Startup Weekend is coming to Fort Worth and is giving you the opportunity to make your million dollar idea a reality.

The concept is simple. Gather talented people from all industry backgrounds, give them a deadline, and watch them turn their concepts into real companies all in 54 hours.

“This year’s event will be at the UNT Health Science Center in the four-year-old MET building,” said Cameron Cushman, organizer of the Fort Worth event and founder of My Groom Room, in a statement to Dallas Innovates. “It will be a great space to host the weekend with lots of great places for teams to congregate, share ideas, and build on their ideas.”

You get one minute to pitch your business plan and sell the rest of the participants. From there, eight to 10 of the most popular ideas are chosen for development, he said. Teams consist of marketers, coders, graphic designers, writers, and more.

By the end of the Nov. 3-5 weekend in Fort Worth, each team will have developed a brand, built a website, and talked to potential consumers about the practicality of their startup.

Buzz Local was Startup Weekend Fort Worth 2016’s winning team. [Photo via Cameron Cushman]

Once those hours are up, each team goes before a panel of judges to present their startup. Whether they win or lose, teams now have a startup plan that they can choose to pursue.

“We are excited to bring our fourth Startup Weekend to Fort Worth. This year’s event will be particularly special because we have the former CEO of Startup Weekend, Marc Nager, as our moderator,” Cushman said.”Attending Startup Weekend is worth the price of admission just to hang out with Marc.”

Nager is currently the managing director at Telluride Venture Accelerator in Colorado and has collected years of experience with building startup companies. The list of leaders doesn’t stop there, check out the judges:

• Victoria Wise is the founder of Tanglewood Moms and Madeworthy Media and is also a founding member of TCU Neeley Business School’s Women to the Power of 10.
• Brian Byrd represents District 3 on the Fort Worth City Council and is also board certified physician and entrepreneur.
• Les Kreis has been investing in companies for the last 20 years and is currently running two Fort Worth-based funds, Steelhead Capital Management and Bios Partners.
• Michael Sherrod, founder of Sherrod Publishing Company has built the company from zero to $4 million sales in 3 years, establishing four additional companies in the process.

The list just keeps on going with Dawn Shannon, Sunny Lowe, Chris Botvidson, Jerry Gamble, Matthew Nutsch, and Chris Handy all volunteering their industry wisdom for the weekend as mentors and coaches.

Some startups, such as Loot Crate, developed from a Startup Weekend event have gone on to have great success. Inc. Magazine named the Los Angeles-based Loot Crate the fastest growing company in the nation in 2016. It grew at more than 66,000 percent from 2013-2016.

“And they certainly aren’t the only one to humbly begin at a Startup Weekend and turn into a big company,” wrote Cushman in a blog post. 

IF YOU GO

Startup Weekend Fort Worth

When: Nov. 3 – 5 the event starts at 6:30 p.m.

Where: UNT Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, in Fort Worth

More Info: A full schedule, overview, and tickets can be found on the Startup Weekend Fort Worth website.

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