About

So what is Startup Weekend?

Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of individuals including developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus and graphic artists to attend a 54-hour event that builds communities, companies and projects.

Founded in 2007 by Andrew Hyde, the weekend is a concept of a conference focusing on learning by creating. It is known for its quick decisions, ‘out of the box’ thinking (oh no, the buzzwords are attacking!), unique facilitation technique and letting the participants show what they can do.

Israel Style

Startup Weekend Israel will be a kosher version, so the event starts on Wednesday, 16 December at 16:00 and will end Friday, 18 December, one hour before Shabbat. Since it will be Hanukah, we plan to stuff you with doughnuts and latkes, so be prepared!

A Global Community

Since 2007 the concept of Startup Weekend has spread, not only in the US, but also around the world. Cities like Vienna, Paris, Athens, London, and many more have successfully implemented the concept.

How does it Works?

Startup Weekend Phoenix

Startup Weekend Phoenix

After everyone gets together and figures out who else is there, the pitching begins. Basically, anybody with an idea for a product gets 120 seconds to pitch it to the group.

Once the pitching is finished, there will be a 20-30 minutes break, giving people the opportunity to mingle with the folks behind the ideas they liked. After the break, a vote will be conducted to determine which ideas will move to the next stage.

Then teams will be formed according to all the ideas that were selected. From that moment, you’re in charge of implementing the idea…and we’ll keep you well-fed!

Working Teams

An ideal team would be 7-9 members with diversified professions (e.g. developers, business developers, designers, social media and marketing). Once the teams are formed, it is the complete responsibility of the team to define scope, responsibilities and timeline. We will try to make sure you have everything you need in order to make it happen.

What do Attendees get?

Startup Weekend Phoenix

Startup Weekend Phoenix

Startup Weekend provides an unprecedented level of networking, team building, learning, and life changes for its attendees and their communities.
Don’t forget that there will be 6-7 meals provided during the 3 days, as well as refreshments around-the-clock. There is a reason that most attendees come back for year after year – it’s just plain fun, and it provides amazing opportunities you can’t get anywhere else. Sometimes a company emerges, sometimes one doesn’t. Some companies go on to produce revenue or get seed funding, but it is guaranteed that every time, people leave with more experience, insight, knowledge, friends and resources than they came with.

Registration

Registration for the event is done on our Web site; purchase the ticket type most suitable for you. In order to keep the range of attendees diverse, we divided the tickets into several types:

  • Developer – (Frontend / Backend / Architect)
  • PR / Marketing / Business Developement
  • User Experience / Designer
  • Attorney/Legal
  • Social Media

Several people have asked, so it’s important to say it again: The ticket type is for PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. If something is sold out, sign up for something else, just e-mail the organizer and let them know. Got it? Planning purposes only.

Remember to pick the ticket type according to what you would like to spend your weekend doing, and not necessarily according to what you do for your day job. Remember you’re totally free to switch roles throughout the weekend.

Founders

Andrew Hyde, Founder – I’m a startup enthusiast. The great company that I work for is TechStars, which is most certainly the finest startup accelerator in the land. I have founded 4 companies, including Startup Weekend and VCwear.

Clint Nelsen, Partner – I have an extreme curiosity for the world around me; Startup Weekend provides an amazing outlet to surround myself with smart people pursuing really interesting ideas. I am from Minnesota and have a passion for anything outdoors. I don’t have a car, and arrive at many a meeting in the Seattle area dripping in sweat. In another life I did business valuations for privately held companies. My favorite part of that job was interacting with the entrepreneurs that were following their passion and taking big risks. I love to learn, travel, snowboard, fly planes, and fly fish.

Marc Nager, Partner – I travel the world helping startups and entrepreneurs. Raised in Mammoth Lakes, CA (I love to ski). Went to college at Chapman University in SoCal. Backpacked for 3 summers. Moved to Switzerland. Got a job making more money than I knew what to do with but was miserable, so I moved to Seattle. Love it here! I don’t have a car. I am always ready to go camping/backpacking/biking/skiing/hiking at a moment’s notice. My company went under in Jan ‘09, and I started my own startup. While still going, I jumped full-time into Startup Weekend May 2009…. a true passion! Now I get to travel the world and do what I love.

Israel Organizers

Amir Harel – Amir has more than 10 years of experience in developing and marketing software products. While working as a Product Marketing manager at Commtouch, Amir is also mastering the secret art of the JavaScritpt Ninja. Innovating and developing products from the age of 5, he is a natural-born entrepreneur, always looking for ways to take an active role in improving the world. Amir holds a B.Sc in Computer Science from Bar-Ilan University and an MBA from the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya.

Eddy Resnick – Eddy has been involved with the hi-tech market in Israel and around the world ever since his aliya in 1990 from Canada. For the last 13 years he worked at Sun Microsystems in the telecommunication industry and finally with the startup community focusing on cloud computing. Eddy brings both a technology and business perspective to his activities.

If you have any questions check our FAQ page, or contact us at israel@startupweekend.org

See you there!