You Need a Social Good Themed Startup Weekend

posted by: james - February 28, 2012

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Startups are all about innovation, a unique solution to an existing problem, however many social startups fail because they..

  • assume there is a problem, when there is actually not
  • don't know how to get their solution in to the hands of the people that need it
  • underestimate the competition already out there
  • are not surrounded by people who actually understand what they're doing

If your startup falls into one of the above categories, or think it might, then you need to fix those, now.  And thinking about it IS NOT THE WAY to fix them.  You need honest, truthful feedback.  Thankfully a type o hack-a-thon, "Startup Weekends", which are happening all over the world, are the perfect place to test all of the above, you get to...  

  • pitch your problem to hundreds of people
  • recurit to get a team
  • validate your problem with your team
  • work on your solution with your team
  • figure out your distribution model with your team
  • pitch it back to hundreds of people and investors

... all in 54 hours.  So no more sitting in a cave thinking you have it right, prove that it is right!

However don't just go to any startup weekend, go to the right one.

I recently attended my third startup weekend this past weekend in Santa Clara, CA, but I didn't go to just any startup weekend, I went to the "Education Startup Weekend".  Most of the ideas were focused on helping children.  The judges were all educators, the entrepreneurs were all education focused, and there were teachers there to validate the problems.  We pitched an idea to solve the lack of career exploration tools for underserved schools, and people goit it.  On the other hand, a couple months ago I attended the "Woman startup weekend" and we pitched an idea to solve the problem on fixing very small things in our citys by empowering citizens.  However, the startups, mentors, and judges there had more exposure to "fashion" "food" and "fitness" and could hardly relate.

Again as a social startup, make sure you go the right one, surrounded by the right people.  Here are some useful places to start looking: