekend. Our goal is to cultivate a positive and educational atmosphere. We do believe, however, that some friendly competition
can be beneficial to all parties and accurately reflects the realities of startup life. Just as it’s
important to gather ‘real-world’ feedback over the weekend, it’s also important to have real-world
pressures and obstacles.
After the Weekend
A: Whether or not you continue to work on the idea, with some or all of your team, is completely up to you.
A: Having participated in a Startup Weekend, you are now part of an extensive global network of
passionate entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, mentors, startup talent and community
supporters.
- Organize a Startup Weekend
Techstars Startup Weekend is open to all, and we encourage anyone who wants to support their community to apply to run a Startup Weekend. Please read through Techstars Startup Weekend Organizer Responsibilities to evaluate whether you are ready for the challenge.
- Join a Techstars portfolio company
Another way to get involved is to join our Talent Network, where you can join one of our Techstars portfolio companies to gain more experience working in a startup, before you take the plunge to start your company.
- Share your Successful Company Story
We want to hear about any successes you achieved due to being part of a Startup Weekend. The only way we are able to track and measure the impact of this program is by hearing your success stories directly from you. Please submit your story using this form or reach out to help@techstars.com at any point during your entrepreneurial journey to share your story with us.
- Sign up for your local Techstars Startup Digest
Receive information on the best tech and startup events happening in your area. Subscribe to Startup Digest.
- Virtual Meet and Greet
Curious to learn more about possible next steps for your startup? Chat with Techstars to learn more about our Give First culture, mentorship-driven accelerators, resources for entrepreneurs, and community programs in your city that can help accelerate your startup.
- Accelerators
Ready to take your startup to the next level? Join one of Techstars’ 3-month accelerators to gain funding, mentorship and access to the Techstars network for life. Applications open six times a year, and stay open typically for 12 weeks. After applications close, we’ll review them for about seven weeks, and spend time getting to know even more about your team, target market, progress, and idea. Our goal is to notify the final group of companies being accepted within eight weeks from the application closing date.
A: Techstars Startup Weekend primarily focuses on the entry point to entrepreneurship, but our
support and community spans much further beyond the weekend. Whether you’re ready to
accelerate your business or want to help build your local entrepreneurial ecosystem, we’re here
to help in any way we can. Visit Techstars.com to learn more.
Didn’t find what you are looking for? Let us know at help@techstars.com, or contact your local
Startup Weekend organizing team.