Startup Weekend is a great event that has been held all over the world for more than five years.
In 2007 Andrew Hyde launched the fir
st Startup Weekend in Colorado with 70 entrepreneurs, with the aim of creating a startup in 54 hours. Thanks to the success of its first edition, it quickly spread to other cities in the United States.
By 2010 it had already been held in several countries, and it became a non-profit organisation. Large organisations such as the Kauffman Foundation, Google and Coca-Cola are its main sponsors.
The first time I came across one of these events was in May 2010, when the Ellas 2.0 team organised it for the first time in Spain. Here is Patricia Araque’s post announcing it.
Since that first contact, when I went along as a sponsor or collaborator giving out a prize, I haven’t been able to stop going to as many as I can, and when I launched garAJE it was the first thing I did: host this event format, because of its dynamism, its great atmosphere and the transformation it brings about in those who take part.
But since not everything has to happen in Madrid, Barcelona, London or San Francisco, Startup Weekend has also reached cities such as Burgos. And Startup Weekend didn’t come to Burgos by chance: it came because there are people with the drive to bring it and get it going, and those people are:
Alvaro Varona, alias @kremaster on Twitter, a great guy I bumped into more than two years ago when he was at QDQ Media. A restless man if ever there was one, creative, an intrapreneur and very keen to teach, as besides working at SM he is also a lecturer. He is one of the main driving forces behind this event and other major ones in Burgos such as iRedes
Cristina Pérez Villegas, a journalism professional and managing partner of the agency Nueve Comunicación. She has been there from the start of both Startup Weekend and iRedes. She clearly loves her profession, in which she is also a trainer. Very meticulous, she keeps an eye on every detail so that the events are perfect.
Miriam Erviti, another star of the journalism world, where she has worked for more than 10 years, and Cristina’s fellow traveller at Nueve Comunicación. The third member of the dream team that organises Startup Weekend Burgos and iRedes. She is mainly in charge of logistics and, of course, getting the press releases out to the media.
All three are outstanding, and on top of that their passion is contagious, so they manage to hook a good number of volunteers as well as good partner companies, sponsors and the best speakers at each of their events – and I don’t mean me, I just sneaked in as a speaker this year 😉
As I’m passionate about this event and love sending messages of optimism to the crazy but brave people who dare to start a business, Alvaro invited me to give a talk on “Low-cost marketing to launch your startup” on the last day. It was a joy to see the room full of people of a wide range of ages (one lady was over 80), all keen to change things and make them better.
As I said, a superb event, because talent springs up anywhere, but in Burgos in particular there are no small projects (I showed them a picture of their majestic cathedral to make the point)
Until next year.
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