As a result of the excitement of my Streetsmart Beautiful
map team coming second in Exeter's first startup weekend. I've reflected on the event.
 |
| The Beautiful Map Team |
First off I have to say the organisation and facilitation of
the weekend was super good! The innovation centre aids this by it's modern
feel. it encourages collaboration by being bright, open and airy. There was
plenty of everything you needed to keep[ you going for 54 hours. The food from Pickle Shack was exceptional
I learned so many things but I will begin with my personal
thoughts. I went to the event with a
blue sky idea about mapping locations. Which I named Streetsmart for the event.
I had great reservations about pitching. Although I've presented many times and
spoken at conferences. I realised putting your own idea out there is very different.
The pitch process is quite an experience. Everything hangs on the 60 second
initial pitch that gets your idea in the running. Fortunately enough people
voted for my initial pitch. So we formed a self selecting team to have a go at
tackling the problem. Winning or losing depends upon the five minute pitch.
 |
| Final 5 Minute Pitch |
This lets the judges decide whether your team has met the scoring criteria. The
key to both pitches is following startup weekend pitching structure (more
later). in fact once you've learned this structure it's the key to organising
your weekend. I was delighted that we achieved second place. I learned for
myself that my ideas are as valid as anyones.
And my beloved small project way of working where people cluster around
a subject really works! That was such a personal validation for me!
 |
| Team Check In |
Once you're selected as a project to work on then you form
teams. This was awesome in that the teams were self selecting. I was
exceptionally lucky to have a team of committed players. Who all contributed
their skills and ideas. There's something special that happens when people like
a project and they gel it's very exciting.
There were moments of stress but also great humour and humility too. The
whole team were lovely people and I hope they got as much from the experience
as I did. it may not seem much but 54 hours of focus on one thing is
exhausting. I was very grateful for Monday off! (that's tip no.1)
So my event learning in no particular order:
- It is possible to pitch a completely blue sky idea
- But research on competition and refining your MVP will help
- The initial pitch really matters it gets you in the running
- Your initial pitch is also your lobby for team members so make it appealing
- Small committed teams are ideal
- Know the times of everything and put them in your plan
- Schedule team check ins so that you don't have to disturb everyone
- Coders need a quiet corner away from the hubub
- Plan to fit the final pitch structure: MVP, validation, execution, business model (include marketing)
- Decide your MVP minimum viable product early on day 1
- Go out and validate your idea (you could do this before the event)
- Come back and refine it, often redefines your MVP
- Learn the judging criteria and work according to this throughout
- You can do the whole thing in a weekend but do most of your work on day 1
- Pitch practice takes up a bit of day 2 so get your structure right early on
- Take regular breaks and have fun
- Network and make the most of the skills in the room
I'm sure the rest of the team can add many more things to this list. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this weekend. Flexing my brain with really nice, smart people in a fab venue what could be better. I would strongly reccomend this weekend to anyone thinking of starting something up. The next one is on November 20th. See you there!
