How it works //

Startup Weekends are like summer camp meets Shark Tank meets hackathon meets MBA program.
Needless to say, this is an action-packed, 54-hour event you won’t want to miss!

It all starts with an idea.

Pitch

Whether you think of your idea 5 seconds before we start or 5 years, pitch it to the group and see how it does! Once everyone has pitched, you’ll vote on your favorite ideas to see which ones teams will work on over the weekend. Don’t have an idea? That’s okay – we’d still love to have you!

You are not your user.

Validate

Once teams form organically around an idea, it’s off to the races! You’ll spend the rest of the weekend learning how to validate an idea, form a business model, and build a minimum viable product. If these words don’t make sense, don’t worry! We’ll have seminars to teach you over the weekend.

Jump in the tank with the sharks.

Present

The weekend wraps up with a Shark Tank-style pitch in front of a panel of judges. You’ll have 5 minutes to present everything you’ve learned over the weekend for a chance at winning awesome prizes that will help you and your team further your entrepreneurial journey.

Advice from the Experts //

We’re bringing in mentors and professionals from all industries to help your team think through and build out your business model.

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Meet Awesome People //

Startup Weekend attendees come from all backgrounds, professions, regions, and experiences. We’ve had designers, inventors, developers, bankers, entrepreneurs, car enthusiasts, scientists, botanists, chefs, and just about anyone else you can think of. No matter who you are, this is a great event for you to learn the startup life as well as meet some awesome people. Teams are formed organically Friday night after ideas are picked in a speed-dating fashion. Make sure to share how awesome you are, what your passions and skills are, and how you can help the team.

“MBA in a Weekend” //

That’s a direct quote! We’ve had MBA professors tell us that their students have walked away with more from a Startup Weekend event than a whole semester of classes! What’s our secret sauce? Moving education into action! We offer workshops throughout the weekend to teach startup essentials and then kick everyone out of the building to go apply what they’ve learned.

Customer Discovery

Saturday morning's workshop will teach you how to determine if your idea is viable by interviewing potential customers. We'll teach you the do's and don'ts of customer discovery.

Business Model & MVP

After spending the morning validating your problem, we'll cover what a minimum viable product is and how to build a business model using the Lean Startup Business Model Canvas.

Pitching

All of the weekend's hard work is presented to a panel of judges on Sunday night. During this workshop, we cover how to build your pitch and prepare for the judges questions.

Pitch to the Sharks //

While our judges aren’t as fierce as the sharks you may see on TV, they are just as talented. Sunday night’s pitches are 4 minutes of presentations with 4 minutes of question & answers. Judges are looking for validation of the idea, a viable business model, and a well-designed and executed MVP.

aaron-gani

Aaron Gani is the founder and CEO of BehaVR, LLC, creating digital therapeutics for behavioral health through the unmatched psychological power of Virtual Reality. Gani has been creating applications and experiences with technology throughout his career in healthcare and financial services, up to and including serving as Chief Technology Officer of Humana, a Fortune 50 managed care organization. Gani identified the crucial gap between knowledge, tools, and activation of healthy behavior, and believes Virtual Reality experiences can close that gap.

Aaron Gani

Founder & CEO of BehaVR
Jeremiah300

Jeremiah’s passion for great tasting food and the people that cook it provided the motivation to create the FreshFry Pod. His expertise includes nanotechnology, adsorption, and chemical manufacturing. Jeremiah was recognized by Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in 2015 for modernizing the way things are made in a greener, tech-savvy world. He holds a BS and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville Speed School, graduating cum laude.

Jeremiah Chapman

Founder & CEO of FreshFry
AshleyLamb_300

Ashley Lamb-Sinclair is the Founder & CEO of Curio Learning, a platform to help teachers discover new ideas, curate them visually, and collaborate with other educators to become more creative and more empowered in their teaching craft. Curio Learning has received numerous awards including acceptance into the LearnLaunch Accelerator in Boston, the Navitas Ventures Prize in the Milken Penn Business Plan Competition, and most recently, the grand prize in the Uber Girlboss Pitch Competition.

Ashley Lamb-Sinclair

Founder & CEO of Curio Learning

Prize Pool for Winning Teams

  • Venture First offers one free financial model “lite” to each winning company, along with a free one hour capital raising consultation coaching founders on how, when, and what to raise.
  • Forecastr offers one free annual license to our basic plan for each winning company, along with customer support & financial advice along the way.
  • Fort Phelps will offer a free consultation and 50% of our new company formation package
  • One complimentary spot in the Fall 2019 LaunchIt class.
  • Story Louisville offers one (1) free hot desk for two (2) months for each winning team.
  • One free corporate membership to Venture Connectors monthly luncheon & Venture Sharks pitch competition. This membership covers 2 attendees.
  • Six (6) free 30-min mentoring sessions with experienced team members at El Toro.
  • Kale and Flax offers ten (10) hours of pitch deck design, strategy, and coaching for one winning team. One free 1 hour design & strategy session with each other winning team.
  • One (1) free one hour mentoring session with Moses from Access Ventures for each winning team.
There’s Just a Few Days Left to Get Your Tickets!

All-Inclusive Tickets //

Your Startup Weekend ticket is your all-access pass that includes:

  • Seven delicious meals from local restaurants
  • Unlimited snacks, drinks, & coffee
  • A Sweet T-shirt
  • Perks and swag from local and global sponsors
  • Meeting local entrepreneurs, mentors, & leaders
  • Workshops
  • Access to Louisville’s new entrepreneurial hub
  • and so much more!

Platinum Sponsors //