Boston Startup Weekend Presents “Sensored!”

Boston, MA – January 13, 2013 – Next month Boston will host its ninth Startup Weekend, an event bringing together entrepreneurs, designers, developers and startup enthusiasts to participate in 54 hours of taking innovative business ideas from concept to launch. Boston Startup Weekend Presents “Sensored!” will take place February 8-10 at Microsoft’s New England Research & Development Center (NERD).

The theme of February’s event will be sensors and creative concepts that incorporate them. Devices like the iPhone use sensors for ambient light, proximity, WiFi, GPS, and much more. Clever teams may figure out a way to use something not typically considered a sensor, like a speaker or microphone. While developers and hardware enthusiasts may welcome this creative challenge, there is no specific background required to participate- anyone interested is sure to have something to contribute. Attendees will have access to many resources to help go from idea to prototype, including coaching from local startup veterans and technology leaders.

“We’re seeing so many great products emerge here in Boston (and around the world) that use sensors on mobile devices. We want to help entrepreneurs with ideas like UberSense, LevelUp, or Uber, bring their ideas to life by helping them find co-founders, teammates, and potentially investors,” said Ethan Bagley, one of the local volunteer organizers.

On Friday night, attendees will take the open mic to pitch their ideas to the group in 60
seconds or less. After groups form, the rest of the weekend will be spent formulating
the most popular ideas with the help of mentors and seasoned startup entrepreneurs. By Sunday, teams will be ready to present their ideas in front of a panel of judges who will award prizes valued over $1,000 each, including hosting and marketing tools, all of which are targeted to help teams build their startups after the weekend.

“The weekend isn’t just about creating startups,” said Crystal Germond, said volunteer organizer Crystal Germond. “It’s about creating community. We see a diverse group of people (students, CEOs, developers, designers, marketers, experienced or would-be entrepreneuers, and supporters) come together to innovate and support one another. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of.”

This is Boston’s ninth Startup Weekend. Around 100 participants are expected to partake. Although the focus is local for Boston attendees, Startup Weekend is also hosting events in Arizona, Ireland, Nepal, Canada, Indiana, Japan, Connecticut, Ohio, and France this weekend.

Startup Weekend Boston presents “Sensored!” runs from Friday, February 8th at 5:00 PM to Sunday, February 10th at 8:30 PM at Microsoft’s NERD Center (One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142). For more information on this weekend’s event, as well as
tickets to participate, please visit http://boston.startupweekend.org/

About Startup Weekend Boston
Startup Weekend Boston is an intense 54 hour event where a community of entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers, marketing gurus and anyone interested in building a business will come together over the course of a weekend to share ideas, form teams, and launch a startup.
No Talk, All Action.
Launch a Startup in 54 hours.

About Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.

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Winner, Overall: Ashalytics  

(Will be moving on to the Global Startup Battle!)

“Asha means hope in Bengali. Ashalytics means hope for the developing world. As the winner of Boston Startup Weekend, we want to change how data is tracked and reported in the communities that need it most. Ashalytics provides real-time data reporting to NGOs and organizations that want to be able to act on important information and metrics.”

Prizes:

• Startup incorporation package (Brown Rudnick, LLP)
• Pack of five classes for all team members (Intelligent.ly)
• 12 months of free service (Kinvey)
• A 12-month Enterprise license (Brainshark)
• 12 months of free service (Grasshopper)
• 90-second pitch video production (Umungous)
• $100 credit toward service for 12 months (ProfitBricks)
• 12 months of Yesware Plus (Yesware)
• Six months of free service (Solano Labs)
• 12 months of the Gold Plan (GitHub)
• 12 months of Expert Level access (FluidUI)
• 12 months of Constant Contact services (Constant Contact)

Winner, Boston: HackerSort   

“HackerSort aims to recognize and celebrate the best hackers in Boston, while showcasing their code to the entire community.”

Winner, Cambridge: Alumni Fund

“A Kickstarter for Alumni Giving”

Prizes:

• Six months of free service (Kinvey)
• Six months of free service (Grasshopper)
• Three months of free service (Solano Labs)
• 12 months of the Gold Plan (GitHub)
• Six months of Constant Contact services (Constant Contact)
• $25 Amazon Gift Card for all team members (SendGrid)

Third Place Winners: 

Simplify Me- “Providing intelligence and ranking for email from unknown origins (that isn’t SPAM), based on external factors.”

On the Set - “A mobile app that allows you to see locations of current movie sets as well as a database of historical film locations. Look up where your favorite movies have been filmed or find what is filming down the street today!”

Prizes:

• 12 months of the Gold Plan (GitHub)
• $25 Amazon Gift Card for all team members (SendGrid)

Community Choice: 

A tie between

Convenu- “Convenu will increase the revenue of a restaurant and ensure great customer service ratings. We will do this by providing the entire restaurant staff with touchscreen tablets in order to increase restaurant efficiency and provide a guided step by step process that makes any waiter to possess the skills and knowledge of a professional one. Our goal is to optimize the performance of the restaurant staff.”

Med Guru- “MedGuru is a mobile app that helps international travelers find local equivalents to the medications they know so they can feel better faster.”

Most Social: On Par

Stay tuned for updates on the next SW Boston!

FYI: If you have questions find someone in a grey shirt- our Organizer and Volunteers. Or tweet us @SWBoston

This is Boston’s fourth Startup Weekend and this year’s event is part of the Global Startup Battle. On the two weekends surrounding Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 12th-18th), more than 1,200 startup teams in 130 cities will build a company from scratch in 54 hours. Each city, including Boston, will crown a local winner that will advance to the Global Startup Battle.

Whether you have a business idea or a skill that is necessary in building a successful startup, this event is one that aspiring entrepreneurs should not miss. Concept pitching and team building will take place on day one; teams will be formed around concepts and various skills that are brought to the table leaving the remainder of the weekend to mind mapping, strategizing and building a real business.

There will be knowledgeable and successful entrepreneurs and industry thought leaders in attendance to inspire, share and help the teams throughout the weekend. The final day teams will have the opportunity to pitch their business to a panel of judges and potential investors where real prizes and services can be won.

About Startup Weekend Boston
Startup Weekend Boston is an intense 54 hour event where a community of entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers, marketing gurus and anyone interested in building a business will come together over the course of a weekend to share ideas, form teams, and launch a startup.
No Talk, All Action.
Launch a Startup in 54 hours.

About Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups.

1st Place: SubBids.com

• Incorporation Package from Brown Rudnick LLP
• Xbox 360 & Xbox Kinect
• Amazon Web Services Code for $200
• 2 copies of Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• 1 year of services from awe.sm

2nd Place: BeOnTi.me

• 2 copies of Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• 1 year of services from awe.sm

3rd Place: Ottr

• 1 copy of Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• 1 year of services from awe.sm

Audience Choice: Whoizit

• 1 copy of Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Top Twilio Startup: Spea.cc

• Twilio Credits

Top cloudmine Startup: BeOnTi.me

• $55 cloudmine Credits

Honorable Mentions

• Best Design: ActivePepper
• Most Technical Achievement: BeOnTi.me
• Most Fun: Ottr

1. CrossCampus
2. BeOnTi.me
3. MyGeode
4. ActivePepper
5. VipKings
6. MapTunes
7. Senseii
8. IncognitoCare
9. Parq.it
10. Ottr
11. EmpowerID
12. Catodo
13. Whoizit
14. Spea.cc
15. League of Actions
16. ClipboardCloud
17. Subbids.com

Note: Practice pitches will be available at the green room from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm on a first-come, first-served basis.

1. IncognitoCare:  Anonymous psychiatric care.
2. CrossCampus:  Enhance 911 for campus security
3. BeOnTi.me:  Make it there and always be on time
4. ClipboardCloud:  The clipboard of the future in the cloud
5. Ottr: Easy way to make plans with friends
6. EmpowerID:  Empowering international development practitioners to build on each others’ experiences 
7. Senseii:  Globalize your education
8. Subbids.com:  Easy bid trackins for subcontractors
9. MapTunes:  Putting music on the map
10. Parq.it:  Easiest way to find and pay for parking
11. Catodo:  Task based allowance
12. Speacc:  Adding emotion to social media
13. Whoizit:  Guess Who for facebook friends
14. ActivePepper:  Faciltates finding sports partners
15. VipKings:  Premium nightclub bookkeeping service
16. MyGeode:  Location based task management
17. League of Actions:  Microvolunteering gamified

Business Model
 - The heart of it all. If you haven’t got answers to these questions, you’ve spent too much time on frills & features and need to get back to the basics:

• Who is your customer?
• What is your core value proposition?
• What are your key activities?
• What are your revenue streams?
• What is your cost structure?
• Who/what are your key partners/resources?
• What are your distribution channels?
• What is your roll-out strategy?

Customer Validation
 – Have you taken the proper steps to ensure that the people who matter (your future customers) support and reinforce your assumptions? Think of Customer Validation as ‘evidence’ to back up the core structure of your ‘theory’ (your Business Model). The more feedback you gather (quantity), the more this feedback comes from your specific target market (quality), and the more you’re able to actually integrate this feedback into the Business Model and product development (execution), the better. 

Execution
 – The nitty gritty: what has your team been able to actually build over the weekend? Even the strongest of Business Plans are useless in the hands of those who can’t properly execute on them. Getting as far as possible in the development of your product/prototype not only helps give Judges a tangible vision of what the final product could be, but proves your strength and skills as a team. This is what truly matters: investors don’t invest as in ideas so much as teams.

If you have any questions, please email me at joshbob@startupweekend.org.

Thanks again, and I’ll look forward to seeing your pitches on Sunday!