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
Victor Hwang: Individual entrepreneurs hold the key to making America great again
Victor Hwang posed a riddle to a TEDx crowd gathered in Georgia. What five-letter word was overlooked during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and almost never mentioned by the candidates or at the party conventions? The answer is rooted in overcoming inequality, said Hwang, vice president of entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “I’m…
Startup newbie: How researching entrepreneurship in Medellin led me to Kansas City
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. When my wife Megan and I visited Kansas City this past January as part of our “city shopping tour,” there was much that impressed us and led to our decision to make it our new home. In many respects, we chose Kansas City…
Buildings and bus stops: Rebecca Tombaugh paints KC — sometimes with a stick
A lack of clear direction felt liberating as Rebecca Tombaugh unrolled a 12-foot piece of heavy paper in her backyard and got to work, she said. The 59-year-old artist had been tasked with painting a mural of sorts for the Nonprofit Village, a coworking spot that soon would open at 31 W. 31st Street. It’s…
KC-based PatientsVoices pulls $150K in first round of seed capital, additional $75K from MTC
Competing for a spot in a Nashville-based health tech accelerator, PatientsVoices landed its first round of seed capital — with a booster shot from the State of Missouri. A $150,000 innovation grant from Jumpstart Foundry investment group represents a leap forward for PatientsVoices, headquartered in iWerx’s North Kansas City entrepreneurial development center, said founder and…