Congratulations on a successful weekend

[J Tod Fetherling]

Startup Weekend Nashville

The weekend was a great success and brought together many excited participants from all types of backgrounds (Software engineers, financiers, business development, and graphic designers). The weekend was hosted by the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Business and Dr. Germain Boer, Director of Owen Entrepreneurship Center.

The weekend began with 70-80 ideas. The concepts were culled down to about 11 working companies. Six companies completed the exercise and presented their businesses.

It was interesting to see the individuals migrate to one another and see how companies form in a microcosm. The real work began in earnest and the teams found out how important inter-company relationships are to the success of a company. The companies created complete working business models over the weekend including created operational websites, gaming code, graphic design, and business plans. Some worked non-stop for over 36 hours.

The presentations were very good and you could clearly see the work that went into building the companies and concepts.

Playdate.momsgetout.com - Create real time play date opportunities for group of friends and their children.
barboodle.com - Crowd Sourcing for marketing promotions.
Neighborhoodmooch.com - Facebook swap mart for goods and services among friends.
Assassins - iPhone application - Game using GPS to track friends who are also playing the game.
Spartan Savings - online coupon saving site.
ChowNow! - Real time wait times for your local favorite restaurants.

As I spoke to several of the participants, one thing was consistent and that is the need for the NTC to connect with entrepreneurs and programmers. Over the next couple of months, we will be exploring more ways to create opportunities and programs to connect with this audience.

Beth Chase, our Board Chairperson was recognized for her company’s sponsorship (C3 Consulting) and her support at the event.

For more information about the teams and their projects, visit http://nashvillestartup.ning.com/.

The weekend organizer was Nicholas Holland at Centre{Source} and Jason Moore with BigWebApps. Other companies represented included Dolphini Networks, BigWebApps, and Yellow Pages.

Tod Fetherling

[J Tod Fetherling]

You got it. Let's get together for lunch soon and talk about some ideas I have. Thanks Tod

[Nicholas Holland]

Hey Tod,

Jason Moore with BigWebApps was my co-organizer... in fact, he was the one that first brought the idea to me. If you could edit your post and add him, it would be great :)

As for the next NSW, let's work together to see how we can get the NTC more involved. This would be a big 'win' for the NTC if you guys took it under your wing & gave guidance to the next event planners.

[David Ledgerwood]

Dare I be so crass as to say it's all about early stage revenue? New businesses (especially B2B services) face the classic chicken and egg problem of having to built a resume while also trying to survive. Any way to hook up with a big name, do some work (maybe "internship" projects for entrepreneurial services?), get some nominal revenue and a testimonial would be absolutely stellar. Maybe big company members could set aside some money to hire "intern" new businesses, assign them to a project, mentor them through the results, and then pay them a nominal under-market fee? It works for MBA students who get credit for projects (our firm used 3 last year with good results). Say I had AT&T on my company's webpage starting out and a testimonial about the great job my company did from a VP. That would certainly grease the rails for my business at other companies. There's an incubator aspect to it.

[J Tod Fetherling]

David, great feedback and I agree. I think both the engineering and the entrepreneurs are an audience that we need to embrace and get more involved. I have a few ideas, being a little like you in coming over from the tech side to the business side. Let me know if you have any ideas that would appeal to you. Tod

[David Ledgerwood]

Tod - One thing that struck me about the weekend considering how it was billed on the FAQs was how many business (nontech) types were there working on the projects. I'm an odd hybrid of former tech who moved over to the business side but many people there (who added some awesome contributions) were never techies at all. I think NTC might be able to tap the entrepreneurial spirit of Nashville by reaching out to those folks just as much as the typical tech audience. For example, tech isn't the center of my business but I'd be foolish not to consider it a major distribution channel which makes me a great tech customer (just ask Nick). Definitely interested to see how the NTC can play a lead role in adopting early stage entrepreneurs of all types who I personally think may be underrepresented in other organizations around town.

[J Tod Fetherling]

I need some help to get us there, but I definitely think it is possible and one of my major focus areas.

[Andrew Duthie]

If NTC can cater more to the NSW crowd while still keeping the big companies interested, it could grow to be very strong (and in the process making a solid difference in Nashville's tech community's growth).