Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
IT’S NOT ABOUT IDEAS IT’S ABOUT MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN
Sunday 9th of November 2014
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
I’ve spent more than 20 years in an industry that is dominated by men. Frequently I am the only woman in the room during many of my business meetings. Although I am focused on the “soft skills” side of the startup world, I am working closely with entrepreneurs who are highly technical coders and engineers, an overwhelming majority of whom are male (still). I’m pleased to observe that the gender imbalance is changing in the startup world, particularly among the millennial generation. Now, 1/3 of all entrepreneurs worldwide are women. Entrepreneurs from developing countries are even more likely to be women. And studies indicate that by 2025, women will be in the majority when it comes to owning and running their own business. So, the current majority of men in the start-up world is a temporary phenomenon that will pass. But we’re not there yet. When I look at the immensely talented group of people we have had here this weekend, I still see only a few female faces amongst the group. The Startup Weekend organization has taken concrete steps to address the imbalance, and it has improved: the percentage of female participants has now been more than 20% for the past two years. But can we do more to raise the level of female participation?
I talked to a few of the female entrepreneurs participating in this year’s Startup Weekend about their experience joining a mostly male event. The good news is that they don’t perceive a problem. In fact, they enjoy being in a mostly male environment. My extremely subjective conclusion from this (and my own experience) is that female entrepreneurs are people who generally don’t waste time worrying about being limited in opportunities based on their gender. They are just people who focus on being awesome and delivering on amazing ideas. A trait they share with their male counterparts. But that also means that, potentially, if we don’t perceive a problem, we as women are not overly motivated to work to increase the number of female entrepreneurs. And that may be part of the reason why the numbers don’t increase. In my opinion, we all can only benefit from increased participation of women in these events. So, whether you’re male or female, the next time you see a Startup Weekend scheduled, whether you plan to come or not, invite a female friend. Tell them about your experience, and encourage them to give it a try. Many people who participate in a Startup Weekend are directly inspired to start their own company. So, you can do your part to influence the future of female entrepreneurship! Lauren Valbert lauren@empoweringmanagement.com
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
A BAND OF FRIENDS!! Saturday night things were starting to rev-up. It could be because one of the organisers, Jeroen Panjer and our very coach Sebastiaan Hooft were spinning records near the Kasteel bar. Things were starting to loosen up or so it seemed. While teams were still working, some took time off to wind down and have a couple of beers. There seemed to be a mix of a work-party atmosphere - something we have all come to assiociate with a typcial Startup Weekend (we speak for the city of Groningen of course) We learnt that there was only one rule in the Kasteel. “You shall not drink alone” is what one of our dear organisers explained while pouring everyone (including us at the press corner) a shot
of Jagermeister. Walking into the venue on Sunday morning, felt like we landed into another dimension. The Kasteel was busy with the concentrated faces of team members (or were they hungover from the night before?). Teams were gearing up for D-day. Final presentations were being worked on. Mock-ups and prototypes were being built. Post-it notes were being used up at a rate faster than the trees that were felled to produce them. Team members descended on the Press Corner - to borrow pens, scissors, tape, marker or to print-out last minute business models. This meant only one thing and we could all feel it (Oh!
how time flies when you’re having fun). The final presentations would be here soon. Energies were at an all time high. As we inched towards the final presentations, a sense of calm descended on most participants. They knew they had given their best on the ideas they worked on and more-over to their respective teams. They believed in each other and most of all they did it as a team - together with people who were only but strangers two nights ago. You could tell they had each other’s back. These were the new “BAND OF FRIENDS”, and it was time for them to show-off what they fought for, nutured and produced over the weekend.
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
GROUND ZERO
HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN Team ‘Younion’ (@joinyounion) had a clear story told by two of the team members of which Debbie (the initiator of the idea) had a contagiously happy way of telling her story. Become a union of customers with a loyalty card. Get bargaining powers to save on products you love. The Hindsight investors (@ HindsightInvstr) wanted to create a website to introduce people to the beautiful and interesting world of finances. One of the judges, Jeroen Sprangers fired a critical question about the team’s business plan: ‘But who will you sell a mug or t-shirt about finances to?’ He got no reply, but still the team stayed strong during the rest of the 3 minute Q&A.
After the final presentation of Remember? (@rememberapp_co) the judges complimented the team’s last minute change to their business plan: the app users would not be their direct clients. Theme parks and festivals could also benifit from using their app. The Q&A was about details like the privacy of people who may also appear in a picture on the app. When Big Boost Bingo (@ BigBoostBingo) ended their final presentation, it was nice to see the judges speechless for a moment. Their presentation was a bit awkward but also very funny and it was all about Bingo! So, hey! Who wouldn’t think Big Boost Bingo is a great idea?
The Photoshopped images that Lightup Square (@lightupsquare) used for explaining their idea really worked to get the crowd enthusiastic. When judge Melissa asked wether they were going to work on tiles that would also work in daylight, Nick Stevens helped them out by showing their prototype which was even visible in a fully lit-up room. Swappr. (@swappr_) had changed their core idea quiet late during the weekend. Instead of letting people teach one and other, they wanted to make people happy about making others happy: Doing someone a favor through their online platform.
Just like Younion, Cheap Hunt (@ CheapHunt) felt the need to provide a way to help people buy stuff with a discount. Their character “George” brought a lot of smiles on the audience’ faces.
Wham Bam (@whambamapp) scored high on one of the criteria judge Wessel mentioned - because they had a working prototype to present. The demonstration brought a fun variation to the final presentations.
Assit Autism (@assistapp) presented their app which updates the current structure for helping people with autism in an easy and convinient way. Their presentation really touch a chord with the audience.
Baguru was one of the few groups that managed to tell their story and play their prepared video to the judges. ‘We’re not selling a bag, but a unique life experience’ was a good quote to end their presentation with.
Parachute me did a good job on visualizing the problem that they wanted to solve. This group was one of the few to come with a business model with estimated numbers that were placed in a time line.
Nelipot (http://nelipot.co) was also able to show a prototype of the website they wanted to start to make searching for cheap travels easier.
The final presentation of Wie is de wolf (@WieIsDeWolf)showed us the great amount of work they had put into their team building app. Judge Melissa complimented the team on their vigorous way of networking they had done this weekend.
And last but not least Omapost (@omapost) presented an Karima Masala (@karimamasala) Instagram-based idea that was was another team with a well immediatly tested for viability by defined business model, which judge Lars. He asked how many was a good start. But unfortunately Instagram users were in the room they ran out of time to show their and if they would pay to send their stop motion video that would oma a picture. The answer to that demonstrate their work even better. was a unanimous ‘yes!’.
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
When did you have your break through moment? It was when we called several corporations. They told us that they guided people with autism and they were looking at other ways of doing it. And having an app sounded perfect to them.
Assist Autism! It was no surprise that “Assist Autism!” won, 1st place. The judges stated that it’s always tricky to go for an idea that falls in the “Do Gooder” category. This year there were quite a few of them in this category, so it was a surprice that the first price went to “Assist Autism” Did you actually think you’d win? We didn’t really expect to win. It was a simple idea. It depends on what kind of people you are connected with in your team. If they have the same feeling, then you can make something beautiful out of it. Did you have any mental breakdowns? Yes!! Several. Not all the time. It was very relaxed for the most part. The two technical people in our team were great. They were totally convinced about what we wanted to make. Chris was the one who made a fabulous marketing plan. I had a good team over all. I couldn’t ask for more. What was the biggest challenge you faced with your idea? To define the market. There were a large amount of possibilities.
What was the longest day or night during the weekend? I don’t know!! Today felt like the longest. Yesterday we stopped at 12:30 because we wanted to be fresh Sunday morning. Now that you have won, what is the next step? We are going to go on with our marketing & business plan. We’ll see how it goes. But first we’ll have dinner with the team. Did you make friends? Enemies? Friends ofcourse. Mostly my team. Will you come back next year? I don’t know. Maybe if I have a good idea. And now? Party time? YES!!
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
SAY ! WHAT?
ens: Nick Stev time ing out of I am runn g video lo ahal’s n S f o e s u a bec Sahal: wn guy. me the bro Yeah... Bla
r: As ht Investo ig s d in H Team elig’ as aagdremp easy and ‘l possible
nion: Team You s get world, let’ e th le ru s Let’ together discounts : Someone underearing my w m a I , h Oe e out... wear insid
Omapost Believe it or not after a weekend full of hard work team Omapost is still full of energy. Because they won second place? Probably. But also because of their awesome team. “Many people thought we knew each other before Startup Weekend, but we didn’t. We just clicked really well” says one of the team members. And that definitely showed! This group came up with the idea to make digital pictures on Instagram real pictures which you can sent to your Grandma (Oma). With this great idea they won second place. How do you feel? Very satisfied and appreciated after all this hard work. Did you expect second place? Yes we kind of did. We thought our idea was well executed and we had a great team which helped a lot. But team “Assist Autism!” is a rightful winner!
What was so great about your team? It was like a perfect puzzle. Everybody had skills which the other one didn’t have. Everyone complimented the other. Even though we are with 9 we still worked very smooth. We all knew what to do and did it. Why did you pitch? Well I didn’t want to pitch at first because I wasn’t really convinced by my idea. But then the girl I was sitting next to persuaded me to ‘just dot it’. So I did. And we ended up in the same team. Any awkward moments during this weekend? Someone asked us if we were a couple, that was a bit awkward. But also when we invited Marijn van Klepper. He kind of delivers the same service as we do (printing insta pictures) but with a
am Bam: Team Wh Sjaak! You ‘re the ppr.: Team Swa happy e feel very m e k a m You apost: Team Om e with r online-lif Share you ny. your gran
different concept. We thought he might see us as a competitor but in the end he was really enthusiastic, gave us a lot of tips and even proposed working together. What about the future? During a walk in the park (to freshen up our brains) we came up with a lot of nice ideas to make Omapost bigger. For example Opapost (GrandpaPost) or Valentijnspost… there are so many possibilities. We are definitely going through with this. But first we are going to bring all our Oma’s a bunch of flowers.
INTERVIEW ND 2 PLACE
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
ignore my fellow SAUS-ies as much as possible, but it is hard to change habits. So sometimes I chatted with them, but that is not something which a spy would not do. Because, all in all, they are not that unfriendly at all. Around lunch, Trudy noticed the piggy around my neck and won a jar of mayonaise. That evening, I was quite drunk. See the end of my second column. Especially the Jägermeister fucked me up. In fact, I was so hungover the next day that I forgot to wear a shirt that was the second clue: a shirt which sausages all over it (which effectively made me the worst (wurst) spy ever). I came to SW without plans. I was sure I was going to have a chill weekend. No pitching for me, just being part of a team would be enough. With a swine with the numbers 789 on its eartag around my neck (clue 1) I arrived. I listened to the pitches. Then I thought: I have an idea too. I like to share my life, but my granny has no clue what I do. Therefore, I pitched my idea of sharing your online life with your offline granny (I <3 Grandma). Apparently, that worked for some people, because I ended up working in a team of 9 fantastic designers, developers and businesspeople. That posed a problem, because I had to deliver a column before 00:00. Our get-to-knoweach-other-meeting took me until 23:55, so I wrote my first column in a big hurry. Then the second day. We started off well, working our asses off. The first clue was in the paper, but nobody seemed to notice the piggy around my neck. Because of the hard work, that is, because the clue was obvious enough. I tried to
Nevertheless, the #omapost group worked really hard. Shortly before the presentation, our MVP was ready, as was our presentation. The group told me that I worked really well according to the 3 Pâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: I pitched, I pitted (slept) and I presented. Thanks to all the input from my team, our presentation was a good laugh. A nice thing to experience when you are the last one to present. So, all in all: I would tell everyone that it is a really good idea to go to a SW without any plans. There is a chance you will pitch, pit and present and end up as the runner-up! My name is Wilbert, I tell stories about food. But apparently, also about SW; I was the spy from SAUS during the most awesome SW Groningen 2014.
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
WHAT TO DO AFTER STARTUP? It was a weekend full of hard work and social interaction. And now you have gone from the Startup bubble back to your day to day life. Did you fall into a deep black hole yet? Here are some tips to crawl back onto the surface: • Go for a drink with all your new startup friends • Tag yourself in the pictures of Startup Weekend on facebook • Tell your grandma about how great the weekend was • Make a tasty meal with the Karima Masala spices • Go buy some Jägermeister • To get some of that social interaction wink at everyone you see on the street • Is your brain still making overtime? Go for a short walk before you go to bed. It will relax your mind and you will fall into a peaceful sleep • Go for a detoxicating
Remember? The third place of Startup weekend Groningen 2014 went to ‘Remember?’. We interviewed them right after the prize ceremony. First of al congratiolations with your thirth place! Proud or disappointed? Both! Proud to be third, but also disappointed not to be first. Why did you guys really have to be number 1? Because we have a great support base. Lots of people can use ‘Remember?’.
What was the most awkward moment during this weekend? During our market research we ask people on the street about their experiences after a long night of drinking and not remembering a thing the next morning. We talked to a guy who kept going on about his strange experience on the morning after. For example, he woke up with a bike in his bed. Has there been a mental break down moment? And a break through? Yes, on saturday night. ‘Remember?’ seemed to become one big joke. Something we absolutely did not want. After talking with the coaches we came up with a new business model (the breakthrough!) in which the users weren’t the investors. Also Joris had a mental breakdown when he heard how short the presentation had to be.
What was the longest day and how many hours did it take? (including a goodnight out with booze?) That’s gonna be today. We are planning to party at least until 8, so 24 hours. Made some new friends or enemies? We want to become friends with ‘Omapost’. Then you really have something to talk about with your grandma. And maybe we can also send some spices of Karima Masala with the card. Are you going to further develop the concept/project? Yes, next week we are going out for lunch with each other (although we didn’t win the food cheque) and we will see what happens. What are you doing tomorrow? Watching the movie and pictures from tonight in our Remember app!
INTERVIEW 3RD PLACE
work out to get rid of all the beers you had • Read your Startup Journal to get back memories
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
BRASSERIE MIDI What does a typical day for an entrepreneur like yourself look like? Every day I open up around 9 am, evaluate the day before and put the financial and administrative checks in place. I then look at the present day - I consult with the kitchen about our specials for lunch and dinner, check the mail and post. The Midi is now ready for lunch. When lunch is over I often work on the promotion of Midi or go out to meet potential clients. I try to show them that there’s a great new company in Groningen when it comes to the hospitality area. Around 17:30 I’m back in the brasserie and I check that everything ready for a busy evening. I talk to my staff so that everyone’s on the same page. We work as a team and we have to show our evening guests a great night. About 01:00 we come to a close. I do a portion of the financial closing, we clean, I pour a glass of wine for myself and my team. We leave for home. At 9 am the next day it starts all again. Starting your own business takes a lot of preparation. When in the process of starting up brasserie Midi did you have a “Yes! The beginning is here, I’m finally starting up” -feeling?
Sunday 9th of November 2014
The first “YES” was when I saw the beautiful building and I knew I had to take it. But I still had to get it from the owner. Several other people were interested in it as well. But the owner decided to go with me as he liked my idea. That was my 2nd “Yes”. I had a huge grin on my face when I got it. The next “YES” was after my crowdfunding campaign went online and after 2 months I managed to get 100% funding - 55,000 € in total. Now there was no stopping, everything was final and nothing could go wrong. But the definitive “YES” was at the opening. I was standing on crates of Kornuit Beer with my girlfriend, family, friends, teachers and especially around 100 of my investors raising a glass to the opening of Brasserie Midi! Being an expert in good food, what would you advise an entrepreneur to have for breakfast to have a good start of the day? Haha .... I am afraid that my advice will go against many dieticians. 2 slices of bread with bacon, eggs, mozzarella, tomato, and much more - a juice and a large Cappo with an espresso after. Why may you ask? As an entrepreneur, you never know if you have time to eat. Pol de Bruin Folkingestraat 42
Het Kasteel Melkweg 1
Startup Journal Day 03
Sunday 9th of November 2014
Concept SAUS Editor in chief Sahal Merchant Writers Ellen Beck Sahal Merchant Liza Verboon Emilie van Gorcum Mark Sekuur Lotte Dijkstra Wilbert van der Kamp Photography Mark Sekuur Joost Nuijten Art Directer/ design Ellen Beck Illustrations Liza Verboon Guest Writers Lauren Valbert Stefan Wobben Jeroen Sprangers Sebastiaan Hooft Erik de Jonge Stephanie van der A Matthijs Menses
Like us facebook.com/sausgroningen
If you organize an event you job they did at Startup know everything what is goWeekend. Last year I stated ing on, surprises are bad and that they were the perfect you don’t want to deal with addition to our event, like them. Unless the surprise is sauce to a dish. This year called SAUS. When I walked again they proved to be in I saw lots of wooden boards the perfect extra to the with papers on it and was event to make it just a bit confused for a second, but more special. I hope you then I recognized the familiar all enjoyed the work they looking paper where all the delivered, don’t hesitate awesome daily papers got to give them some love at printed on last year. Being fb.com/sausgroningen. busy with all kinds of other things I never had the chance SAUS can stain my shirt to look into these papers on anytime they want and if friday but I knew they would they do, I’m never going to deliver quality stuff. Cause wash that shirt ever again that’s what they do. cause it would be so much awesomer. Thanks, you If Startup Weekend and people are rockstars! SAUS were actual people I think they would probably be married right now, or at least one of us would be Matthijs Menses wildly in love. So this is me, PS. I hate you guys for making me thanking them (in their own have good memories to a Backpaper) for the awesome street Boys song.
SAUS STAINS AND BACKSTREET BOYS