Startup Weekend Athens

We are busy getting ready for the pitches:

Startup Weekend Athens on 12seconds.tv

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Friday night is off in an impressive fashion, with 9 groups working on their projects.

This is the updated schedule. The entries that have changed are marked with red.

Friday November 21st

• 4.30 p.m. doors open at Microsoft Innovation Center at Leoforos Vasilissis Sofias 103, Athens (map)
• 5 p.m. The event officially begins. The organizers and hosts say a few words and then people are encouraged to meet one another, exchange ideas, form teams and think about what would be interesting to build.
• 7 p.m. Pitches start. In other words, this is the stage where if you have an idea you pitch it to the teams that are beginning to form.
• 8 p.m. Teams have formed and ideas have been chosen and they begin to break off for further discussion. So if we end up with 10 teams this means 10 startups would be created.
• 9 p.m. Teams have hopefully solidified their concept and have created an elevator pitch, even a simple one at the moment would do.
• 10 p.m. Teams continue their discussions and attempt to paper-prototype their applications

There will be light dinner (finger food) available.

Saturday 22nd of November

• 9 a.m. Doors open. People assemble; each team starts working on development.
• 10 a.m. By now it would be a good idea to have your site paper prototyped out, working title, all your technical plans made out. Start the process of getting your servers live, buying domain names, and creating user flows.
• 11 a.m. up to 2 p.m. Special Guests offering technical assistance start dropping in. The guests are: Constantinos Leftheris, Software Engineer from Allweb; Stavros Menegos, Technical Director from Entersoft; George Reklitis, Applications Development Consultant from Microsoft Hellas.
• 12 p.m. Lunch
• 3 p.m. up to 6 p.m. More coding, business plan development and Special Guests offering Business and PR advice start dropping in. The guests offering Business advice are going to be: Nikolaos Mylonopoulos, Associate Dean of Innovation & Technology, Associate Professor of Innovation Systems from Athens Laboratory of Business Administration (ALBA); Giorgos Papagiannakis, PhD Candidate, , Department of Management Science and Technology, Researcher Officer, Laboratory of Strategy and Entrepreneurship from Athens University of Economics & Business (AUEB); Lefteris Kioses, Science and Technology, Research Officer, ELTRUN e-Business Research Center from AUEB; Iordanis Papadopoulos, Principal from ARCHIMEDES Center for Innovation and Creation. The guests offering PR advice are going to be: Agapi Palieraki, PR Supervisor from Politics; Konstantina Logotheti, Public Relations & Citizenship Specialist from Microsoft Hellas.
• 6 p.m. Pitches from the teams and additional special guest drop-ins. These guests are generally experts in particular fields (Business Development experts, Technical Assistance etc.) that will help startup teams develop a better product. The guest list will be announced when finalized.
• 9 p.m. Gut check on the product; basic prototype building; group get-together for refreshment or dinner and to talk about the products everybody is working on.

Sunday 23rd of November

• 9 a.m. Doors open, and work starts again.
• 10 a.m. Teams should be able to have a live splash page up with an email capture and simple blog.
• 12 p.m. Projects are being developed, more special guests start dropping in. This time we’ll have Venture Capitalists, Investment Managers and Lawyers offering their expertise. The guests are going to be: Antigoni Lymperopoulou, Investment Manager from TANEO - New Economy Development Fund; Eleni Kolofotia, Investment Manager from TANEO - New Economy Development Fund; Demetrios Seferis, CEO from GloCal Systems Management/GIVE -TANEO; Chris Velissaris, CFO from GloCal Systems Management/GIVE -TANEO; Natasha Arvanitie, Investment Manager from GloCal Systems Management/GIVE -TANEO; Ari Vihersaari, CDO from GloCal Systems Management/GIVE -TANEO; Pavlos Georgiadis, Technical/Investment Analyst from GloCal Systems Management/GIVE -TANEO; Iordanis Papadopoulos, Principal from ARCHIMEDES Center for Innovation and Creation; Grace Katsoulis, Lawyer from Ballas Pelekanos & Associates.
• 1 p.m. Lunch
• 6 p.m. Sink or swim time for those looking for a weekend launch.
• 8 p.m. Dinner
• 9 p.m. Presentations from each company; what worked, what didn’t, what could go better. Wrap up and move out.

As it was announced yesterday at Open Coffee XVI the GIVE Fund, affiliated with New Economy Development Fund or otherwise known as TANEO, has offered pre-seed funding of up to 20,000 EUR on business plans that will come out of Startup Weekend Athens!

More details of this exciting piece of news will be posted at a further date.

Hello again,

We have about two weeks before Startup Weekend Athens begins, and we wanted to share with you some more details as to what happens during Startup Weekend so you have a better idea of what to expect and how you can prepare for it.

What you need to do:

• Sign up and show up with your laptop, enthusiasm and good ideas. We kindly remind you that Startup Weekend Athens is a three day event and we strongly recommend that you sign up only if you are committed to show up in all three.
  

Here’s an outline of a preliminary schedule:

Friday November 21st

• 4.30 p.m. doors open at Microsoft Innovation Center at Leoforos Vasilissis Sofias 103, Athens (map)
• 5 p.m. The event officially begins. The organizers and hosts say a few words and then people are encouraged to meet one another, exchange ideas, form teams and think about what would be interesting to build.
• 7 p.m. Pitches start. In other words, this is the stage where if you have an idea you pitch it to the teams that are beginning to form.
• 8 p.m. Teams have formed and ideas have been chosen and they begin to break off for further discussion. So if we end up with 10 teams this means 10 startups would be created.
• 9 p.m. Teams have hopefully solidified their concept and have created an elevator pitch, even a simple one at the moment would do.
• 10 p.m. Teams continue their discussions and attempt to paper-prototype their applications

Saturday 22nd of November

• 9 a.m. Doors open. People assemble; each team starts working on development.
• 10 a.m. By now it would be a good idea to have your site paper prototyped out, working title, all your technical plans made out. Start the process of getting your servers live, buying domain names, and creating user flows.
• 12 p.m. Lunch
• 3 p.m. More coding, business plan development and a special guest.
• 6 p.m. Pitches from the teams and additional special guest drop-ins. These guests are generally experts in particular fields (Business Development experts, Technical Assistance etc.) that will help startup teams develop a better product. The guest list will be announced when finalized.
• 9 p.m. Gut check on the product; basic prototype building; group get-together for refreshment or dinner and to talk about the products everybody is working on.

Sunday 23rd of November

• 9 a.m. Doors open, and work starts again.
• 10 a.m. Teams should be able to have a live splash page up with an email capture and simple blog.
• 12 p.m. Projects are being developed, more special guests drop in (VCs, Legal help etc.)
• 6 p.m. Sink or swim time for those looking for a weekend launch.
• 9 p.m. Presentations from each company; what worked, what didn’t, what could go better. Wrap up and move out.

That’s it for now. For a glimpse of the idea of Startup Weekend in video, you can watch the CNBC report here. We’ll keep you updated as the schedule finalizes over the next weeks.

Hello everyone,

At last, Startup Weekend is here. Some of you might remember me from an earlier Open Coffee two summers ago in Bacaro downtown Athens, when I was asked to speak about my experiences living in the vibrant tech community that exists in San Francisco and, of course, the Silicon Valley. I remember in that talk wanting to transmit some of that magic of infinite possibility one feels when living and working in that part of the world. Today, I am happy to announce that from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2008, you have the opportunity to feel some of that magic too, right here in Athens.

Having participated in a previous Startup Weekend myself (in San Francisco), I can personally attest that it is by far the most exciting tech event I have ever been to - and I have been to a lot of them the past two years. In Startup Weekend, you don’t just talk about startups - you build them. Either with the new friends you’re going to make at the place it’s being held or by bringing some of your existing friends with you, the purpose is to work together and focus all your creativity and talent to create your own startup - in the next 54 hours!

It is possible. It has been done in the past in numerous cities throughout the world, and it can happen right here in Athens this November. With the generous help of Microsoft Hellas, in their brand new Innovation Center in downtown Athens, we can do it. To help you create your startup, Andrew Hyde, the founder of Startup Weekend, and I will be flying from the United States to Athens to facilitate the event.

The tickets are free. Please don’t abuse that privilege because space is limited. Booking a spot and not showing up takes away the opportunity from someone, a friend or fellow member of your own tech community, participating in your place. That’s bad startup karma. However, if you’re sure you will make it, don’t delay. Get your ticket here.

We look forward in meeting you and helping you create your startup!

Yours,

Alexandros Pagidas.

Startup Weekend is coming to Athens November 21-23, 2008!