What Is Startup Weekend?

What is Startup Weekend?

Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.

Startup Weekend Global Site

Startup Weekend NYC Mobile

powered by the Kauffman Foundation

Past event…

Event Ended

WeWork Soho Lounge (154 Grand St)


View Larger Map

Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success?

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now for the best weekend of your life!

Schedule

Friday

Jan 25
  • Registration Starts
  • Dinner & Networking
  • Welcome & Speakers
  • Pitches Start
  • Attendees vote for the top ideas
  • Teams start forming and discussing ideas
  • Start to formalize teams and take an inventory of skills. Be honest, and direct about what resources and skills are needed for the weekend. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Saturday

Jan 26
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
  • Mentor Introductions
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Mid weekend check-in
  • Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Sunday

Jan 27
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
  • Lunch
  • Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS
  • Dinner arrives
  • Judging & awards
  • Wrapup
  • Go home!
Platinum Sponsors
Become one
Speakers

Kelly Eidson

Co-Founder & Head of Product, Moveline   |  LinkedIn

Kelly is the co-founder of Moveline, a TechStars NYC company that helps people who are moving get organized, compare prices, and hire movers they can trust. On the team, she leads product UX and marketing and spends as much time gathering feedback from customers and movers as possible. She loves experimenting with user testing methods and sharing techniques with other designers and founders. Before founding Moveline, she worked in ad agencies developing content strategy and product concepts for brands like Mizuno and Shiner Beer. When she’s not working, she’s probably traveling to Seattle or running.

Gold Sponsors
Become one
Judges

Alec Andronikov

Alec is a serial entrepreneur helping realize the future of scalable digital technologies. Previously, Alec was the CEO and founder of MoVoxx, a leading mobile advertising company. MoVoxx was acquired by Adenyo, resulting in an acquisition by Motricity (NASDAQ: MOTR) for $150mm. Prior to MoVoxx, Alec founded inFreeDA – a free 411 advertiser-sponsored directory assistance service that was acquired by AT&T (NYSE: T). Prior to inFreeDA, Alec worked as an investment banker at JPMorgan’s media and telecommunications leveraged finance group. Alec is a limited partner/advisor at Eniac Ventures and Naya Ventures. He is also an advisor to Hearst Corporation on mobile investments. Alec graduated with a double Honors degree in Economics and Business Administration at the Haas School of Business from the University of California, Berkeley.

Veronika Sonsev

Veronika Sonsev is the CEO and Founder of inSparq.com, a company that provides social commerce technology to retailers and brands. She is also a Cofounder of Women in Wireless and the WIM Accelerator. In her 12-year career as a business development and strategy executive for AOL and Jumptap, Veronika has built new business lines, developed strategic partnerships and launched international markets. Veronika earned an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics from American University. Follow her on Twitter @vsonsev @insparq.

Mike Dudas

Mike Dudas is Emerging Platform Lead for Google Mobile Commerce, including Wallet, Offers and Shopping. He manages relationships with large merchants, CPGs and technology providers to ensure the successful roll out of Google's mobile commerce products. Mike is an experienced technology and advertising executive, having worked in business development, strategy and M&A at The Walt Disney Company, MTV Networks and TargetSpot, a leading online ad network. Mike has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a BA from Stanford University.

David Ambrose

David leads Travelzoo's (NASDAQ: TZOO) overall mobile and social product and commercialization strategy, helping subscribers discover high quality content at their fingertips as well as through the experiences of their friends. Previously, he founded Scoop St., a local commerce company that revolutionized the way we shop by leveraging the power of group buying online for small businesses and consumers. Featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and CNN amongst others, Scoop St. is recognized as one of the earliest pioneers in the group buying market. Scoop St. was acquired in August 2011. David received his AB with Honors from Georgetown University, lives in New York City, and co-organizes Hackers & Founders - a monthly gathering of programmers and founders who "just ship" in the metro area.

Ryan Charles

Ryan Charles is an entrepreneur with extensive experience across smartphones and tablets. He is the founder of Consmr, a mobile app that provides crowd-sourced product ratings. Prior to founding Consmr, Ryan led mobile for Zagat where he launched top selling apps and built partnerships with companies like Foursquare and Foodspotting. In addition to speaking engagements at CTIA, Harvard Business School and Google, he has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and CNBC. Mr. Charles is a graduate of Brown University.

Silver Sponsors
Become one
Coaches

Kenny Peng

Software Architect at School Yourself   |  LinkedIn

Kenny is a software engineer with experience in creating performant technical infrastructure. He previously worked at Athena Capital Research as one of the lead engineers on a platform designed for high-frequency trading. At MIT, he majored in Computer Science and Management Science. As a former member of the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab, he's worked on projects involving innovative technologies and concepts, such as Ochos Locos, a card game for the OLPC with its own modifiable engine, and Oozerts, a game for the Nintendo DS designed to teach the concept of fractions to middle-school students.

John Lee

Co-founder, Chief Engineer at School Yourself   |  LinkedIn

John is a software engineer with a background in artificial intelligence and data mining. As a Senior Software Engineer at Google, he led the data extraction team on experimental projects to mine knowledge from the open Web and push the boundaries of open-domain question answering. He studied Physics and Computer Science at MIT and completed his Masters in Computer Science and Engineering at MIT, where he published papers in machine learning and AI and his thesis won MIT-wide and international awards.

Tal Flanchraych

Product & UX at Work Market   |  LinkedIn

Tal Flanchraych is an entrepreneur, product person, and UX junkie. She designs products and experiences at Work Market, a USV-backed enterprise software startup, runs a usability testing meetup group called UXNY, and is the cofounder of an award-winning fitness app called Gym Shamer. In 2008, she cofounded Flywheel (formerly known as Cabulous), a growing mobile software startup which is changing the way you hail a cab and making ground transportation more efficient worldwide. Tal has a B.A. from the University of Southern California, which was a big waste of time and money.

Stephanie J. Neill

Product Manager at About.com   |  LinkedInGoogle+

Stephanie J. Neill is an experienced high tech product manager who has a strong combination of both business and user experience expertise, which she uses to create and drive strong, user-focused product strategies. Currently, she's creating both internal and external products at About.com. Prior to About.com, she demonstrated success leading strategy for mobile applications at the Lionsgate TV Guide digital property and at the premiere collaborative management company, Mindjet. Stephanie's entrepreneurial efforts include founding ProductCamp San Francisco, an annual educational and networking "unconference" for local product management and marketing professionals, co-founding the UXNY Meetup in NYC, and leading product and go-to-market strategy as co-founder at SaaS startup SimpleSoftware. She holds a B.A. in International Relations Global Business from the University of Southern California.

Serko Artinian

Motion Pictures, Co-Founder & Organizer at NYC Mobile Apps   |  LinkedIn

Born in NYC, Serko has been telling stories professionally through Motion Pictures and Photography in the USA and abroad, for over a decade. He is Founder at serkoart LLC which is an independent Production Company that specializes in Digital Media Creation. Their core interest lies in investigating ways to build interactive and intuitive tools which bridge virtual and lifeworld experiences, contacts, and community. Serko is also Co-Founder & Organizer at NYC Mobile Apps (nycmobileapps.org), which is a thriving community of iOS and Android Developers based in New York. His ability to grasp the technology industry quickly makes him exceptionally helpful for effectively producing digital media.

Kelly Eidson

Co-Founder & Head of Product, Moveline   |  LinkedIn

Kelly is the co-founder of Moveline, a TechStars NYC company that helps people who are moving get organized, compare prices, and hire movers they can trust. On the team, she leads product UX and marketing and spends as much time gathering feedback from customers and movers as possible. She loves experimenting with user testing methods and sharing techniques with other designers and founders. Before founding Moveline, she worked in ad agencies developing content strategy and product concepts for brands like Mizuno and Shiner Beer. When she’s not working, she’s probably traveling to Seattle or running.

Scott Jensen

Vice President, Strategic BD, Mobile + Emerging Platforms   |  LinkedIn

Scott M. Jensen is passionate about creating unique digital experiences that delight consumers across all screens. He is Vice President, Mobile and Emerging Platforms at Viacom, and previously led The Weather Channel’s digital apps team and global product marketing efforts in Nokia’s Media Group. Jensen helped grow the mobile entertainment industry by leading start-ups Vindigo, Hands-On Mobile/Mforma, and NuvoStudios to release award-winning apps and games and forge first-of-their-kind partnerships with companies ranging from publishers (Activision, EA) to manufacturers (Hasbro, Mattel) studios (Paramount, Universal) to media organizations (CBS, Disney, ESPN, and The New York Times). Earlier in his career, he drove online innovation by establishing a new fantasy sports provider, launching the first internet film festival with The Sundance Institute, and advising clients how to extend their brands to the internet as an entertainment attorney. Jensen has also served as board member and mobile content, marketing and advertising advisor for a wide range of organizations including the Games Developers Conference, Mobile Marketing Association, Nielsen, and Omnicom’s The Marketing Arm. He is currently co-chair of IAB’s mobile committee and sharing his passion with his 7-year-old daughter, Heather, who can already beat him at most games.

Julie Blitzer

Interaction/UX Designer at JOOR   |  LinkedIn

Julie Blitzer is the User Experience Designer for JOOR, a NYC startup that is changing the way fashion designers and retailers do wholesale business. Outside of JOOR, she donates time to Girls Who Code as an Instructor and Startup Weekend NYC as a Mentor. She previously was on the UX team at AppNexus, the leading display advertising technology platform and UX Lead for Advomatic, a web development consultancy for non-profits and good causes. Julie is an alumna and former Director of the NYC Chapter of New Leaders Council, a fellowship for young professionals interested in civic engagement. Past speaking appearances include SXSW Interactive 2010 & 2011, Netroots Nation, IPDI's Politics Online, YDA's Biennial Convention and Organizing 2.0. Julie has a B.A. in Government from Claremont McKenna College, where she wrote her thesis on the relationship between technology and political campaigns.

Eric Litman

Chairman & CEO at Medialets   |  LinkedIn

Eric Litman is Chairman and CEO of Medialets, the most widely deployed rich media advertising platform for mobile. He is a pioneer of the Internet’s commercialization, and as a co-founder of Proxicom, helped to build one of the first, largest, and most successful publicly traded interactive agencies. Eric most recently served as Managing Director of WashingtonVC, an early-stage fund and incubator. Previously, Eric held senior executive roles in high-growth Internet businesses, as founder and CEO of Viaduct Technologies, a global Internet and mobile interactive agency. He was also instrumental in building digitalNATION, a world leading web hosting and services provider, from its launch through its $100m acquisition by Verio Internet/NTT (NYSE: NTT). Eric began his career with technical and software engineering positions at GEnie, a pre-Internet online service provider, and NeXT Computer.

Deborah Jackson

Founder and CEO at PlumAlley.co   |  LinkedIn

Deborah Jackson is the Founder and CEO of PlumAlley.co, executing her vision to see women achieve success through owning companies. For the past 15 years, Deborah has been active in early stage companies as an investor and founder. Since 2009, she has been a member of Golden Seeds. In early 2011, she launched JumpThru, a for-profit company whose purpose is to encourage more women to use technology and create their own wealth by founding successful companies.
Deborah’s achievements and devotion to female-founded companies have been recognized in publications and organizations including: Fast Company, Forbes, Columbia Venture Community, Mashable, and Xconomy. Additionally, Deborah is a co-founder of Women Innovate Mobile Accelerator and has served as a judge for numerous competitions including Startup Weekend, Technovation, Columbia Social Entrepreneurs, Vator.tv, Columbia Business Odyssey and Women 2.0.

Kevin King

Mobile Product Maven   |  

"I love products and great experiences -- particular in the mobile space. I help companies focus/refine/execute against their vision and help them realize their potential. Find me @MobileGist."

Tina Gong

Creative Director

Tina is the artistic director, designer and front-end developer for PlumAlley.co. Her infographic work for Jumpthru has been published in TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Mashable among other publications. Tina received her Bachelor’s Degree from NYU in 2011 with a concentration in linguistics and pattern systems. In her free time, she draws, illustrates, plays Pokemon and has exhibits of her artwork in the NYU Galleries. http://milkmusket.net

Kevin Galligan

Kevin is the founder of Touch Lab, NYC's premiere Android development shop. He runs the NY Android Developer's meetup, and is a regular fixture in the NYC mobile community. Kevin started programming at 8, and has been hacking, consulting or bootstrapping something for the past 10+ years. If you want to work in hackathon cred, my team made it to the finals on the 2012 StartupBus. May be very involved in this year's event.

Shelly Ni

Currently, Shelly is working on her MFA in Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts. Most recently, she conducted user research and helped design interactive kitchens for people with cognitive disabilities at the University of Pittsburgh's Rehabilitation Sciences Lab. Previously, she worked on UX and UI for a number of Bay Area and Pittsburgh teams, including start-ups funded by Y Combinator and Carnegie Mellon. Her first mobile product, Alfred, was acquired within months of its release by Google. Before all that, she studied user-centered design thinking methods as a Product Design student at Stanford.

Murat Aktihanoglu

"Technologist, entrepreneur, author, investor. Managing Director at
ERA http:///eranyc.com"

Jonathan Stephen

Head of Mobile at JetBlue Airways   |  LinkedIn

Bringing more than eight years of experience in the mobile industry, Jonathan Stephen joined the Digital Commerce & Marketing team at JetBlue Airways with the responsibility of driving JetBlue’s overall mobile product strategy.

Prior to his tenure with JetBlue, Jonathan was the Director of Global Industry Initiatives with the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), where he was responsible for coordinating the various committees of the organization, directing the MMA’s strategic initiatives, overseeing and publishing guidelines, best practices and educational tools for mobile media and marketing. His past has also included various roles throughout the mobile ecosystem having worked at companies such as Motorola, Vindigo, and Flurry.
Jonathan was also recently named one of the “Top 40 under 40” Brand Marketers for 2012 by Brand Innovators.

Media Sponsors
Become one
Organizers
Andrew Young
Cyndi Knapic
Kristine van Dillen
Anna Curran
Lucija Matic
Lilly MacEachern
Blog
view all

NYCSW: The Final Results

by Cyndi Knapic

What did you do with your weekend? At Startup Weekend Mobile NYC, our participants formed new teams with complete strangers, worked through multiple [...]

Presentation Order

by jasonkende

HearYou HearYou seeks to enrich a couple’s relationship by providing advice and suggestions via a mobile App. www.hearyou.us PlaceMarker Mobile [...]

Upcoming Events
View all