Tips to survive a Startup Weekend

You’ve probably heard, read or even been part of a Startup Weekend. So you probably know that it is a 54 hour race to develop an idea into a startup. It takes place from Friday to Sunday; you have the opportunity to go on stage and pitch a startup idea; if your idea is selected you will form a team, develop it and present what your team has created to a panel of judges. Simple, right?

The whole event is designed to help you to learn and apply techniques like the Elevator Pitch, Business Model Canvas and the Lean Startup methodology. Startup Weekend aims to connect you with potential partners and co-founders who can combine their resources and abilities to build a validated prototype as fast as possible.

If you’re attending for the first time it’s important to understand that this is a massive learning exercise, so don’t expect to walk away with the next Facebook or Tesla after just one weekend.

Here are some tips to clarify what the weekend is all about:

Trust the process (honesty is the best policy)

Time to pitch! – SWAKL, June 2015

On Friday attendees will have 60 seconds to give their best idea. After pitches are finished, all attendees will vote on their favorites, and using these votes the top ideas will be selected to be worked on over the weekend. Maybe your friend proposed an idea, but that is not reason enough to vote for him. If we want to give value to Startup Weekend and the efforts of many people who organise it, we have to get the best ideas to the the finals. Here is where the policy of honesty applies: Vote for the idea you think is addressing a real problem and is innovative, interesting, and could have a global impact. This way we all have an awesome experience.

Build your capability, not a business

Can I pitch my existing business? Is this event the ideal place to promote my products or services? It is not. Startup Weekend is designed to be the most effective platform for creating new businesses from an idea to a prototype over the weekend. If you have an idea and it is selected, it is an excellent opportunity to find talented people to help you develop it – the central value for participants is the spirit of complete collaboration. The most important thing is to team up with new people and learn new things.

There is no age limit to participate!

Around the world, the age of Startup Weekend participants ranges between 11 and 76 years. Startup Weekend is open to everybody. Anyone can have a good idea and the skills needed to achieve it, whether a business person, designer or developer. Our main mission is to promote entrepreneurship to all.

In Startup Weekend we are all equal

Team work! – SWAKL, June 2015

“Judges and mentors know everything”. False. Every Startup Weekend we have excellent mentors and judges, all of them from different experiences and backgrounds. They may offer suggestions and opinions, share a personal experience, speak out their minds about the product but this does not mean that they have the final word.

We must consider this world of entrepreneurship, as a space where everyone must contribute something. Maybe some entrepreneurs are more experienced or have achieved success earlier, but that should not make a difference between entrepreneurs, judges and/or mentors. We have seen partners or co-founders of companies that already have some popularity sitting at a table to continue undertaking Startup Weekend, and transmitting their experience and knowledge to amateurs entrepreneurs.

No talk, all action!

Startup Weekend is the perfect place to experience startup life, the “rules” are simple: Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.
And very importantly, not everyone can be a winner but we can guarantee you this: Work hard, play hard, be open to learning and you will never forget this weekend.

So… Are you ready to participate in Startup Weekend?