Over the weekend, a bunch of the Track5Media team braved the snowstorm and got involved in Startup Weekend Lancaster, our city’s version of the global event. Startup Weekend is “a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities.” According to their website, 36% of the startup companies founded at the events are still going strong after 3 months and 80% of participants plan on still working with either their team members or startup idea formed at the event even after the weekend ends!
Track5Media Rocked Startup Weekend Lancaster
Oliver was one the judges for the competition, along with 2 others Kyle Sollenberger and Sam Coyl, both with strong backgrounds in founding companies from the ground up.
Madison and I even pitched an idea and decided to step up to the plate in the fierce competition with our idea called “PicAppeal” an app that would help consumers share photos of items they couldn’t find to purchase or wanted to find a less expensive version. To my surprise, our idea actually got a lot of positive feedback.
Madison and I recruited the help of a fellow Millersville University student who aided us in the graphic design and developing aspects of our idea. The three of us feverishly worked out the details and plan for execution over the course of two days.
I have to admit though, there’s a lot that goes into creating a company. And let me tell you from experience… it’s a lot more than what the average team can pull together in a weekend! Marketing, designing, legal concerns, need for the product, target audiences, functionality, revenue, competing companies, and much more were taken into consideration. Despite positive endorsements on our idea from influential figures such as Leah Mozkowi the Assistant Director of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Ernest Capizzi Director of Production for the North Face, Kim Lemon (local news anchor for WGAL), and an overwhelming 86% of surveyed consumers stating that they would use our app; it wasn’t enough to beat out all the amazing and talented teams we competed against.
But, 3rd place isn’t too shabby for our first try!
Some of the sponsors of the weekend were Harbor Compliance, Blogger, 3M, Netrepid, Listrak, Coca-cola, and Shutterstock.
HonestPic and LiveRide, the winners of the Startup Weekend, were amazing contenders and worthy opponents. Overall, the experience was quite a memorable one. We networked with some really talented young and seasoned web developers, marketers, entrepreneurs, marketers, and graphic designers. For me, the most rewarding part of the entire event was gaining the mentoring of the highly successful organizing team.
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