What Is Startup Weekend?

What is Startup Weekend?

Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.

Startup Weekend Global Site

Past event…

Event Ended

Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success?

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now for the best weekend of your life!

Schedule

Friday

Nov 9
  • Registration Starts
  • Dinner & Networking
  • Welcome & Speakers
  • Pitches Start
  • Attendees vote for the top ideas
  • Teams start forming and discussing ideas
  • Start to formalize teams and take an inventory of skills. Be honest, and direct about what resources and skills are needed for the weekend. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Saturday

Nov 10
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
  • Lunch
  • Call for needs & skills
  • Coaches help teams one-on-one. They are here to help!
  • Dinner
  • Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
  • Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Sunday

Nov 11
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
  • Lunch
  • Coaches arrive… ASK QUESTIONS
  • Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
  • Dinner
  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS
  • Judging & awards
  • Wrapup
  • Go home!
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Speakers

Oren Shatken

FoundOPS, Cofounder and President of Product   |  LinkedIn

Cofounder and product guy @FoundOPS. Oren enjoys discussing feedback with customers, dreaming about UX, and designing UI. He is also the community manager for Verge in Greater Lafayette and a board member at Lafayettech. During rare free time, Oren enjoys sailing, skiing, and reading.

Kyle B. Mandeville

Partner, Bennett Boehning and Clary LLP

Kyle practices in the areas of Agribusiness, Creditor’s Rights and Immigration. Additionally, he also assists with the Estate Planning needs of his business clients. Kyle has an extensive history of assisting local and international clients with their diverse issues.

Brian Deyo

Associate Partner at DeveloperTown   |  LinkedInGoogle+

Brian Deyo is an Associate Partner at DeveloperTown, an Indianapolis based venture development firm. DeveloperTown builds startups and high risk ventures every day and loves to invest in awesome early stage companies. Prior to DeveloperTown Brian founded a location based restaurant meal suggestion startup called Last Bite. His first exposure to startups was working as a market analyst at the mobile search company, ChaCha.

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Judges

Oren Shatken

FoundOPS, Cofounder and President of Product   |  LinkedIn

Cofounder and product guy @FoundOPS. Oren enjoys discussing feedback with customers, dreaming about UX, and designing UI. He is also the community manager for Verge in Greater Lafayette and a board member at Lafayettech. During rare free time, Oren enjoys sailing, skiing, and reading.

Don Stocks

Strategic Management Consultant

Don Stocks is a strategic management consultant specializing in helping early stage technology startups succeed. His leadership and information technology experience spans Fortune 100 enterprises, medium-sized firms and startups. Mr. Stocks was the VP of Technology for Inc. Magazine’s 30th fastest growing privately held firm and has launched two ventures of his own. He is an active member of the entrepreneurship community in and around Purdue and the Lafayette, Indiana area.

David Woll

President of Woll Enterprises

Functioning as entrepreneurial advisor, fundraiser, and mentor, Woll works with startup and early-stage companies and individuals to find funding for the creation and development of consumer and industrial products, renewable energy, software, medical devices, small-molecule drug development, and advanced technology and manufacturing. In addition, he develops business plans, feasibility studies and product analysis.

He is involved in consulting and raising funds for university spin-off companies, i.e., licensees of major, nationally-recognized research universities. His fundraising connections include individual angel investors (accredited investors) and clubs

Lori Heath

President, The Farmer's State Bank

Michael Zentner

Senior Research Scientist Purdue IT

Michael Zentner, a senior research scientist for Information Technology at Purdue, serves as the Innovation and Commercialization Center's mentor in residence. Zentner's role is to work at the intersection of innovators, entrepreneurs, customers and investors. He's been a founder and senior team member of several entrepreneurial ventures in the West Lafayette and Denver communities, both self-and venture capital-funded, and has consulted extensively with Fortune 500 companies on strategic initiatives. Based on these experiences and having been a primary creator of intellectual property, Zentner is enthusiastic about helping innovators position for customer opportunities and helping customers and investors recognize novel value in emerging innovations. He also helps entrepreneurs work through startup issues as their ventures form and grow.

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Coaches

Denver Hutt

The Speak Easy, Executive Director   |  LinkedIn

A born Californian but Hoosier at Heart, Denver moved to Indiana to attending Indiana University - Bloomington where she graduated with degrees in Political Science and Criminal Justice. After graduation, Denver moved to Indianapolis where she tapped into her entrepreneurial side and joined the local startup community. Currently, Denver is the Executive Director of The Speak Easy

Brian Deyo

Associate Partner at DeveloperTown   |  LinkedInGoogle+

Brian Deyo is an Associate Partner at DeveloperTown, an Indianapolis based venture development firm. DeveloperTown builds startups and high risk ventures every day and loves to invest in awesome early stage companies. Prior to DeveloperTown Brian founded a location based restaurant meal suggestion startup called Last Bite. His first exposure to startups was working as a market analyst at the mobile search company, ChaCha.

Eddie VanBogaert

Founder Cellaflora

Eddie VanBogaert is a senior partner and co-founder of Cellaflora, a mobile software development studio located just off the campus of Purdue University. Eddie also represents District One on the West Lafayette City Council and is completing an MBA at Purdue’s Krannert School of Management.

Sean Weist

SAGE-IP

Sean Weist is a principal of the company SAGE-IP, involved in technology product development from research and market analysis to design, architecture and software engineering. He earned an engineering degree from Purdue and an MBA from Notre Dame, where he's served for several years as a judge/mentor for their business plan competition as part of the Irish Angels. His startup experience ranges from early stage to a senior tech role in a software startup with $50 million in VC funding.

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Organizers
Nehemiah Wyant
Phil Wright
Vikram Chauhan
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Congratulations @ourNextRound!

by Nelu Lazar

Congratulations to the winners of Greater Lafayette’s Startup Weekend: NEXT ROUND (@ourNextRound). We’ll meet tonight at Lafayettech HUB to review [...]

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