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
Winners revealed: LaunchKC awards $300K in rebooted grants competition
LaunchKC’s cornerstone grants celebration returned Tuesday after a four-year hiatus, awarding six Kansas City startups — from gaming and edtech to IoT and healthcare — with $50,000 each in non-dilutive grants. “A win for these companies is a win for Kansas City,” said Becca Castro, strategic initiatives manager for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas…
‘Perfect is the enemy of progress’: KC founders say the right time for entrepreneurship is now — even if mistakes are inevitable
Early in John Thomson’s entrepreneurial journey, the PayIt co-founder realized no one had all the answers, he shared; and anyone who waits until they feel comfortable enough to start a business will be waiting forever. “We’re all imperfect, certainly fallible. You’ve got to keep going and not worry about perfect. Perfect is the enemy of…
Co-founder of nonprofit that boosts Black businesses among two winners of $100K Pinnacle Prizes
Brandon Calloway reflects the best of Kansas City’s young leaders, said Maurice Watson, announcing the G.I.F.T. co-founder as one of two winners of the 2022 Pinnacle Prize — an award that comes with a no-strings-attached $100,000. “Brandon grew up in the urban core and is motivated to make social and economic conditions better than those…
Bank of America awards $200K to Pawsperity, a social venture startup supporting struggling parents
Two Kansas City nonprofits are expected to receive hefty, multi-year grants from one of the nation’s banking giants — focusing on direct funding and leadership development — including a social enterprise that uses dog grooming to improve parents’ quality of life. Bank of America on Tuesday announced Pawsperity, formerly The Grooming Project, as one of two “Neighborhood…