Startup Weekend Will Build Entrepreurial Muscle

Tom Giffey |

Got an entrepreneurial inclination but don’t know how to begin? Eau Claire’s very first Startup Weekend is designed for you! The 54-hour marathon event – which runs Friday, Oct. 2, to Sunday, Oct. 4 – is a local incarnation of a worldwide movement to encourage dreamers, designers, and developers to learn how to build new businesses. Eau Claire Startup Weekend is being organized by local economic development and business professionals with the help of a $2,000 grant from the JAMF Nation Global Foundation, and will be held in the newly remodeled Lismore Hotel on Barstow Street. So what’s the weekend all about? According to a press release, “This event allows the attendees to build a real product with a team that is overseen by a group of mentors, coaches, and judges. Startup Weekend inspires and educates individuals on what it takes to create a successful business from the ground up.” Ideas are pitched the first night and teams are formed which then work feverishly for the chance to win prizes after being judged the final day by local entrepreneurs. While the goal of the weekend is to build entrepreneurial muscles, not necessarily to create real-world ventures, in other cities some teams have continued to work together after their Startup Weekends have passed and have created bona fide businesses. Sound interesting? If you register by Aug. 28, the cost is just $75 per person. After that it goes up to $99.

Learn more by visiting www.ec-startupweekend.com.