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I’ve attended seven startup weekends during the past eight years, each a fast-paced, entrepreneurial pressure cooker.
Since 2007, nearly 500,000 people have participated in startup weekends globally, and they are run every year in Perth.
Typically, participants form teams and compete to find a viable business idea in fewer than 54 hours.
At the end, teams pitch to a shark-tank-style panel that determines the winners.
There is a stark contrast between the corporate innovation process and how a startup weekend runs, and much for the former cohort to learn.
Here are four reasons I think every corporate middle manager should attend a startup weekend.
1) There are no committees, just pure execution
A typical corporate innovation process involves analysing a list of potential ideas, submitted over several weeks, and then canvassing departments to get the ideas done.
In a startup weekend, innovation is more like a bustling fish market.
Participants are given one minute to pitch one idea; it could be anything from using machine learning to detect invasive insects or an Airbnb for fishing boat rental.
The pitcher then scribbles on an A3 page a short headline and sticks it to a wall.
They then try to convince passers-by to join their team.
Successful ideas gather large teams, while the pitchers of uninteresting ideas are gently encouraged to join another team.
In about two hours, the startup weekend achieves a sorting of potential ideas and alignment of teams that would take months for a typical corporate innovation process.
2) You’ll realise how quickly you can feel the pain of market feedback
In corporate innovation, it’s easy to sit in meetings all day and strategise what might work with the market.
In 2021, my team wanted to reduce the environmental impact of soft plastic.
We discovered that most pet food comes in soft plastic bags that can’t be recycled.
We prototyped a refillable container that would let pet owners drastically reduce their plastic waste.
But there was no time to sit around strategising.
So we went outside on Saturday and pitched our concept to 20 pet owners we met on the streets of Perth, Subiaco and Mount Lawley.
The result: no-one cared enough about the impact of soft plastics on their environment to pay more or change their behaviour, and we had to pivot our idea.
3) Appreciate your team members by stepping into their shoes for a weekend
There are basically no stakes, so you can try things that would get you fired in a corporate job.
Want to try being a coder? You can use no-code tools to create a working prototype app to sell.
Don’t understand marketing? You can try being the face of the team, pitching your idea CEO-like and facing harsh feedback.
No skill at drawing, but design looks cool to you? Try designing the interface for the product, you might find you are better at it than you think.
When you come back to your normal job, you’ll understand your team better if you do.
4) End energised on a high with new friends
Startup weekends draw from a broad cross-section of the community.
I’ve worked with university students, mid-career professionals and retirees.
In one team, I was surprised by the ingenuity of a uni student who rapidly built a prototype invasive insect detector, and the charisma of the journalist who pitched our idea at the end.
Another year I recall the hard-won experience of a retiree who wanted to create the Airbnb for fishing charters, and the practical pragmatism of a developer who built the prototype.
Every year I’m impressed by the quality of the people I meet.
Corporate innovation can be draining, but at a startup weekend I know I’ll leave with new friends and renewed energy.
There is a startup weekend scheduled in Perth for June. I’ll be there, will you?
- John Vial has a PhD in robotics and has spent the past several years leading teams in major Perth businesses focused on AI and robotics
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