Startup Weekend Madison 2018 was a resounding success!

Congratulations to all our participants and winners!

A huge THANK YOU to all our volunteers, mentors and judges who helped throughout the weekend, as well as all the members of the community who came for the final presentations.

Winners

1st Place Overall
1st Place for Audience Favorite

"My Signature Dish"

A digital platform for chefs to give in-home cooking lessons of their signature dishes to fellow foodies.

  • Sharon Borde
  • Sharon Bell
  • Denai Lopez
  • Ben Lopez
  • Kyle Herman
2nd Place Overall
2nd Place for Audience Favorite

"Darify"

A mobile game for folks who hate waiting in line; roll digital dice and dare your friends to do hilarious things, like "Write your name in the air while using only your butt."

  • Olivia Barrow
  • Sarah Trauncins
3rd Place Overall

"Creme de la Cloud"

On-demand ice cream, created using liquid nitrogen. Watch through the vending machine window as your custom concoction is instantly frozen.

  • Phil Faustmann
  • Theron Kotze
  • Robb Peebles
  • Miles Koller
  • Michael Woloski
  • Spencer Allen
  • Pierce Jensen
  • Justin Kornely
  • Masaya Tohi
3rd Place For Audience Favorite

"Kintsugi"

A guidance engine for those who know that they want to do, but don't know how to start. Users answer a series of personalized questions to generate customized guides for completing their goals.

  • Pavan Kemparajie
  • Ancy Philip
  • Andrew Lindner
  • David Saltzman
  • Anthony Messerschmidt
  • Joel Keyser
  • Vickie Guerrero
  • Manuel Cuevas

Photos

Attendees collaborate Friday night before pitches
Sunday night dinner: taco bar!
Participants brainstorm ideas before pitches begin on Friday night.
Winning team "My Signature Dish" poses after taking first-place!
Our fantastic judges for Sunday night's final pitches: Eugenia Podestá, Eric Steege, Amy Gannon and Jillana Peterson
Facilitator Jason Todd leads the opening night session on Friday.
Team Darify continues to hone their concept on Saturday
Practicing final pitches on Sunday afternoon
Participants and volunteers grab a snack before final pitches on Sunday.
Sabrina Madison, a serial entrepreneur in Madison, talks Friday night about her work to open up entrepreneurship to all people (and specifically black women).
Victoria Guerrero approves an idea during team worktime on Saturday
We heart inclusivity :)
Team Kintsugi works on their idea Saturday afternoon
Saturday is for market research, coming up with a business plan, and working on a prototype (where applicable)
Bhavani Nagaraj describes her business idea during the pitch portion of Friday night
Attendees discuss which pitch ideas they're most interested in or think are most doable during the voting portion of Friday night
Team Kintsugi works on their idea Saturday afternoon
Denai Lopez pitches her idea Friday night before voting starts.
Participants work on an icebreaker exercise Friday night.
Organizer Hilary Stohs-Krause hangs up the pitch idea sheets in preparation for voting Friday night
Alex Lindenmeyer, co-owner of Madison's Short Stack Eatery, speaks Friday night about her experiences as an entrepreneur