Lean Startup Machine is a 54-hour startup weekend that conforms to Lean Startup principles, a method of using customer feedback to rapidly iterate your product to reach product/market fit. As well as being a crash course in LS principles, it provides the networking, resources, and incentives for projects to go from idea to launch. On Friday evening, the event commences with networking and pitches. Participants then select ideas and form teams to work on their project over the weekend. On Sunday, teams pitch their business and Minimum Viable Product to a panel of well-known entrepreneurs for cash and mentoring. The winning pot of cash is the event's profit, projected to be ~$1,000.
Registration is $50 and there are only 50 tickets. All proceeds go to cover expenses and the winnings, this event's not for profit. LSM's budget is online & completely transparent.
Sorry, we're sold out!
Brant Cooper
Topic: Customer Development Crash Course
As author of the new book The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development, Brant is a leading advocate of the Lean Startup movement. He has over 17 years of success bringing high tech products to market, directing the strategy, design, and launch of key technologies.Web site »
Josh Knowles
Topic: Agile & Test-Driven Development
As Managing Director at Pivotal Labs Josh has over 10 years of professional experience developing systems for startups and international companies. He has significant experience in leading and mentoring teams using Agile Development Techniques including Test-Driven Development.Web site »
Giff Constable
Topic: Aprizi's Approach to Customer Dev
Giff's the co-founder and CEO of Aprizi, a "Pandora for shopping." His 16-year career spans multiple VC-backed startups, a startup he bootstrapped and sold, and tech M&A advisory. His blog posts about Aprizi's customer development practices have regularly been highlighted by Eric Ries, Venture Hacks and others.Web site »
Eric Ries
Virtual Judge
Eric is the creator of the Lean Startup methodology and the author of the popular entrepreneurship blog Startup Lessons Learned. In 2007, BusinessWeek named Ries one of the Best Young Entrepreneurs of Tech. He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups.Web site »
Judging Criteria:
The winning team will have the business model & MVP with the most customer validation by the end of the weekend.
Guidelines for final presentations (6 slides / 6 minutes + 3 mins allocated for Q&A):
1. Clear statement of business assumptions (ie. problem, business model, etc.)
2. Some assumptions validated/refuted based on feedback
3. Clear MVP (or MVP spec) that sheds light on assumptions via real data
"Ideal winner would be someone who came up with a plan, succinctly boiled it down to a few assumptions, talked to some customers, already found a pivot, built a simple MVP, tried to get people to use it, and was ready to pivot again based on that data." - Brant Cooper, judge
Pitch an idea or join somebody else's on Friday night and spend the next 52 hours developing it with your team. On Sunday, teams pitch their business and Minimum Viable Product to a panel of well-known entrepreneurs.
Friday, July 23
- 5:30pm — Doors open
- 6 — Event begins. Networking time.
(Pizza and beverages served) - 7 — Official kick-off and welcome
- 7:15 — Speakers:
Brant Cooper (The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development)
Josh Knowles (Pivotal Labs)
Giff Constable (Aprizi) - 8 — Pitches
- 9:30 — Networking, Teams Solidify
- 11 — Break off to coffee shop and begin work
Saturday, July 24
- 8:30am — Breakfast is served (Ramen Noodles). This day is all about customer development
- 10 — Teams split into Problem group & Solution group. Problem group gets out of building to talk to customers. Solution group starts spec'ing MVP, building the website, copy, & prototype
- 6 — Dinner (Ramen Noodles)
- ...Work through the night
Sunday, July 25
- 8:30am — Breakfast
- 10 — Teams should have a working prototype to showcase.
- 12 — Eat lunch while you work, teams prepare final presentation on what they've learned
- 3 — Judges takes their seats. Special guests say a few words. Final presentations begin.
- 4:30 — Winners Announced & Prizes Awarded!
It wasn't long ago that we were blankly staring at each other from across the table in a sweltering auditorium, mere hours before judging commenced for the 2010 NYC Startup Weekend. Exhausted? Yes. On edge? Maybe a little. In it to win it? Most definitely. Welcome to a startup competition.
We hit the ground running, but before we knew it the weekend marathon was over. And though we took pride in everything we had accomplished, we couldn't help but feel that things were only just heating up. We wanted more. Hell, we wanted to do it all over again!
Over a couple beers at the nearby pub we decided to hold smaller, more frequent events of a similar format but with a Lean Startup twist. Welcome to the Lean Startup Machine. Our only wish is that you walk away from this event with the same feeling that we get from building something
out of nothing.
Read
Brief Intro to the Lean Startup Method by San Kim
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Top 5 Myths About the Lean Startup by Eric Ries
The Startup Pyramid by Sean Ellis
Lean Startups Aren't Cheap Startups by Steve Blank
The Lean Startup Seedcamp Edition by Eric Ries
What is the minimum viable product by Babak Nivi
Lean StartupŠ 101: How to Build a Better Startup by Eric Ries
Watch
"Why Accountants Don't Run Startups" by Steve Blank
Customer Development Case Study: Dropbox by Drew Houston
Pivot Case Study: KISSmetrics by Hiten Shah
The Lean Startup Seedcamp Edition by Eric Ries
Trev Owens
Intern at Dogpatch Labs, Geek on a Plane, & founder of Tech@NYU. Interested in getting students involved in startups and how tech can improve language learning.LinkedIn: View profile
Twitter: @to2
Kyle Kelly
Kyle is an Assistant Vice President involved in biz dev, finance, strategy, and relationship mgmt at a Wall St. firm. Since starting businesses at a young age, his goal is to inspire a new cadre of budding startup entrepreneurs through education and mentoring. When not working, studying or volunteering, Kyle spends time traveling the world.LinkedIn: View profile
Twitter: @MrKyleKelly
Ben Fisher
Ben's a jack of all trades. A coder, art director, technophile and entrepreneur, his expertise bridges the chasm between "What if we..." and "Done!"He's a founder of Urban Pre-game, the first online service to let you pre-buy drinks in bulk from the bar with friends.
LinkedIn: View profile
Web site: http://www.urbanpregame.com/
Josh Horn
Josh is a Creative Problem Solver. His skill-set includes:Art Direction // Branding // Design // Creative Writing // Advertising // Entrepreneurship
LinkedIn: View profile
Web site: http://www.joshhorn.com/
The Lean Startup is a trademark and service mark owned by Eric Ries.