Startup Weekend: How to Take a Company From Concept to Creation in 54 Hours by Marc Nager, Clint Nelsen, Franck Nouyrigat Page A
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have a discrete project they are tackling, and it should be in line with the group's overall priorities.
The team leader doesn't have time to be micromanaging everyone; and it's a waste of time for him or her to do so, anyway. If you've put together a group of competent people, let them do their jobs and arrange them in such a way that people don't have to ask permission to go to the next step.
People are always thinking about deadlines at Startup Weekend, and Sunday at 5 PM is always looming. Admittedly, we do try to pack a lot of work into two and a half days. However, this helps to affirm the view we strongly take: that every entrepreneur should always be thinking in terms of deadlines. You want to constantly set short-term goals—something that you can accomplish in a couple of weeks. The further away you make the deadline, the less accountable you will be. So be realistic about the amount of time, but challenge yourself a little, too. After all, we live in a fast-moving business environment. Sitting on an idea for months or a year while you find large chunks of time to work on it will ensure that your competitors will pass you by.
When you're working in the real world, we recommend checking in with your team daily or once every few days. However, people should check in every couple of hours at Startup Weekend. You don't want your team members to waste time going off on the wrong track or to get stuck on a problem that other people may be able to help solve.
Of course, there is always the potential for disagreement on matters that do require the whole group's input. If you've ever been called for jury duty, you know how long it can take for a committee to make decisions. When you assemble a team of smart, informed, and friendly people, you could sit around all day discussing which strategy to take. In fact, we have seen teams spend Friday night and all of Saturday talking about what will work and what won't. Our advice: Don't get sucked into extensive debate. Set a timer for the discussion; talk about an important decision for 20 minutes. If it's not that critical, allow 10 minutes and then take a Roman Vote : Everyone gives a thumbs-up or -down. Then, don't look back. Fortunately, moving ahead in startups doesn't always require unanimity the way a jury does. So, see what the majority says—and then move on.
Recognizing Failure
Why is it so important to entrepreneurs to move fast ? Startup Weekend imposes strict time constraints because there are time constraints in the real world, too. People have day jobs, families, or both. They can't take an infinite amount of time with an idea. You don't want your great idea to be outdated—or accomplished by someone else—by the time you decide to do something about it.
It is not necessarily that speed will equal success; however, moving more quickly will let you get to success faster. You need to recognize when you are succeeding and when you are failing. That is, the more ideas you try as an entrepreneur—different products, audiences, monetization strategies, site designs, and so on—the more you will learn. People fail multiple times each weekend, and that's okay.
For example, we once heard a pitch on a Friday night for something called Hoy Hoy, a site that would help people in developing countries use an SMS (text) system and electronic banking to pay each other. In areas where there are few banks and people don't have access to a lot of paper currency (or it's dangerous to carry around too much), this system would give people another option.
By the time we caught up with them on Saturday afternoon, the team's ideas had undergone two more iterations. First, they decided to work instead on the idea of a group savings account. For example, let's say that you and your roommates wanted to save up for a television or a trip. This would be a way to do it. They
The team leader doesn't have time to be micromanaging everyone; and it's a waste of time for him or her to do so, anyway. If you've put together a group of competent people, let them do their jobs and arrange them in such a way that people don't have to ask permission to go to the next step.
People are always thinking about deadlines at Startup Weekend, and Sunday at 5 PM is always looming. Admittedly, we do try to pack a lot of work into two and a half days. However, this helps to affirm the view we strongly take: that every entrepreneur should always be thinking in terms of deadlines. You want to constantly set short-term goals—something that you can accomplish in a couple of weeks. The further away you make the deadline, the less accountable you will be. So be realistic about the amount of time, but challenge yourself a little, too. After all, we live in a fast-moving business environment. Sitting on an idea for months or a year while you find large chunks of time to work on it will ensure that your competitors will pass you by.
When you're working in the real world, we recommend checking in with your team daily or once every few days. However, people should check in every couple of hours at Startup Weekend. You don't want your team members to waste time going off on the wrong track or to get stuck on a problem that other people may be able to help solve.
Of course, there is always the potential for disagreement on matters that do require the whole group's input. If you've ever been called for jury duty, you know how long it can take for a committee to make decisions. When you assemble a team of smart, informed, and friendly people, you could sit around all day discussing which strategy to take. In fact, we have seen teams spend Friday night and all of Saturday talking about what will work and what won't. Our advice: Don't get sucked into extensive debate. Set a timer for the discussion; talk about an important decision for 20 minutes. If it's not that critical, allow 10 minutes and then take a Roman Vote : Everyone gives a thumbs-up or -down. Then, don't look back. Fortunately, moving ahead in startups doesn't always require unanimity the way a jury does. So, see what the majority says—and then move on.
Recognizing Failure
Why is it so important to entrepreneurs to move fast ? Startup Weekend imposes strict time constraints because there are time constraints in the real world, too. People have day jobs, families, or both. They can't take an infinite amount of time with an idea. You don't want your great idea to be outdated—or accomplished by someone else—by the time you decide to do something about it.
It is not necessarily that speed will equal success; however, moving more quickly will let you get to success faster. You need to recognize when you are succeeding and when you are failing. That is, the more ideas you try as an entrepreneur—different products, audiences, monetization strategies, site designs, and so on—the more you will learn. People fail multiple times each weekend, and that's okay.
For example, we once heard a pitch on a Friday night for something called Hoy Hoy, a site that would help people in developing countries use an SMS (text) system and electronic banking to pay each other. In areas where there are few banks and people don't have access to a lot of paper currency (or it's dangerous to carry around too much), this system would give people another option.
By the time we caught up with them on Saturday afternoon, the team's ideas had undergone two more iterations. First, they decided to work instead on the idea of a group savings account. For example, let's say that you and your roommates wanted to save up for a television or a trip. This would be a way to do it. They
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