Winning the future through open innovation is a story with no beginning — or end. That was the biggest take-away from the second Start Norfolk build-a-business-in-a-weekend competition held at the end of April 2012 at Old Dominion University's Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The metrics: over 275 attendees, 17 sponsors, 18 mentors and judges, 9 speakers and 73 ideas pitched. And we ended up a successful (as well as exhausting and exhilarating) weekend with 11 teams formed, over 1,000 lines of code written and three big, small business startup winners!
Pictured L to R at Start Norfolk 2.0: Speaker Jonathan Aberman (Founders Corp, Startup Virginia), Mentor Marty Kaszubowski (Kaufman & Canoles Consulting) and Mentor/Sponsor Ned Lilly (xTuple CEO). More pictures of the event available on Facebook-xTuple and Facebook-Start Norfolk.
Business management software developer, xTuple, sponsored the event and included a free software and consulting package to each of the winners to run their new business. Follow @xTuple on Twitter.
Twitter was the obvious choice in social media platforms, and the hashtag #startnorfolk included some enlightening and entertaining comments:
- "past cutting edge, its beheading edge"
- "grassroots effort to build startups. Includes beer & inspiration"
- "taught me the window of opportunity exceeds failure"
You can follow the progress of the winners and other formed teams that are still working to build their business; see Twitter @StartNorfolk.
Winners for Start Norfolk 2.0:
- 1st d8night.com, not your next dating site but a personalized adventure app
- 2nd PodiumPro, an iPad app for speakers, preachers and teachers
- 3rd #CareDirect, a healthcare app for elder care by people at EVMS
Also follow Start Norfolk speaker Jonathan Aberman (@jaberman), founder and managing director of Amplifier Ventures, a seed and early stage venture capital fund based in Mclean, Va. Since 2005 Amplifier has helped to start 14 new technology companies, including BrightHub, Cardstar, Hook Mobil, SpydrSafe and Zenoss. He is also the founder and President of FounderCorps, a Virginia not for profit that provides experienced mentors to partners throughout the Greater Washington Region, including George Mason University, George Washington University, University of Maryland, Social Matchbox, Startup XCR8R and others. He is also the Co-Chair of StartupVirginia.
More on the Start Norfolk competition.
More on what is next for startup and ramp-up entrepreneurs.
Missy Schmidt
Since early 2012, Missy has directed marketing for xTuple business management software, including the global user conference, inbound and outbound content marketing, lead generation, sales campaigns, website design and digital strategies. She has ties to the business and economic development, startup and entrepreneurial communities in Virginia and nationally. Prior to joining xTuple, Missy was VP of strategic communication and marketing for Hampton Roads Partnership, a public-private corporation that worked to improve the region's economy within the international marketplace. Before that, Missy spent 25+ in sales, including product development, within the industries of telecommunications, retail, industrial food service, government contracting, contract packaging and manufacturing. Missy holds a B.S. from James Madison University. She and her husband, Bert, who is president and CEO of WHRO Public Media, reside in the "innovation corridor" of downtown Norfolk.