GreenWeekend Madrid is now two years old and going from strength to strength: an event focused on helping entrepreneurs with a special concern for the environment and for sustainable ideas.
GreenWeekend was in fact born out of an Iweekend, an intensive weekend in which you go from a simple idea to validating it and making it real. Iweekend and Startup Weekend are events with a well-proven methodology, where a group of restless people with ideas want to see them through.
The brains behind it is Agustín Valentín-Gamazo, an entrepreneur who won an Iweekend in Madrid with the idea for a company specialising in recruiting talent for the environmental sector, which is now a reality: Enviroo.
So it was “easy”, so to speak, to replicate the Iweekend format to launch his first GreenWeekend. Entrepreneurs are invited to bring ideas that offer sustainable solutions, help the environment and make the most of resources, and to work flat out for a weekend.
The venue for the first edition was the garAJE at AJE Madrid, so I was lucky enough to be behind the event and to sit on the jury. The garAJE was at its very best, full of people with great ideas who wanted to have a good time, because it’s an event with a really great vibe.
GreenWeekend Madrid 2013 winners at garAJE Madrid
As usual, on Friday afternoon all the ideas are pitched and the best ones, usually between 8 and 10, are voted through to be worked on over the weekend.
This is where the entrepreneurial character of the participants starts to show, because those with the clearest ideas, who argue them well, highlight their benefits and win people over with their pitch, will be the ones most likely to build a team and validate them over the weekend.
Saturday is a day of intensive work in which the teams come together, and each member has to contribute what they are best at – design, marketing, market analysis… – all with the aim of moving the idea forward, validating it and shaping it so as to win over the jury on Sunday.
Mentors are a key part of this event and of all events like it, as they are experienced people who can bring an outside view and a critical perspective to polish the idea, help the teams overcome obstacles or tell them what the market will demand of them. They usually go from group to group to get to know the idea, see how it’s argued and spot areas for improvement.
The key tool in this process is the Business Model Canvas, which all the teams work on and which gives them a common thread in developing the idea, helping them analyse every area that affects whether the idea is feasible.
Sunday is the final sprint: the more developed the idea, the better, and if it’s something tangible it’s more likely to convince, so it’s essential to have built a prototype, a landing page, the corporate identity and the marketing campaign we’re going to run.
The mentors still have plenty of work, and at this stage they also focus on helping the teams put together a convincing, powerful and clear presentation to win over the jury.
Agustín puts a lot of work into it: as well as bringing in good mentors, he has managed to persuade a good number of relevant people from the environmental sector to form a solid jury, so there will be no better validation than this for the ideas presented. He also has a great ally in Javier Martínez, who gives him great support, especially on the communication side, to give this great event maximum visibility.
Agustin Valentín-Gamazo and Javier Martínez Molina
GreenWeekend keeps growing: as well as Madrid, it is also held in Barcelona, Zaragoza, Huelva and Valencia, and who knows which other cities, so keep an eye on GreenWeekend and take part in one of its editions. It will be a fantastic experience whether you are an entrepreneur, part of a team, a mentor, a jury member or simply a volunteer.
You’ll come away with a great experience, and you won’t be short of what I like most: good networking and quality professional contacts. The sponsors also offer interesting prizes that will help you save costs when launching your project, gain more visibility and even funding.
Long live green entrepreneurs!
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