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

Past event…

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Millsaps College - Leggett Center

Millsaps is a privately supported national liberal arts college founded by members of the Methodist Church in 1890. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, the John Templeton Foundation, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, and Insight Magazine.Millsaps is a selective undergraduate institution located on 100 beautiful acres in the heart of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi - a progressive southern metropolitan city of nearly half a million population. The city of Jackson is served by an international airport with six passenger airlines and Interstate highways 55 and 20.

Startup Weekend Jackson 2013 is a 54-hour event where developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups.

Schedule

Friday

Jan 18
  • 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 19
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Teams formed and setting up workspace for the weekend
  • Lunch
  • Call for needs & skills
  • Coaches help teams one-on-one. They are here to help!
  • Dinner
  • Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
  • Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Sunday

Jan 20
  • Arrive, simple breakfast & coffee
  • Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
  • Lunch
  • Coaches arrive… ASK QUESTIONS
  • Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
  • Dinner
  • FINAL PRESENTATIONS
  • Judging & awards
  • Wrapup
  • Go home!
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Speakers

Joe Donovan

Else Business School, Millsaps College   |  LinkedInGoogle+

Director for Entrepreneurial Programs, Else School of Management at Millsaps College Currently responsible for development, implementation and coordination of a new core focus on entrepreneurship within the Undergraduate and Graduate business programs at Millsaps College

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Judges

Bruce Deer

President & CEO NeopolisTechnologies

Visionary and progressive executive for companies with national and international operations with a focus on emerging business opportunities. Extensive experience in strategic planning, business development, product development, technical operations, engineering, software and systems development, management consulting, and development of consumer products and services.

Nathan McNeill

Chief Strategy Officer at Bomgar Corporation

McNeill co-founded Bomgar in 2003 when he was 22 and is responsible for aligning Bomgar’s long-term product strategy with the needs of Bomgar’s over 5,000 customers. He interacts closely with this growing customer base to communicate Bomgar’s future plans and gather real-world feedback. McNeill is active as an evangelist for the remote support market and speaks at many Bomgar and industry events, including TSIA, HDI, Service Desk and IT Support Show, and CIO Synergy.

Ashby Foote

CEO, Vector Money Management

A native of Jackson, MS, Ashby received a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy in 1974. Ashby served as an Artillery Officer in the Army until exiting the service in 1980 as a Captain. He then returned to Jackson to work as a retail securities broker with the firm of McLarty & Duddleston. In 1984, he left the firm to be the Trust Officer at Sunburst Bank. During his four year tenure with Sunburst, Pensions & Investment Age\'s Performance & Evaluation Report ranked the Sunburst Fixed Income Fund first for the 12 month period, second for the 36 month period, and third for the 60 month period ending September 30, 1987, from a universe of over 300 banks and investment companies tracked by the magazine. In 1988, Ashby founded Vector Money Management and has served as President and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) since. As CIO, Ashby is responsible for formulating investment strategy, portfolio management, and asset allocation - managing the investment portfolios of individuals, foundations and institutions. Currently, Ashby serves on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, the Institute of Technology Development, and the MBFC-CDE. In the past, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Business Finance Corporation and the Mississippi Development Bank.

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Coaches

Tony Jeff

CEO and President of Innovate Mississippi   |  

Most recently, he served as Innovate Mississippi's vice-president and COO and the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation where he coordinated Innovate Mississippi’s work with entrepreneurs to bring their innovations successfully to market. In this position, he coached more than 400 entrepreneurial ventures and consulted with companies that successfully raised more than $125 million in private equity financing. Previously, he held the positions of director of the Mississippi Alternative Energy Enterprise and director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Mississippi (MEP.ms).

Tony has started two businesses – one around a patent he co-invented and successfully brought to market. He was also a student of Japanese language and a member of the Foreign Teaching Staff of AEON Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. Tony earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University. He received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a Masters of Engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University through the Masters of Management and Manufacturing Program.

Kurt Black

VP Business Development, Glenwood Digital Partners

Glenwood Digital Partners is an application development and consulting firm focusing on providing products and services that enable small-to-medium sized businesses to effectively market themselves online.

The company builds and manages online and mobile applications that enable businesses to cost effectively reach their target customer base and acquire new customers. Additionally, the company provides an array of complementary services to our customers around online marketing including social media consulting and full-scale video production.

Kurt attended Virginia Tech. He was a member of the Supply Chain practice with Ernst & Young Management Consulting, led a business development team for one of the early Application Service Providers (now an AT&T company) and was the North American President of an international software company. He lives in Madison with his wife and two daughters.

Judd Wilson

Director of Small Business Development for Community Development Foundation

Judd Wilson is the Director of Small Business Development for Community Development Foundation. This role also includes running the Renasant Center for IDEAs, Tupelo/Lee County's regional business incubator, as well as, marketing the bundle of services provided to potential business. Judd has over 16 years of sales and marketing experience in the medical and pharmaceutical sales arena.

Adrian Jones

CEO, Red Laser Technologies

Technically sophisticated IT Project management professional with a strong background planning and directing projects across multiple platforms and systems. Proven success managing worldwide IT / logistics development project teams utilizing excellent analytical, communication, leadership and organizational skills. Capable leader able to relate highly technical information across learning levels, accurately evaluate issues and develop appropriate solutions to ensure prompt resolution. Offer valuable experience forging strategic partnerships and building consensus across multiple organizational levels to achieve project goals.

Tim Mask

VP/Brand Planning & Development at Maris, West & Baker

Areas of Expertise: Direct Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Communications, Social Media Marketing, Advertising

Vice President of Brand Planning and Development with Maris, West & Baker advertising. He oversees marketing and brand development for clients in a wide range of industries including Public Health, Youth Marketing, Technology Marketing, Social Marketing, and Tourism. He is also a Public Health Marketing consultant specializing in helping state agencies, regional/national cause-related entities, and other non-profits develop their media and outreach programs. A new project close to his heart, in 2013, he founded the Mississippi Brain Drain Commission to develop and initiative to retain Intellectual Capital in Mississippi.

Margie Jepson

Director, Social Media Marketing at Maris, West & Baker

Uniquely, she has experience in all areas of marketing communications on a national, regional and local level combined with work in large, complex organizations where collaboration, execution and team work are of paramount importance.

With extensive experience and success in all aspects of service, product and not-for-profit sectors, I have proven ability to develop and implement sophisticated marketing concepts, public relations efforts and communication strategies for highly diverse customers and advance organizations to the next level.

Specialties

Areas of expertise include:
 Communications and brand management
 Public relations and media management
 Marketing and promotion management
 Data base evaluation expertise
 CRM/Best customer strategy development
 Web strategy and content management
 Market assessments and planning
 Marketing research management
 Creative and printing process management
 National marketing consulting experience

Nick Landau

Attorney, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP

Nicholas J. Landau, Ph.D. is with the Intellectual Property group of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. He is experienced in the procurement, protection, and litigation of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and other forms of intellectual property under both state and federal law. Dr. Landau has represented numerous startups, both in assisting them to build their intellectual property and helping them to avoid infringing the intellectual property of others. Prior to Bradley Arant, Nick previously practiced at a major Florida law firm and as an attorney with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at their headquarters in Washington, DC. He is a member of the state bars of Florida, Alabama, and Virginia, as well as a federally registered patent attorney. He also volunteers his time to represent disabled combat veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

Charles "Bubba" Weir

Innovate Mississippi, Vice President for Existing Business and Resource Development

Charles “Bubba” Weir serves as the vice president for innovation resources for Innovate Mississippi. Bubba has a varied professional background in government and business. He was employed in federal, state and local economic development positions for more than 20 years. Because of his background, Bubba has been able to combine his knowledge of government, academic and private sector resources with the needs of businesses and communities to help champion innovation and technology-based economic development. Bubba is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in human capital development. He has a master of public policy and administration degree with a concentration in economic and community development and a Bachelor of Science in business administration. He is a member of the International Economic Development Council, Southern Economic Development Council and Mississippi Economic Development Council.

Will Moody

Economic Developer, Mississippi Development Authority

Will has 18 years of experience as an (EDFP) Economic Development Finance Professional. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. Will is pursing certification in Innovation Engineering, a program developed by Doug Hall to focuses on increasing the speed of innovation and decreasing risk for businesses. He also teaches 20 different business courses at 5 different colleges (including online courses). Will is also an entrepreneur who is a curriculum developer for several colleges.

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Organizers
Tasha Bibb
Tiffany Langlinais
Marion Desmazieres
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WINNERS!

by swjackson

Congratulations to our Startup Weekend Jackson 2013′s winners! 1. AudiTour 2. TheCloudCloset.com 3. Home FuelStation

The schedule is out!

by swjackson

The schedule has been decided: 1. Eagle Marketing Solutions 2. H-nav 3. Home FuelStation 4. Real Placez 5. My Money [...]

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