Views of Startup Weekend from 30,000 feet and ground level
A new infographic examines the statistics surrounding 68 Startup Weekends held during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November.
From KC to IC, and from CoMo to the Big O, we do our best to provide thorough coverage of Startup Weekend when the event takes place in the region (and, sometimes, when it takes place outside the region). We'd like to think that press provides readers who aren't familiar with the event a good idea of what goes into Startup Weekend, a 54-hour crash course in launching a startup.
But we're always glad to share others perspectives on the subject. And it's with that in mind that we bring you two interesting, recent looks at Startup Weekend — one that's quantitative and another takes a more qualitative approach.
The first comes in the form of an infographic exploring some of the statistics from the 68 Startup Weekends held worldwide during the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011. In just more than a week in November, about 4,500 participants joined 700 teams spanning nine industries. And, as you'll find upon closer examination of the infographic, that's just the tip of the statistical iceberg.
The second take on Startup Weekend comes from a March 21 story in the Financial Times by Philip Delves Broughton (left), a journalist and the author of the bestselling book "Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School".
The story begins by examining Startup Weekend through the eyes of Jess Bialecki, a 25-year-old dean of students from New Orleans whose idea won an education-focused Startup Weekend in February in New York. It goes on to tell the story of the organization's origins — spoiler alert: Startup Weekend is a startup in its own right — and growth to what it has become today.
Startup Weekend, the story says, has grown to manage 1,200 volunteer organizers running events in 100 countries, and has annual revenues of $4 million from ticket sales, sponsorship and gifts. The story also offers some expert opinions on the reasons for that growth:
"Startup Weekend is the best simulation of the creation of a new company that anyone will go through," says Brad Feld, the Tech Stars founder and a Startup Weekend board member. "This is a great way to experience it with very low risk. There's pressure, discomfort, conflict and fatigue and you have to sell your idea. This is what you live when you start a company."
Greg Gottesman, a venture capitalist at Madrona Venture Group in Seattle, provides a more lively explanation for its popularity. "If you are into entrepreneurship and starting companies," he says, "this is like crack."
The story's worth a read, for Startup Weekend veterans and those who have never attended the event alike. For the the complete article, check the link below. (Note: Financial Times has a paywall, but its site is friendly to traffic from search engines.)