Some suggestions for how to pitch ideas at a Startup Weekend event:
- Don't pitch the company as if you are the "original founder".
- Everyone at Startup Weekend is a founder in the company created at Startup Weekend.
- No matter how much work you have already put into the project, by pitching your idea at Startup Weekend, you are opening it up to new people and essentially starting over. That is a good thing.
- Don't try to run the show. Be willing to listen to feedback. Something better might come out of it.
- Lots of smart people go to Startup Weekend events, listen to them, you might learn something and get a chance to build something even better than you could imagine.
I think after the Friday evening voting the group was formed at about 16 people. By Saturday morning I think the group was down to about 6 people. I think this was all because of the way the "original founders" presented the idea to the group. By opening it up to new ideas or features, by starting with some brainstorming and potentially improving the "proven" idea, they may have been able to get some buy-in from the group and create something great.
This is not to say they won't build something great or that they won't be successful. They seemed to have lots of support from TechColumbus before Startup Weekend, so they have the connections to be successful. This is more just an explanation on why I decided not to work with that group and why a couple other people I met decided to drop out of the group and form a splinter group. Our splinter group ended up working on EventStart. The original group can remain unnamed to protect the innocent. This was all just my opinion and I am not interested in burning bridges. Lots of bright people, it is a small world, bound to run into these people again some day, etc. Loved the idea, didn't enjoy the execution.
1 comments:
Certainly Mike (and any other participant) has every right to join or not join a group based on the dynamic he senses from the group. In fact, I like the guy, but as one of the people who put a non-trivial amount of advanced effort into this project, let me suggest a broader perspective.
Mike's right that the "founders", who had put far more than 52h into the project already (and then were going to invest an equal amount over the weekend), had no intention of walking away with equal shares of the "whole". No matter how you imagine a breakdown, giving away value created from a large amount of past effort is an unreasonable request to make of anyone.
Naturally, after many hours, the "founders" had already been through many iterations of the idea, had already considered many issues, solved some problems, and dismissed other possibilities. And yes, the "founders" were hoping to put together a team of technologists not only to develop a prototype but, if qualified, become part of the company to see the project through to fruition.
We would have happily enhanced and expanded upon the idea based on the contribution of members, both that weekend and on an ongoing basis. We would have happily given equity in accord with the contribution of team members (token shares for people who left after 52h and much more for people who could contribute to the company over the long term). But then this is the fair way to handle it if the weekend doesn't result in a complete, marketable product.
In the end, there's nothing wrong with coming to the table with this offer. Mike elected to pass on a smaller share of a well developed idea for a larger share of something "fresh". I'm confident that he got more out of the *weekend* where he was -- and the smaller team that remained was "right size" for the next step we were seeking to achieve. As a result, the company also got connected to several participans who will add considerable value to the company (in exchange for equity).
... but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with bringing that offer or that mindset to the table. We were honest and we were fair.
Or consider the reverse. What if everyone owned an equal share of the prototype? What would a company like that have been willing to pay for a business plan, business strategy, and existing relationships? Even if you start at the other end of the puzzle, the Startup Weekend company *should* have been willing to compensate the "founders" for bringing all that extra work to the table... and to compensate people who stick with the idea with extra stock... so the result is the same.
As John Huston said... would you rather own a whole grape... or a slice of a watermelon.
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