Sunday morning was a sobering wake up for many of our #swchaz participants. With a mere 9 hours between breakfast and when each team’s slide-deck presentations were do, everyone was hard at work all day long with very few breaks.
At around 5:30 we were all graciously fed Floridino’s Pizza while finishing up and preparing for the evening. Spectators and judges were beginning to fill the room, and you hear the excitement in the air. Startup Weekend is a really unique experience that is hard to explain – the excitement, the nerves, the hopeful plans for the future – but it’s why we all do what we do, and why America is so great. It was in Sunday night’s excitement that I could hear the echo’s of Tyler Hurst’s reminder that, “lest we forget, a nation is only as good as it’s startup culture.“
After a short speech by InfusionSoft representative Eric Keosky-Smith our very own CEO, Dennis Becker, stepped up to describe the voting process, as well as to describe the importance and value of the startup culture especially in the rise of the “silicon desert.” After that, it was straight on to the pitches, and they were great. Below is the list of groups that presented, and what their startup business idea was (not in any particular order):
- Med Angel – A first responder mobile app, notifying first responders of illnesses, medications, and allergies that will also notify loved ones should something unthinkable happen.
- ComebacKid – A bluetooth enabled mobile app that allows parents to track their young child’s location within a certain range to avoid kidnapping and lost children – the digital leash.
- Repair Report – An online accreditation and competitive bid system for automotive repairs.
- Ever Presents – An online notification system that aims to market toward those forgetful and unorganized individuals who often forget birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries that will allows users to purchase gifts along with their reminder.
- Meeting Stream – A timeline based meeting recording software – Record, transcribe, and save particular moments in your meeting, all while separating transcripts by voice and important ideas..
- geotripwire – Leave a message or picture for a friend when entering a certain location through the use of geofencing, also allowing for the business use of sending coupons when an individual enters within a certain distance of their location.
- Cold Air Again – Diagnose, quote, and connect users that have air conditioning problems with HVAC repair providers that are a part of a “credible” network.
- Angel Corps Project – A privatized taxi service aiming to connect impaired drivers with designated and willing drivers, also allowing for the option to implement a personal driving service in the future.
- Arizona Commercial Kitchens LLC – A commercially licensed and equipped kitchen for rent, also offering cooking classes, and aiming to be the “gangplank of the culinary world.”
- GEM – Greenscape Equipment Management: Cloud based solution to keep track of greenscape management materials for more efficient and sustainable use. Allows the tracking of which employees use what equipment when (similar to a library system) to enhance and increase accountability.
- Wedding Moments – Utilizing social media to capture wedding photos that are not taken by specific photographers allowing weddings to have a view of the wedding surroundings. Aggregates photos taken by multiple individuals at a wedding.
There were a ton of great ideas, and a lot of hard work behind each and every one. All in all we had an audience participation of nearly 5,104 text message votes, and saw interaction on Twitter using the #swchaz hashtag in over 200 conversations. Overall, we had an absolute blast all weekend long being able to interact with the innovators of the Chandler area, and were proud and honored to be a sponsor of this great event. For more on our recap and what went on this weekend, view our video recap below. Thanks, and good luck to all the participants pursuing their new business ideas.
