From idea to investors pitch in 54 hours. Impossible, right?
Absolutely possible, with the right ingredients: quality team members, experienced advisors, a touch of pressure, and a room full of people with the same challenges together creating and atmosphere of energy and brainpower, it is entirely doable.
How do I know that? Because I was at Startup Weekend Wellington and I saw 55 people form 15 teams and put their brains into overdrive to develop their idea into a compelling solution, understand their target market through validation, develop a business model (complete with financials) and finally do a quality pitch to world class Judges/Investors. All in one weekend.
I didn't just watch. I competed. And we came third. A very respectable third place, given that late on Saturday a couple of mentors came to us and said that at the mentors meeting they all agreed our opportunity was too small.
With our team successfully turning a "small" idea into something significant, it became clear to me, more than ever, that the secret to a successful startup is in the execution. And the secret to great execution is in the founders. Notice the plural.
A founding team should have expertise in the areas of product development, validation, sales/marketing and design. There is simply too much for one person to, firstly, do it all, and secondly, do it to a really high standard. As a team you build energy and you accomplish more in less time not only due to the fact you have more members, but because each can focus on one task at a time and do it very well. Perhaps most important of all, is that as a team the keys to your venture are challenged from differing viewpoints, which ultimately leads to a better solution. As a sole founder (and I have been one of those) you have to do everything yourself so you easily change focus from the important to the urgent, and, perhaps more importantly, your ideas aren't challenged. Teams advance faster because they learn faster together. Learning fast is very important when time is money.
Our team (Well Done!) had great spirit and experts in the key areas. We found a real problem - stressed time-poor, first-time parents dealing with the challenges of parenthood. We developed a solution that the people we interviewed really liked - an app that helps parents and children achieve things together by focusing on engaging and motivating the child (rather than helping the parent control). We determined the true size of the market and got partners on board (Plunket, Parents Inc.) to help with product development and customer acquisition, and we validated a price and developed financials. Oh, and we also developed a prototype App. All in one weekend.
Startup weekend was simultaneously exciting, grueling, perplexing, stressful, sleep deprived, caffeine driven, and often joyous, but ultimately it was very rewarding to see what you can do with great founders, clear focus, experienced advisers, and a whole lot of hard work. I thoroughly recommend you get along to one as soon as one comes anywhere near you. You'll gain a whole lot of confidence in yourself, and maybe, a startup that will change the course of your life.
PS. The winning venture – Usnap.us looks like it will be a very profitable business.
Warren Bebb
The World Festival of Magic is a fantastic show that has been touring Australia and New Zealand for 22 years, in 55 cities. It is the longest running international magic show of its kind, and contains 90 minutes of action packed, magical family fun. 