• Speakers


    • Cameron Burgess Cameron Burgess

      Speaking: Friday evening

      Topic: Greenpreneur, Sustainability Marketing

      Bio: I am involved with several ventures, all within the social and sustainable enterprise space. I have been operating in the health and sustainability space for over fifteen years, and, amongst other things, I setup the first organic restaurant in Australia, the fist environmental cleaning company in Australia, the first dedicated LOHAS marketing consultancy in Australia. I am also the director of One Health Organization - an international humanitarian aid agency promoting the principals of Holistic Primary Health Care, I am a former committee member of the Natural Health Care Alliance, I am a former executive committee member of The Big Issue, and I've overseen services to over 200 LOHAS projects from micro business to multi-national in nine countries in the past three years alone.


    • Ayush Agarwal Ayush Agarwal

      Speaking: Friday evening

      Topic: Pitching coach and Facilitator

      Bio: My name's Ayush Agarwal and I work at Madrona Venture Group in Seattle. I'm passionate about consumer technologies, especially Twitter and social-media in general.

      Discovery-engines and augmented reality are two others areas I'm very excited about. I have been to 3 Seattle Startup Weekend events, and I was on the winning team Digri most recently. You can also check out my blog post recently: "Making the Most of Startup Weekend"


    • TJ Karklins TJ Karklins

      Speaking: Sunday evening

      Topic:

      Bio: TJ Karklins, Vice President of Sales He has led sales, operations, and finance functions across his 19 year career. He was most recently the CFO for an international consumer products company.

      TJ has a decade of experience in the high tech industry, serving in front line sales, sales management, global consulting leadership, and product development roles for Avaya Inc, Lucent Technologies, and AT&T. Specializing in enterprise software and distributed technology systems, he was recognized for the creation of financial selling tools, global CRM systems, and outsourcing strategy. As an officer in the US Army, TJ was a helicopter pilot and company commander in the 10th US Cavalry. He also served as a plans officer on the general staff of the 4th Infantry Division. TJ earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado, an MBA from the University of Denver, and is a fellow and alumnus of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.


    • Rich Grote Rich Grote

      Speaking: Friday evening

      Topic: Social Entrepreneurship

      Bio: Rich Grote is a serial entrepreneur and professional facilitator living in Boulder, Colorado. He loves working hard on challenging projects with good, smart people.

      He's the co-founder of a number of tech companies, including HyperSites, FYIcal, Spot Influence, and Snap Impact, a guerrilla nonprofit whose goal is, quite simply, to "Make doing good easy." Rich's co-founder for both Snap Impact (and, later, Spot Influence) is Dave Angulo. They met at the third Boulder Startup Weekend and connected around their shared history of working for nonprofits. After trying to download a volunteering app for the iPhone, they realized there wasn't one – so they decided to get some smart folks together and build it. Since then, the group has shipped the SnapImpact iPhone app, built a WordPress plugin, and has made great progress on building version 2.0 of AllforGood.org – the US's larges listing of volunteer applications and the database for Serve.gov. Rich has been fortunate enough to have attended four Startup Weekend events – all of the ones in Boulder as well another in Washington, DC.

  • #swBoulder

  • Past Companies


What you can expect from Startup Weekend (by Tim Falls)

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

Guest post by Tim Falls. Read the full version here.

My first StartupWeekend experience came when  Clint and  Marc came to Boulder last year…and it was truly an awesome experience. I strongly encourage you to attend this weekend if you are at all interested in entrepreneurship, startups, hanging out with cool/smart people, and having fun while working hard and accomplishing something amazing in a few short days.

What you can expect from Startup Weekend:

  • A challenging yet enjoyable experience consisting of equal parts hard work and fun. Last year we ventured across Boulder, traveling from campus to coffee shop to office space, working and socializing.
  • Develop strong, lasting relationships with like-minded people, which may lead to a job, a career, or just a great friendship. I have stayed in touch with several people that I met for the first time at SW Boulder 2009.
  • Solve a real-world problem and build a real-world business with the help of some real-world (and real smart) people. We built a functional website, composed a complete business plan, and created a compelling presentation between about six “founders”.

The volunteer organizers have put together yet another great event this year, complete with guest speakers and great food. All you have to do is sign up, show up, and become the founder (or co-founder) of the company you’ve always dreamed of building (or help someone else realize their dreams).

There are few better ways to exercise your entrepreneurial muscles, and we all know that Boulder has lots of power when it comes to startups…so let’s start some companies and add to the long list of those that have launched out of Startup Weekends past.

Making the Most at Startup Weekend (by Ayush)

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

A past post from Ayush Agarwal with Madrona Ventures who will be flying out and participating/mentoring teams at Boulder SW. This a copy of tips Ayush wrote before the last Seattle Startup Weekend. (link to original post)

Here are some thoughts on how to make the most of Startup Weekend.  Here are three tips:

1. Experiment: Startup Weekend is an outstanding laboratory.  You get to pitch, you get to evaluate pitches, you get to recruit, you get to be recruited, you are constantly on both sides of the table, and in 54 hours you see so many phases of a startup.  Also, because it is a laboratory, try something new.  If you have always worked on Ruby try Python.  If you have never worked with Gina, join her team instead of working with Jesse whom you already know. You are in a risk free environment.  Take a chance!

2. Think fast success: People talk about fast failure.  I find success to be much more inspiring.  How can you succeed?  If you have a complex idea, scratch it.  If you are having a hard time recruiting people to your team, go join a team.  It’s ok!  It is important to keep making and enabling progress.  Every hour ask yourself the question: how many I contributing to success?  Pick an idea that you think you can execute to (almost) finish.  Leave enough time to put lipstick on the pig.  Set very specific milestones.  Experimenting might seem in inherently in conflict with fast success.  Perhaps it is.  But, experimenting and shooting for success are both completely aligned with learning.  Successes, even small ones, keep the adrenaline going.

3. Give it your all: Yes, it is just a weekend project, but it is not just any weekend project.  Startup Weekend is giving you a chance to rise above the noise level and have an audience.  It is giving you a chance to succeed or fail.  Fail, but fail with class.  You are also getting a chance to work along side very motivated and very intelligent people.  Many people whom I worked with at past Startup Weekends have become good friends.  That was to a large extent because of the fact that we saw each other through a lot of hard work, and because we had a lot of fun doing it.  You will be amazed by how much you’ve learned in just 54 hours.

Big props to Jeremy Lightsmith, Marc Nager, and Client Nelsen for organizing this event.  Thank you!  A big thank you also to Andrew Hyde for starting this madness :-)

PS: Many of you have much more experience with startups than I do.  Please do share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.



New Logo

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

Thank you to Kirby over at Foraker for putting together a new concept for the next Boulder SW!

black [Converted]

Announcing Startup Weekend Boulder 2010!

Posted by Startup Weekend Crew

We are very pleased to formally announce the details of Startup Weekend Boulder 2010.

What is Startup Weekend Boulder?

Startup Weekend Boulder is a community building startup event. Participants get together with local developers, marketers, designers, enthusiasts and start companies in just 54 hours. The event will take place Friday, April 16 through Sunday, April 18, 2010 at the Leeds School of Business.

This year there are going to be a prizes, including a $1,000 cash for the best idea, determined by an esteemed panel of judges (we’re still finalizing the list…). The prize is possible this year thanks to our generous sponsors, Hosting.com and Foraker.

The event also has a theme: Triple Bottom Line. We feel that the theme emphasizing “People” and “Planet” in addition to “Profit” will encourage creative work in the areas beyond the usual scope of Startup Weekend, and will include initiatives driven by a not-for-profit motive (social entrepreneurship, sustainability, etc). The theme is a good fit in Boulder, a city famous for it’s progressive policies encouraging sustainable development and home to many green enterprises. And let’s not forget that our hosts this year, Leeds School of Business, always ranks high for integrating social and environmental stewardship into their curriculum.

Cost to participate is $55 and you must buy a ticket to officially become registered. Students can grab a ticket for $40. The cost includes food/drinks to be provided throughout the weekend.

Sponsors

We are still actively seeking out sponsors for this event, from food to technology to general event costs. E-mail event organizers David Mayer or Grant Grigorian if you or someone you know might be interested.

Twitter

If you tweet about this event on Twitter, please use the #swBoulder hashtag so that we can include you in the sidebar and make it easier for others to connect with you.


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