Startup Weekend returns to Kansas City in June
April 18, 2017 | Bobby Burch
People often ruminate for years on a startup idea, calculating risk, analyzing a market and perfecting a pitch.
With Startup Weekend, that course of contemplative construction is distilled into 48 hours of ideation, iteration and presentation. And after a year hiatus, the event is returning to Kansas City for wild weekend of founding fury.
Startup Weekend is set for June 9 – 11 at the yet-to-be announced Techstars Kansas City offices. Locally, past winners of Startup Weekend have included 1 Minute Candidate, LoopLogiq, Zaarly and others.
We spoke with Startup Weekend organizer John Coler about the event, its needs and tips for teams.
What is startup weekend?
Startup Weekend is a 48-hour event for developers, designers and entrepreneurially-minded people to get together and create a startup over the course of a weekend. We provide resources via facilitators and mentors to assist teams and they bring expertise from various industries in the Kansas City community.
What kind of people are needed?
We’re open to anyone that has that entrepreneurial drive. We want to do our best to get developers and designers to attend. We need to build things and that’s who we’re hoping for this time around. … We need more developer and design talent. We can get that form startup community and from corporate employees looking to make that entrepreneurial jump.
What types of teams perform well?
It varies. You need a team from a variety of categories, developers, designers and non-technical talent. They need to experiment over the weekend, make prototypes and do customer validation. The teams that typically perform the best are the ones that can get a paying customer over the course of a weekend. I really think anyone can be successful as long as they follow guidelines from the judges.
Any advice for teams?
Come in well rested. It’s a long weekend. Put out feelers on who will be attending. … Do some reading up on lean startup methodology and other resources to understand that. Surf online to see what’s been done before in other Startup Weekends and what’s worked for them. If you’re coming in with a particular idea, do research on what’s out there.
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
How a KC startup is using Bluetooth to help ranchers ID sick cows days before symptoms
Just-released geolocation technology from MyAnIML can flag and locate sick cattle two to three days ahead of symptoms — protecting the health of the herd and offering a revolutionary new security tool for the beef and dairy supply chain, said serial tech entrepreneur Shekhar Gupta. The Kansas City startup’s patent-pending technology uses artificial intelligence and…
Just-launched initiative aims to capitalize on Kansas City’s promise as a global leader in health tech, renews call for KC investment
Advancing Kansas City’s digital health industry begins with attracting and nurturing talent, said Dick Flanigan. “What [Digital Health KC] seeks to do is connect ideas to talent; talent to capital; capital to companies and companies to marketplace — and we do not lack for ideas,” said Flanigan, who serves as the CEO of Digital Health…
How Urban TEC used eye-opening VR tech to bring teen mental health into the real world
Students at two Kansas City, Kansas, high schools are tackling teen mental health issues with the help of virtual reality, shared youth and tech advocate Ina P. Montgomery. From February through April, 28 students from Wyandotte and JC Harmon high schools learned Unity programming software, identified and researched a health concern for youth ages 13…
‘Mr. K’ finalists tease what it’s like to work for the next Small Business of the Year
Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. Finalists for the KC Chamber’s Small Business of the Year award highlighted their companies’ commitments to strong workplace culture, DEI initiatives, and community relations during a panel…