36 tech entrepreneurs, 250 ideas, and less than 48 hours to make it happen.

At 6pm last Friday, 36 tech entrepreneurs gathered at the ATP Innovations warehouse in Redfern Technology Park. Equipped with nothing but an excess of energy and ideas, they had signed up for a near-impossible goal: to create and launch a startup in less than 48 hours.

Organised by the tech entrepreneurial community Silicon Beach, Startup camp is a get-together for teams to finish a complete startup in one weekend. Startup Camp Sydney 3 (sucs3) is the third installment of the event. “It’s exercise for entrepreneurs,” said Bart Jellema, a sucs3 organiser and Tjoos.com founder. “Although many people talk about their ideas, few do anything about it. Startup camp,” claims Bart, “is about just getting together and doing it.”

Picture by Bart Jellema on twitpic

Seven teams of developers formed based on common familiarity with programming languages and frameworks. One designer and one PR/Marketing Guru also joined each team. The teams were diverse, ranging from php, to python, to .NET. However, “there [were] no rails teams”, bemoaned disappointed developer Alex Cooper, referring to the ruby on rails web framework. Some teams had a combined 40 years of programming experience, while others could barely hit double digits. However, this was no obstacle. The one and only rule of startup camp was “No complaining.” This positive attitude worked well: the Startup organisers recognised that negativity only brings morale down, which is the last thing a high stress event like Startup needs.

To warm up, teams began with brain storming exercises. Over 250 ideas where generated, ranging from online obituaries to a coffee-card replacement iPhone app. Teams selected their top 3 ideas and presented them as an “elevator pitch”. “Imagine yourself on an elevator. The CEO walks on,” explained one of the organisers. “You have – 10 seconds to pitch your idea before the doors open and he walks out. What do you say? That,” he explained “is an elevator pitch.”

By 11pm, the 250 ideas had been critiqued, evaluated and culled down to a mere 7. As soon as the energy drinks arrived, rapid coding began. Five gruelling hours later, the scene in the room was a testimony to the work done. Each table was littered with half a dozen empty cans of energy drinks, entangled in a mess of ethernet cables. Bloodshot eyes glared blearily, lit by the glow of luminescent computer screens, and the room was silent except for a few tired murmurs and the rapid tapping of fingers banging out code on keyboards. Each team was working desperately towards the 2pm deadline, where a brief preview of the startup would be given.

The preview was the first time the ideas were displayed. Some ideas had developed dramatically, whereas others remained virtually unchanged. The Platefeed.com team had  developed a fully functional recipe-sharing website, whilst “Eye Opening Photography”, a location based photo sharing community integrated into Google Maps, were struggling with their demo.

Whilst the developers were lost in coding, PR and Marketing were frantically writing up a press release for journalists. Freelance tech journalist Kathryn Small had prepped them earlier: “Journalists like stories,” she said, “and don’t be afraid to quote yourself in the third person as if someone is writing a story about you.” At 9pm, the official launch speeches took place before a group of assembled journalists. The media received the pitches enthusiastically. Wotsername, an online ‘black book’ service for forgetful guys on dating rounds, caused a furore. The Frendorsed presentation, by marketer Damian Damjanovski, was a huge hit, combining strong marketing with quirky humour.  More launch speeches can be found on http://startupcampsydney.blogspot.com/
Startup Camp III is a great example of what people can achieve by working together for just 48 hours. Here’s what they came up with:

• Thinkersgarden.com: a social innovation that allows people to catch and document all those useful ideas that you usually let slip.
• Wotsername.com: For guys doing the dating rounds who can’t remember which girl is which.
  
• ChefMeUp.com: For people who want to enjoy the benefits of home-cooked food without actually having to cook. ChefMeUp was notable in that they were the only startup to be profitable, signing up two local restaurants before the weekend was up.
• PlateFeed.com: A collaborative recipe & food site that lets users post their recipes and vote on others. The Platefeed team intend to publish the best recipes in a cookbook.
  
• Eyeopeningphotography.com:  A site that allows  photography enthusiasts to upload their photos and tag their location on Google maps.
  
• Punchmyphone.com: An iPhone app to consolidate coffee loyalty points and improve loyalty card management for cafes and their customers.
• Frendorsed.com: An online and mobile tool that lets your friends endorse or reject the choices you make in life.

The final event of the camp was the much-awaited pitch to investors. At Sunday noon, each team had to create a pitch for investors. Among the lineup was venture capitalist and media guru Tony Surtees, and angel investor and author Patrick Driessen. The pitches had to be carefully reworked to attract investment. “Whereas journalists are the users and want to know how the startups can make their life better, investors are different” explained an experienced startup founder. “Investors want to know how we’re actually going to make money.”

The investors were most impressed with the Frendorsed, PunchmyPhone, and Platefeed pitches. Frendorsed for its potential to go viral very quickly, PunchmyPhone for its ability to solve a common problem, and Platefeed for its well-defined revenue model.

However, the project doesn’t end there. An important Startup requirement is that teams must auction off their web site to the public within 3 weeks after camp. The reasons for this are threefold: it allows people to see how much their startups are worth, gives those leaving the project some gain for their work, and finally gives people the option of buying their own project and continuing it on the market.

We’ll see in the next few weeks who sold for the highest price. Stay tuned.
For more information, visit http://www.startup-australia.org/startupcamp3