As Startup Weekend gets kicked off here at Notre Dame, it's a great time to think about what Startup Weekend is and how it has swept the world and changed the way people think about innovation and minimum viable products.
Startup Weekend began in 2007 in Boulder, CO as an event where individuals would brainstorm a single business idea and, over the course of a weekend, bring that idea to fruition. The 54 Hour event has been known to bring in new entrepreneurs who simply have an idea and place them around the designers, business managers, developers, and other startup enthusiasts that have the ability truly bring that idea to life.
Since the first Startup Weekend the model has changed to become almost a business idea competition to allow for many ideas to come forward. This new model allows for many entrepreneurs to pitch ideas to a crowd of investors (or at least folks who are willing to invest their time). In addition, it gives people from all sorts of backgrounds the ability to work together on a project that allows for collaboration and skill sharing.
While working on their projects, the teams will develop product that are far from fully developed but allows for the "Weekend Warriors" to focus on iteration. Since these ideas are at an early phase, the projects can completely change their entire business model or revenue source from Saturday morning to Sunday evening.
This weekend we at ESTEEM and all of Notre Dame will be excited to hear pitches from many local entrepreneurs and begin working on exciting and innovative projects. Be sure to keep checking in throughout the weekend to find out more about the projects and the Weekend Warriors"!