Rockin Triangle Startup Weekend

Triangle Startup Weekend Starts Tomorrow

What happens when a small band of ragtag rebels invade Triangle Startup Weekend in Raleigh? We wear berets, smoke French cigarettes, sit on the ground, talk of the death of kings and maybe, just maybe create the next cool thing (hey after 4 startups, the big c and riding a bicycle across America I'm due LOL).

Follow @ScentTrail and ScentTrail Marketing for updates as we ROCK Startup Weekend.

Follow @AtlanticBT and Atlanticbt.com/blog for updates as we storm Triangle Startup Weekend.

#TSW2012 is the tag for rebels this weekend. Raise a fist, follow and weigh in with comments, ideas and revolutionary ideas.

Marty

Thanks to coolest bosses on planet (Mark Foulkrod PRES and Jon Jordan CEO) for sponsoring Triangle Startup Weekend so Martin's Army could sneak in and attack in force. Atlantic Business Technologies ROCKS. Thanks Boss, Marty

What Happens Next ...

Inspiration from @1918

We squat behind a three -foot hedgerow. A canteen is being passed among the members of the NTN “army”.  I ask the leader, “why are we behind this bush?” The leader looks at me with scorn before a quick furtive look right then left. “We are going to attack in force,” the leader explains. “But there are only three people here,” this reporter notes.

Again the pause and a quick look left and right before saying, “Stay down man, stay down.” “Three people armed with the right tools is an army now,” the woman called AB says. Not seeing anything across the open field I ask who we  are “attacking”. “We attack the future man,” the leader says with passion as his “army” of two mumbles, “the future.”

As crazy as it seems to this reporter I decide to continue to squat behind this bush with this ragtag rebel “army” as they “attack” Triangle Startup Weekend tonight.

Suddenly movement far across the field. The leader pulls binoculars from a hidden pocket of his olive green pants. There are many pockets on his pants all bulging with something. The leader stops to scratch his nose under the Grateful Dead Rocks bandana he wears to cover his nose and mouth. I ask about the bandana. "Our bandanas protect our identity and express our convictions," the one called @1918 says.  His bandana says Red Sox Forever.

"Its just a deer the leader says handing his field glasses to the rebel named AB. AB's bandana says Startups Rock. AB looks across the field now confirming the lone deer sighting with a short, "yep." I ask about the purpose of the attack. The leader talks fast about dialectics, Martin Buber, Martin Heidegger, Martin Luther King and other people named Martin. I can't understand most of it. Finally, after several minutes @1918 says, "And its fun." Three "rebel" heads nod in unison and repeat "its fun" like a Greek chorus.
I ask about weapons. The leader holds up his iPad, @1918 has a MacBook Air and AB fishes for and finally brings up an iPhone. I can't help but laugh asking, "Is this a rebel force or a commercial for the Apple store." My comment is met with a snort and the leader says, "Where we get our ammo, MAN, is our business what we do with it is yours." "It's cool," AB quickly says to remove the tension.

After hours squatting behind a bush with a lone deer the only punctuation to the morning the leader, still wearing his Grateful Dead Rocks bandana, says, "Lunch." Each member of the three person rebel army armed for Triangle Startup Weekend with products from the Apple store break out takeout bags from Chipotle. "I expected beef jerky," I say kidding. The leader launches into a diatribe about how Chipotle is "rebel food".

The leader doesn't seem to have a sense of humor. AB offers me half of her "veggie burrito" which I think of as kind of a sin against the revolution but gladly eat what is offered since I didn't plan a day squatting behind a bush. "Thank-you," I say simply as AB lifts her Startups Rock bandana to eat her burrito.

"Why do you go to such lengths to protect your identity," I ask drinking from the cold steel canteen the leader shares. "Startup entrepreneurs are hunted, man, hunted," the leader says gesticulating with his burrito. Beans fall to the ground as the leader shakes his "rebel food" at an unseen enemy. "Hunted," the rest of the NTN "army" repeats softly between bites of Chipotle and swigs from their WWII era steel canteens.

I ask about the canteens. "Army surplus," @1918 says simply. "Tunes," the leader says wiping his mouth with his Grateful Dead Rocks bandana. AB confirms she has signal and Bob Marley comes softly from the speaker in her iPhone. She adjust the volume to as loud as the little phone with a camouflage case will go. We sit behind a bush, silent, with heads bobbing to Bob Marley singing Soul Rebel. We are soul rebels sitting behind a bush ready to attack Triangle Startup Weekend once the Chipotle settles.

Arrival At Triangle Startup Weekend

Inside the wire, eating pizza talking with Evan Sanchez. About the NTN Army. He thinks it is cool. Keynote starts at 7:00.

Cool video from @1918 used to get psyched for Triangle Startup Weekend:

Near There Now Pitch

SoLoMo 
Advantage of Social Discovery Apps like Highlight and Banjo

Social Game / Flash Deal Mob App
Game - achieve quorum (in any social space)
* Play the game
* Get Deals

Deal Flow - Deals Get Better, Game Gets Harder as time goes on
* Can use social capital to buy time or play
* Leader boards track social capital leaders

Benefits
* Brands = higher engagement
* Merchants = increased conversion and loyalty
* Consumers = Kill free time in social fun way, get great deals, compete

Mital Patel has the microphone asking if everyone has paid their taxes.

Wendy Overton = MC

Keynote speaker Jason Massey  



ecorner.standford.edu (this is where Jason gets many of his ideas)

Risk / Reward curve is burned into my DNA now. Greater risk = higher reward. "What I see in this ecosystem is people are scared to take risk because they are afraid of failure," Jason Massey.

"Fail early and fail fast," Jason Massey. Angry Birds = 52 attempts before got to Angry Birds. "Embrace failure, the best conversations start out discussing what we've learned from failure," Jason Massey.

"We shouldn't try to e an ecosystem like Silicone Valle, we should take things from them but be different, be ourselves," Jason Massey.

Silicone Valley 13% more likely to tackle new marketers. 22% will estimate market size at $10B or greater. 30% of Silicone Valley founders say they want to change the world, much higher than other ecosystems. Entrepreneurship is about having a passion to take something to market.

I see Tier 2 investors thinking of themselves as rock stars, but at the end of the day it is the entrepreneur that is the rock star. Somehow it is inverted somehow.

"Pitching is a conversation," Jason Massey. "You should go to Silicone Valley just to soak it up and bring that energy back here and now there is a direct flight," Jason Massey.

Triangle Startup Weekend Pitch Format

WHO ARE YOU
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
WHO IS NEEDED


Best Pitches So Far: ScholarSeed, CrowdSpace, OutEarly, Unfundable

Funniest - Feedbeaver, Soulxchange

Strange Award - Invast - financial incentives to fast

Interesting - Pitch Community

Open download TSWapp.com  to vote