Startup Weekend West Michigan (SWWM) is the ultimate entrepreneurial muse. It is 54 hours of pitching, prototyping, creating, developing, building, bonding, collaborating, and networking with over 150 aspiring entrepreneurs. Through osmosis alone, you can't help but be inspired.
The event is scheduled for January 15-17 at Kendall College and is being organized by individuals from
emerge West Michigan, GR Current and Kendall College of Art and Design.
Lead organizer and marketing director at emerge, Samuel Ging, says SWWM is a perfect fit for West Michigan's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
"With the help of Startup Weekend participants, we want to create an environment where entrepreneurs can take risk, make purposeful connections and engage with a community that can push their idea forward,” he says.
Ging says the event is designed to get a ton of work and innovation done using the constraints of time.
"Participants of the at Startup Weekend have 54 hours to work through creating a pitchable business,” he continues. “You have literally 54 hours to go from an idea to an early stage venture."
This year, the program is also serving as a feeder in the regional MWest Challenge, a collegiate-based business plan competition. Ging says last year, Kayla Ita worked through her business concept, Re.Fresh, at Startup Weekend and went on to win the MWest Challenge.
"At Startup Weekend, her team went from an idea to working through the business model canvas, creating a business plan, to building a prototype, to creating a pitch deck,” he says. “Her company won $5,000, three months later at MWest."
The program is part of a national organization that hosts similar events around the world every weekend. It is in its seventh year here and is open to anyone to participate. The program flows from business pitches, team formation and planning on Friday night to development all day on Saturday and Sunday morning. The event culminates with final business pitches before a panel of judges on Sunday afternoon.
Throughout the event, there will speakers and business mentors available to help teams overcome any hurdles they might be experiencing.
A big emphasis of SWWM is on learning and networking. If your idea is not selected to move forward on Friday night, you are expected to stick around and pitch in by joining a team that is working on a project you find interesting.
To
register for the event, click here. To learn more about the event,
click here.
Lead sponsors are emerge West Michigan, GR Current, KCAD, Start Garden, and GVSU CEI.
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor.
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