Startup Weekend, March 23-25, works like a pressure cooker — add students and local community members with big ideas, mix in expert consultants from the School of Business and community, and subject them to a short, intense, burst of energy.
The community-focused event provides a place for students and community members to find co-founders, mentors, and momentum for their ideas or just apply their classroom learning.
Startup Weekends were developed by Google For Entrepreneurs, part of the Mountain View, California‘s company’s effort to provide financial support and productivity tools to new business ventures. Nearly 3,000 Startup Weekends have been held in more than 150 countries.
The weekend takes the process of developing a startup and puts it on fast forward, beginning with pitches networking and pitches on Friday night.
The weekend wraps up with demonstrations in front of an audience of judges. Participants are not required to pitch ideas, and many find themselves joining teams to develop ideas.
“This is the second straight year we are bringing Startup Weekend to Humboldt,” says advisor and Business Professor Nancy Vizenor. “Startup Weekend is a great opportunity to learn new skills, push yourself, network with mentors and like-minded colleagues, and hopefully end up with a business at the end of the weekend. It is like a semester-long business plan class in one weekend.”
According to the organization, about 25 percent of the weekend’s teams will continue their partnerships after the event.
Visit the event page for more information, and click here to register.