David Crow

Connector of dots. Maker of lines. Rider of slopes.

StartupEmpire

StartupEmpire – Student Voluteers

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startupempire The Student Volunteer program is an opportunity for students to associate with entrepreneurs, venture capitalist, angel investors, and others at Canada’s premiere conference for entrepreneurs and startups.

 

Who is eligible?

Full-time students from any discipline, who will be 18 years old or older on Nov 13, 2008 (if you’re not 18 and interested, drop me a note and we’ll see what we can do).

What is required?

You must commit to 1 day (approximately 10 hours) of volunteer work. You will provide tasks to that help the conference run smoothly including:

  • assisting with registration
  • providing information about the conference to attendeees
  • monitoring sessions
  • wrangling speakers
  • directing to events and hotels

What you get?

In exchange for volunteering, you get a complimentary full conference registration. You get to attend the parties. Mingle with the participants and the speakers. You get to attend and be apart of the StartupEmpire community.

When will you announce the students?

We will announce the students on November 6, 2008.

How do I apply?

Fill out the form.

StartupEmpire – DemoPods

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startupempire Did you catch it on StartupNorth? We’re giving away 10 free demo pods to startups.

What is a DemoPod?

A DemoPod is a space that includes dedicated table at StartupEmpire to allow you to show your software. To meet and greet attendees. To generally get the audience excited about what you are building.

It’s somewhere between a traditional booth and a launch pad. As and early-stage startup you probably haven’t invested in a ridiculous booth, which is ok. Bring a laptop or two. Bring a founder or two. Be prepared to talk about what you are doing, why you made the decision you’ have, and what you need next to succeed.

The DemoPods have been used at StartupCamp in Toronto and Montreal.

How do I get a DemoPod?

Fill out an application form, we’ll be making decisions the week before StartupEmpire. That’s November 6 in case you’re counting.

Start building empires

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Tim O’Reilly gets it.

Computer-book publishing magnate Tim O’Reilly is urging young geeks to stop making software that lets you throw sheep at your friends on Facebook or drink beer on your iPhone and to instead start making a difference in the world. He is daring them, in the words of James Collins and Jerry Porras, authors of the business classic "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies," to take on "big, hairy, audacious goals." – Jessica Guynn, LA Times Blogs

startupempire It is time for developers and entrepreneurs to stop building frivolous, irrelevant applications. It is time to build enduring business value. The initial conversations about StartupEmpire focused on x things:

  1. Inspirational Entrepreneurs – We have the privilege of attending conferences in the US and around the world. We are lucky enough to have seen entrepreneurs and founders that left us feeling inspired. Not everyone is able to attend conferences across the continent, we wanted to bring these world-class founders and entrepreneurs to Toronto.
  2. Focused on Canadian Details – Often the content is focused on a local environment and ecosystem, and doesn’t take into consideration the unique environment in Canada. We wanted a conference that focused on the legal, funding, and government opportunities that are available to startups in Canada.
  3. Hands-on with Real-World Takeaways – Every time we’ve worked on a startup, there have been practical tools and advice that we’ve each needed to help get to the next step of development. We’re hoping to provide everyone with practical takeaways including: sample term sheets, marketing plans, cashflow statements, shareholder agreements, product roadmaps, accounting ledgers, etc.

Things are getting ugly. But it is a great time to be building a company.