‘Start-up weekend’, planned for 4-6 November at the
The idea is to mix people, ideas, skills and resources, and see if new businesses can’t beconceived.
Startup Weekend is an international movement based in Seattle that has held events in over 100cities worldwide, including Auckland. International backing comes from
Dave Moskovitz, chairman of
WebFund
is heading the organizingcommittee to bring the event to Wellington.
CreativeHQ
,
Unlimited Potential
, and BizDojo are all actively involved inplanning and resourcing the event. Microsoft and Manawatu’s
“Start-up weekend will be a 54 hour non-stop marathon,” Moskovitz says.
“We plan on having 100 people at the Biz Dojo. They’ll start pitching and teams will formaround these. They’ll execute the idea as far as they can in 54 hours. At the end, 6pm on Sunday,the teams will present to the judging panel, with prizes for the best teams who have gone thefurthest with their ideas.”
“The idea is to tie together and have a more seamless path from idea to company,” he says. “I’m hoping that some of the participants will be motivated to take their businesses further byentering WebFund’s HyperStart programme. (see separate sticK blog
Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown (a former software programmer as it happens) will open theweekend. Mike DelPrete, the President of Agora Games inNew York, the company behind Guitar Hero and Call of Duty, is making a trip to Wellingtonspecifically to participate in Startup Weekend.
“It’s all about job growth, the weightless economy the digital creative sector,” hesays.
“But ultimately, its all about generating world class companies to got from Wellington to theworld.”
Participation in the weekend is open to all – though spots are filling fast. Those interestedshould enter here wellington.startupweekend.org ….now.