Startup Weekend, a 54-hour event for local entrepreneurs, will be held June 24-26 in Western Washington University’s Viking Union Room 565.
The event brings together developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts to share ideas, form teams, build products, empower individuals and communities, and launch startups. Startup Weekend is specifically designed for entrepreneurs interested in receiving feedback on an idea, looking for a co-founder, or who want to learn a new skill.
Shawn Kemp, president of the Big Idea Lab, said the experience of going through an intense visioning and creation process like Startup Weekend can be invaluable for anyone who is either thinking of starting a business or already owns one.
“This is a great excuse to spend a weekend exploring what it’s like to start up a business, and not just software- and web-based ones like we help every day here at the lab — really, any idea can be explored during this intensive process,” Kemp said in a press release.
Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees pitch their best ideas with the goal of inspiring others to join their teams. Over Saturday and Sunday teams will focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing lean startup methodologies and building a viable product. On Sunday evening, teams demo their prototypes and receive feedback from a panel of experts.
The event is being sponsored by Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics (CBE) and its MBA Program, the Northwest Innovation Resource Center and Bellingham Innovation Group’s Big Idea Lab.
Registration is $49 for students or $99 for non-students. To register, visit bellingham.startupweekend.org. For more information, contact Dan Purdy, associate director of Western’s MBA Program, at daniel.purdy@wwu.edu.
