Past event…

Nov 30 2012 Event Ended

Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success?

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups. If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register now for the best weekend of your life!

Ever wondered what it takes to be an entrepreneur? The professional and personal challenges, the high and lows, the failures and the success? Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world in 2011.

Schedule

Friday

Nov 30

5:00pm Registration Starts
6:00pm Welcome & Speakers
6:45pm Pitches Start
8:00pm Attendees vote for the top ideas
8:30pm Teams start forming and discussing ideas
10:00pm 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

Dec 1

9:00am Arrive, breakfast & coffee
12:00pm Lunch
12:00pm Call for needs & skills
1:00pm Coaches help teams one-on-one. They are here to help!
6:00pm Dinner
7:30pm Mid weekend check-in, status reports, call for help
11:59pm Finished for the day.

Sunday

Dec 2

8:00am Arrive, breakfast & coffee
10:00am Call for help (this is self motivated, so don’t be shy)
12:00pm Lunch
12:30pm Coaches arrive… ASK QUESTIONS
3:00pm Gut check. Start prepping for presentations
4:00pm Dinner
5:00pm FINAL PRESENTATIONS
7:00pm Judging & awards
8:00pm Wrapup
8:30pm Go home!

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Speakers

Charlie Kemper

Founding Partner at Revel Ventures | Twitter LinkedIn

Charlie is currently a Founding Partner at Revel Partners, an early-expansion stage venture firm, and a Co-Founder & General Partner at ER Accelerator, a leading NYC-born seed-stage investment program. Previously, Charlie was a Principal with Steelpoint Capital Partners, a media & technology growth equity firm he joined in 2005. While at Steelpoint, he led or participated in numerous successful investments in the media & communications fields including AdSpace Networks, Atempo, Boingo Wirless (IPO), Jitterbug, PacStar Communications, PrivaSys, Promptu, SeaMobile, Topica, WMI Media Solutions, and WorkShare. Charlie also has worked with Darby Overseas Investments, a global private equity firm led by Nicholas Brady, former US Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of Dillon Read & Co, where he helped launch plan an early-stage venture fund focused on Latin America. Earlier in his career, Charlie was a Co-Founder & Managing Director of a Chicago-based digital media agency, KMF, focused on intranet design and e-commerce system integration. In addition to Revel, Charlie is also a Co-Founder & current Chair of the New York City Venture Connection, a networking organization comprised of the leading venture capital firms in the Greater New York area.

David Kidder

David S. Kidder is an entrepreneur with a wide range of marketing and technology expertise focused on social, mobile, and search advertising and product development. Most recently, David served as the co-founder and CEO of Clickable, an online advertising software as a service (acquired by Syncapse). Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising pioneer (acquired by LifeMinders), and Net-X, a web-authoring platform (acquired by Target Vision). Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, and received ID Magazine's International Design Award and Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2008. David is an active angel investor through his fund, Alt Option Return, is a founding member of the The Acumen Fund One Percent Fund, and serves on the National Board of the Smithsonian. He is the creator and co-author of the two-time New York Times bestselling five book series, The Intellectual Devotional, published by Rodale. His latest book The Startup Playbook, will be released in January 2013, published by Chronicle Books. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife Johanna Zeilstra, co-founder of GiveBack.org, and three sons Jack, Stephen and Lucas.

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Judges

Dave Bulger

Senior Partner at Eric Mower + Associates | LinkedIn

After creating cutting-edge interactive videodisc training and simulation programs for U.S. Department of Defense contracts and developing expertise in computer-based behavior change acceleration at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, Dave founded MicroMass Communications, a successful one-to-one marketing services provider, in 1994. At MicroMass, Dave managed all aspects of start-up business operations, including product development, marketing, sales, corporate finance and capital formation.

In 2005, Dave was a co-founder of Pump Relationship Technologies, a CRM technology company dedicated to creating one-to-one marketing relationships between brands and customers from first impression to advocacy.

Most recently, Dave's entrepreneurial bent has resulted in EMA Insight, the agency's integrated research, insights, strategy, planning and analytics group. With EMA Insight, Dave and his team help clients achieve lasting returns in their customer relationships.

Jim Petrie

Senior Vice President and CFO | LinkedIn

Mr. Petrie joined the Company in 2006 as the Senior Vice President and CFO. He is responsible for all financial reporting, accounting, cash and credit management, human resources and legal. Mr. Petrie brings several years of experience in corporate tax accounting, mergers and acquisitions and financial controls. He began his career in public accounting and received his CPA certificate in 1987. Mr. Petrie spent over 6 years in public accounting with both a regional and international firm working in the audit and tax fields. After leaving public accounting, Mr. Petrie joined a real estate development company in Syracuse, New York. Prior to joining Seneca, Mr. Petrie was employed as the CFO for the City of Syracuse School District. He holds a BS degree in accounting from Loyola College (Maryland).

Damian Rakowsky

Design Consultant | LinkedIn

Damian has over ten years of professional work experience and is well versed in the fields of Environmental Graphic Design and Information, Interaction and Wayfinding Design. He has worked closely and collaborated with architects and designers internationally on projects for Royal Caribbean International (RCI), Celebrity Cruise Lines, Azamara Cruise Lines, W Hotels, Marriott Hotels and Hyatt Hotels. He has also worked on master plans and sign design for urban development projects for the Port of Miami (FL), City of Miami and the City of Syracuse (NY). He has designed branding for the City of Parma (OH) and the Town of Dewitt (NY).

During his employment with Tom Graboski Associates Design in Coral Gables (FL), he served as Lead Manager for RCI’s cruise ship and the world’s largest ship, Oasis of the Seas, from 2007 to 2009. For this project he worked with a design team to develop and execute wayfinding and venue sign systems and graphics. He also oversaw the assembly of the sign package and produced working drawings. His team’s work was integral in the conception and early development of the first ever wayfinding touch screen system used on-board any cruise ship.

Richard Frederick

Richard Frederick is an experience C level executive and serial entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience. He spent the last fifteen years of his career building and growing early stage companies. He’s served as a mentor and coach to over 100 companies in the past 5 years.

In 2001 he co-founded Autotask, one of the nations first pure play Software-as-a-service companies. He played a major role in raising over $14mm for Autotask from Angel and Seed investors as well as A and B round Venture Funds.

In 2008 he co-founded WhatEveryBabyNeeds.com an Internet based retail and social networking site providing Organic products and content to new moms and infants from birth to age 4. The founders bootstrapped the initial funding and now rely on revenue to fuel the growth.

In 2009 he founded The Best and The Brightest.biz a virtual business incubator designed to create and accelerate the growth of early stage companies. This activity was self funded and is pre-revenue.

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Coaches

John Liddy

Entrepreneur in Residence at Centerstate CEO | Twitter LinkedIn

John Liddy currently serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at Centerstate CEO, Syracuse University and Le Moyne College, helping these institutions advance student entrepreneurial activity and engagement through innovative coursework and hands on activities both on and off campus. As part of his efforts in helping create and evolve these programs, Liddy also serves as the Executive Director for the Syracuse Student Sandbox – a summer program that has grown to include over 80 student teams and over 100 business professionals from the community.

John Torrens

Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Practice | Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Google+

Prior to joining the Whitman faculty as an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Practice, Torrens had multiple start-ups, including four companies in the health and education industries. He was the founder, president, and executive director of InterActive Therapy Group (ITG), a provider of medical and educational rehabilitation services for young children with disabilities throughout New York State and Washington, D.C. He sold his company in 2008 and stayed on as president in transition until September 2010 and remained on the company’s board of directors as a consultant to the executive team until March 2011. In April 2011 he bought himself out of his non-compete, raised more capital, and repurchased ITG’s assets and operations in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse with two other equity partners (one operational and one financial).

Peter Scott

Professor of Practice in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises | LinkedIn

Peter Scott, is a Professor of Practice in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises at the Whitman School of Management. Scott is a director and board advisor to Estrakon Inc., an in-store marketing company with novel LED technology, and a venture development consultant at New Eagle, a embedded controls company, AutoKnowledge, an automotive software firm, and Purple Crayon who is bringing a unique wall art product to market . His previous experience includes advising 15 new Ann Arbor-based technology start-ups in strategy, marketing/sales, finance and fundraising through his position with Noble Consulting. These companies have been in varying markets from solar, to wind turbines, fuel injection, mechatronics, RFIDs, consumer products, and medical devices.

Rami Katz

Chief Operating Officer for Excell Partners | Twitter LinkedIn

Rami Katz is the Chief Operating Officer for Excell Partners, Inc. managing Excell's due-diligence and investment processes. Prior to joining Excell, Rami served as the Director of Technology Commercialization at High Tech Rochester where he worked closely with entrepreneurs, researchers and startups to evaluate the commercial potential of new technologies, where he managed the creation of over 50 business plans that led to raising over $40M in funding from VCs, angels as well as grants.

Rami is an attorney that led a litigation, banking and corporate law practice in Israel, managing a legal team that directed the restructure of over $14M in corporate and asset backed debt annually, while growing the group’s revenues by over 300%.

Eric Hinman

Partner at Rounded | Twitter LinkedIn

Eric is an entrepreneur with interests in software & insurance. Eric is a Partner at Rounded Development, a Syracuse-based technology company and President of Hinman & Associates, a Property & Casualty Insurance Brokerage. Eric is passionate about startups, technology, and all things digital.

Brian Corrigan

Chief Technology Officer of Major League Gaming (MLG) and Agora Games | Twitter LinkedIn

Brian Corrigan is the Chief Technology Officer of Major League Gaming (MLG) and Agora Games. Brian is responsible for managing MLG's technology decisions and architecture. Brian has more than ten years of experience in the technology industry, and is passionate about the software industry, supporting open development models that stimulate creativity and innovation. Brian is the chief architect behind the Agora Hydra system, which enables web to in-game integration on a massive scale, with a primary emphasis on web community building. Before joining Agora in 2008, Brian was general manager of Multimedia Games (MGAM) where he managed the design, operation, and support of New York State's multi-billion dollar video lottery system. Brian participates in several associations and professional organizations, and holds a BS in electrical and computer engineering from Clarkson University.

Jeff Conrad

Principal Consultant at Cayenne Consulting | Twitter LinkedIn

Jeff has a strong background in assisting entrepreneurs to plan, fund, and launch successful companies. His expertise includes development of comprehensive business plans focused on raising venture, private, and angel investment. Jeff excels in developing complex financial models, performing market research, setting investment strategy, and navigating the complexities of the startup process. Jeff's clients include companies in industries such as cleantech, renewable energy, healthcare, and branded products/services.

Jeff began his career at a Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 company, contributing to the establishment and expansion of a startup business unit. Additionally, Jeff has worked with management and the board of directors at some of the nation's most prominent companies, providing tools to assist the directors to excel in the boardroom. As an entrepreneur, Jeff lead Greenwise Solutions Inc. to become one of Southern California's leaders in energy efficiency and solar power. Jeff has also served as a mentor to new entrepreneurs at IDEA, a venture accelerator.

James R. Muldoon

Mr. Muldoon is a member of the firm and the Intellectual Property Practice Group. He also serves on the Science and Technology Commercialization and the Medical and Life Sciences Industry Teams. His practice focuses on the enforcement and defense of intellectual property infringement and related claims in federal and state courts and in arbitration. Mr. Muldoon has been actively involved in a large number of patent infringement lawsuits, encompassing diverse technologies such as compression-style coaxial cable connectors, argon gas-assisted electro-coagulation probes, and macroporous media for high performance liquid chromatography columns.

Mario Fallone

Counsel

Mario Fallone focuses his practice on venture capital, private equity and general corporate matters.
He has extensive experience related to offerings of debt and equity securities, including SEC registered
offerings, Rule 144A/Regulation S transactions, and private placements. Prior to joining Harter Secrest
& Emery, Mr. Fallone had broad experience as a business professional in the alternative investment space,
most notably with venture capital/angel, real estate, and feature film investments.

Chuck Stormon

CEO at Attend LLC | LinkedIn

I build businesses and create shareholder wealth. I have 20+ years of executive experience in all aspects of running and growing technology-based businesses. My direct experience includes business development, sales, marketing, indirect channels, on and off-shore software development, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, and international operations, in public and private companies ranging in size from $5M to $500M in annual revenues. I enjoy building, coaching and leading teams to produce outstanding results and competitive advantage through innovation in technology, business model, positioning, and go-to-market strategy. I'm particularly good with customer-facing activities.

Martin Babinec

Entrepreneur/Venture Catalyst/Private Investor | LinkedIn

Leading multiple initiatives to build a startup ecosystem across the Upstate New York region. Active angel investor and LP/advisor in several venture funds. Founded TriNet, serving as CEO 1988-2008 and Chairman till 2010. Remain active as large shareholder and Board member.

Nasir Ali

Managing Director at StartFast Venture Accelerator | LinkedIn

Entrepreneur, mentor, and investor with a passion for helping high growth entrepreneurs in Upstate New York.

Zachary Cohn

Hacker Relations | Twitter LinkedIn

Zac loves making things happen, and loves to work on problems that matter. At Startup Weekend he's in charge of "All Things G": He runs the Google Bootcamps and is building out the Startup Weekend: Government Vertical. He also is Startup Weekend's CAO (Chief Acronyms Officer). When he's not changing the world through entrepreneurship, he's training parkour and doing backflips, making viral videos, and running the Hacker News Seattle Meetup.

Jon Greene

CEO, Widetronix | LinkedIn

Jon has focused his career on partnering with researchers to commercialize early-stage technologies. Prior to joining Widetronix in 2007, he started two energy companies based on Cornell technology and he was the Founding Director of Cornell's Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise. Previously, Jon managed a $1billion portfolio of real estate projects for a publically-traded resort company. He began his career in management consulting working for Abt Associates Inc. Jon earned an MBA and BS from Cornell University and an MS in Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Doug Gorman

Director, Crisafulli Gorman, PC | LinkedIn

Douglas J. Gorman is a New York and Delaware business attorney specializing in corporate matters, emerging business, venture capital and commercial law. He represents businesses, large and small, on a wide range of matters including start-up and choice-of-entity issues, domestic and international commercial contracting, private finance, shareholder relations and disputes, corporate governance and corporate transactions of all types. He lectures frequently across New York State on small business, finance and international trade, and his articles on small business concerns and crowdfunding have been published both locally and nationally with Martindale-Hubbell. Doug is a longtime participant in local business organizations and outreach programs such as the CenterState CEO and the Tech Garden, and he is also a mentor at various business incubators such as the Syracuse Student Sandbox and the Couri Hatchery. Doug graduated summa cum laude from both LeMoyne College (B.S. Physics) and Syracuse University College of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Syracuse Law Review. He began his practice in the mergers and acquisitions department of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Delaware before establishing his current practice in his native Central New York. Doug is a founder and principal of Crisafulli Gorman, PC, a boutique law firm specializing in New York and Delaware corporate and commercial law, tax planning and disputes, elder law, estate planning, not-for-profit compliance, business succession and exit planning.

Kate Brodock

Executive Director of Digital & Social Media, Syracuse University | LinkedIn

Coming soon

Doug Crescenzi

Developer Evangelist at TelAPI | Twitter LinkedIn

Doug is a TelAPI developer evangelist and a PhD student at the Syracuse University iSchool. His homebase is Brooklyn, NY (as he and his wife have an affinity for hipster culture and good beer). When it comes to hacking with telephony APIs, Doug is no stranger. His most acclaimed telephony hack, BeerText (which came from a Syracuse Student Sandbox hackathon) was features on the front page of NBC News.

Jim Luckett

Director, Planning & Program Development at Syracuse University | LinkedIn

Jim Luckett is the director of innovation programs for the Syracuse Center of Excellence (www.syracusecoe.org), developing value-added programs for the Center’s university and industry partners. Luckett’s professional career spans business and higher education. Luckett spent sixteen years working at universities with appointments in research administration at SUNY College at Brockport, the University of Iowa, and Syracuse University. At Syracuse University Luckett held the position of Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs. Luckett left SU in 1989 to lead two Internet start up companies. The first, NYSERNet, is a not-for-profit organization that deployed the first Internet network in New York State for research and educational institutions. The second, AppliedTheory Corporation, specialized in Internet solutions for businesses and went public in 1999.

John Seman

CEO | LinkedIn

As CEO, Mr. Seman is responsible for building Launch NY to support innovative, high-growth potential companies across the upstate region (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca and Binghamton) by providing founders with an active entrepreneurs-in-residence (EiR) program, and, for qualified companies, initial funding. Among the first initiatives for Launch NY will be to enhance collaboration across economic development organizations and to begin building an entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the region. Seman, a Hastings-on-Hudson native, brings more than three decades of business and entrepreneurial experience, including CEO roles at AVANTEC, a data management startup and PhysioGenix, a drug development spin-off from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Bill Culley

Bill Culley is a 2012 MBA graduate from Cornell’s Johnson School, with experience raising Seed and Series A funding for previous startups and working in, as well as running, startup companies. He is currently the co-founder of Empire Robotics, a university technology transfer company founded to commercialize a unique robot gripper out of Cornell University. Bill was formerly a management consultant with Oliver Wyman, and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Cornell University.

Michael Kirmse

Marketing and Business Development Manager | LinkedIn

Michael T. Kirmse is the Marketing and Business Development Manager for O’Brien & Gere, with over 15 years of professional experience. He has been with the company since 2004 and oversees the business development activities from a corporate level. The marketing division he manages provides support in the following areas: proposal development, tradeshows and seminars, research, strategic market planning, presentations, collateral development, branding, and creative services. Mike is also in charge of the firm’s strategic accounts program and manages the sales outlook and analysis for O’Brien & Gere. He earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering & Management from Clarkson University and obtained a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Mike played professional soccer in Germany and the United States and continues to be involved with soccer through coaching and broadcasting.

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