When I first stepped onto floor one of the Microsoft N.E.R.D. (New England R&D) center in Cambridge this Saturday, it was difficult to appreciate the mental energy rushing through the space at a glance.
People sat at tables littered with laptops, and notebooks covered with notes and diagrams. The scene looked similar to a room of group study sessions, unless you took the time to note the excitement held in each member’s eyes. Instead of the glazed, apathetic look of people working, the participants of Boston Startup Weekend were bright eyed, and energetic – the look of people having fun.
As I moved from table to table, I was pleasantly surprised with how eager people were to explain their concept, despite my interruption. It was clear when speaking to them that group members were very excited about what they were doing, and while some kept it under control, others were more vocal.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” exclaimed Ryan Richards, beaming uncontrollably while explaining to me his idea for a web-comics aggregator. Ryan had come up with the idea with some friends and Startup Weekend was an opportunity for him to make it happen.
Also surprising was the incredible diversity of the people there. Groups displayed no trends of industry, composition, or size. Projects included mobile web browsing, social media, a customizable news-fed alarm clock app, biotech outsourcing platforms and online buying/selling communities. (For a full list of all the great projects check out Jennie’s post covering final presentations.)
Working on the web-comics aggregator was a large group of especially diverse members, including gaming company CEO Shava Nerad (50) and programmer Bruce Spang (15!). More important was that they all united in a love of web-comics, and that’s what motivated their productivity.
Each group had a different goal that motivated them.
For Chris Corcoran, it was “to make a CraigsList that doesn’t suck” by using Twitter. These are people that have known each other for less than a day but are unified and driven by their interests.
“I’m ecstatic because this morning’s meeting was the most work I’ve seen done in years and it happened in 2.5 hours,” explained Shava, who makes over one hundred dollars an hour consulting but was there working for free like everyone else. Babson business student Gerard Thomas explained the group mentalities when he told me “people aren’t interested in re-creating technologies to make money; they want to do something cool.”
Most inspiring is the fact that almost all of the people there had never done this kind of thing before. It’s understandable to assume that anyone who designs and launches a company in their spare time must be some sort of startup expert, but Startup Weekend debunks that thought completely. The vast majority were first-timers, drawn by personal interest, (if not pure curiosity) and every one of them built a company from scratch.
Their secret?
Everyone was pumped about what they were doing! As it turns out, it’s a lot easier to bust your butt making a company when you love the idea. At Startup Weekend, passion and excitement were the fuel for this freight train of productivity.
Do you have any thoughts on the tech community in Boston? Are you surprised that 65+ entrepreneurs joined Startup Weekend to work together over the weekend? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
