Startup Weekend Definition, Process and Benefits
Startup Weekend is one of the most critical startup events around the world that takes place on weekends. Founders and creative people have a short time to set up their startup on the weekend. This event is held worldwide, and in this article, we will fully answer the questions about this event, its process, and its introduction.
Startup Weekend is an event for all the people of the world; For people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences who are motivated and have ideas for starting a business or looking to join other teams. Do you want to pursue your vision or look for a solution but do not know where to start? If you are one of these people, then you just need a spark. Your startup has requirements that need to be identified and met. If you are one of these people or even see in yourself the ability to help others, we recommend Startup Weekend. Now the question must have arisen for you, what is Startup Weekend?
What is Startup Weekend?
Startup Weekend is an event for all ages and any level of experience. Motivated and creative people who have an idea of their own or want to join other teams participate in this intensive startup course. If you are looking for a team, co-founder, mentor, or idea that can impact the world, Startup Weekend is the event for you. As the name implies, this event takes place on weekends.
Startup Weekend History
The founder of Startup Weekend is a man named Andrew Hyde. Andrew is an intelligent golden-haired man who has always liked to do things according to the right principles and methods. He did this at Techstars. Techstars is an investment and accelerator company based in Boulder, Colorado. He appointed himself as the company’s community manager and began working under financiers such as Brad Feld and David Brown.
But Andrew, as someone who stepped into such an organization from the outside, was well aware of the gap between the world of startups and the rest of the world. So, in consultation with his experts, he began to produce a mechanism to provide all people with an intensive training course to teach them how to come up with ideas and turn them into reality.
Andrew thought about the weekends. A 54-hour weekend where people come up with ideas, form teams, and competitively start a startup. That’s when Startup Weekend was born, and the first very ordinary startup weekend was held.
First, participants ordered pizza, writing down false ideas. Then a professional team of experts gathered around the event. Together, they started the event on a small scale, and it gradually spread across the country and then around the world.
Startup Weekend goal
The goal of Startup Weekend is to educate and promote entrepreneurship in countries around the world. But apart from the goal, in such groups, you learn how to think right and grow your idea in the right direction to become practical. Meet new people and partners who can help you advance your idea or invest in it. Many companies that are currently present in Silicon Valley, the heart of the world’s technology, presented their ideas in this way and today have become the world’s technology super companies.
The overall approach of the startup weekend
Currently, due to the pandemic related to coronavirus, Startup Weekend is held both online and in-person, which is currently the most common is the online form. Now, every weekend from February 5 to 21, 2021, a startup weekend is held online. In addition, startup Weekend will be held in Cannes, France, and Bundaberg, Australia, on February 12-14, 2021. Weekend startups are also available in more than 50 cities around the world. After that, the final round will be held online, in which each of the local winners will present their idea in a one-minute film. In the end, the top 5 projects selected by the people will be given special prizes to help them implement them in real life.
Startup Weekend Workflow
So far, you have learned about the story and history of startup weekend as well as its approach. Now, we will take a closer look at what happens inside a startup weekend.
Friday night
The first night is the time to present ideas. Anyone can come up with an idea which can include the following:
- Your come-in ideas when taking a shower
- Ideas while driving
- Sudden ideas, for example, when you were once chopping an onion
- Thinking: “Wouldn’t it be great if someone invented this?”
- Re-inventing existing toasters, water bottles, shoelaces, and more
These ideas can in no way include the following:
- An idea you have worked on before.
- A previous project that has been completed in the past.
You do not have to come up with an idea, but naturally, when there are more ideas things would be better for everyone. All ideas are written on giant notepaper and voted on by participants. Those who come up with an idea are usually the head of the team and choose the ones who can help realize the conceptions. Teams usually consist of 5 to 8 people.
Friday night, saturday
Now is the time to work. You have already made your team, so you can devote the rest of the time to the followings activities:
Tasks division: Find out how you can work together.
Evaluation: Go out and talk to people, make phone calls and see if your idea is wanted or needed by people.
Product Making: Whether the business is a mobile app or baking cake, Saturday night teams typically evaluate and understand how the idea works. For some teams, this understanding occurs in the final stages of work, when they see the result.
Sunday
Now is the day to present. Your morning is spent eating breakfast together, finalizing a summary of your reviews and research, and preparing a general report for the judges. The final lectures include a short PowerPoint (about 6 minutes) that will be about your work. Winners will be announced shortly afterward and will receive a prize (such as a custom-designed lamp) and other prizes. During the weekend breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided, and at night all go home for sleep. However, you are free to stay up and work at night, but this is not mandatory and depends on your will.
Why is Startup Weekend so important?
The overall process of Startup Weekend performance seems so simple and trivial that many people may not consider it important and think that they can easily manage it by themselves. But, this is a misconception. Here we examine some of the reasons why Startup Weekend is important.
Communication with other manufacturers
Startup Weekend is a great place to connect with passionate people who have come up with something new and that is basically why they are there. There is no greater place to find new friends, colleagues, coaches, founders, and investors in business and startup.
You may start a big business
Knowing that you are not alone in this path can make a big difference in your mindset and emotions. Startup Weekend offers great opportunities to join and correlate with people, and start working amazingly together.
You can learn from the best.
Learn from people who have already been in Startup Weekends, about what it takes to innovate, thrive, and start a company, and what causes a business to collapse. Startup Weekend is a place for deep experiential learning led by experienced and skilled people.
Improve your knowledge
Sometimes you need more skills and knowledge to get to the next level. Startup Weekend extremely focuses on specific topics or skill sets. Startup Weekend is what you need to grow fast.
What should you bring to startup weekends?
The first thing you need to bring to Startup Weekend is a lot of energy. You come up with ideas and also see others flush them out. It’s really fun to be part of a team with a diverse set of skills. You can hang out with your friends, but if you play in separate teams, you will gain full experience. Remember, it’s all about forming a team.
Your idea should be about something you did not work on before joining Startup Weekend. An entirely pure and new concept that also has a good performance and potential. During the event, the challenge you struggle with is to produce and deliver a prototype of your MVP that fits your customer needs. In the next step, you will receive feedback from others, then apply helpful ones and go through the process again to develop a good business model. By doing this, you can define your work approach.
What professionals should be present at these events?
It can be different, but usually, three specific specialties should be included; people who practice in information technology and ICT, who are usually programmers, graphics professionals, and the third category are people who specialize in business.
SOJECT helps you to realize your startup ideas.
Have you ever considered starting an internet business? Have you ever had an idea and wanted to turn it into a business plan but it was not possible? How can an idea of starting an internet business be properly developed scientifically? The answer is simple, you can get help from SOJECT.
SOJECT is a leading software company. We help you turn your startup ideas into reality. We can provide you with a complete team of different programming specialties. You can trust us on consultation, design, implementation, and support of your ideas
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