Start-up gathering TiECON Sydney launches “25 words or less” comp

Entrepreneurial convention TiECon Sydney has launched a “25 words or less” competition, offering the winner a two-hour timeslot at its conference, as Australian start-ups vie for prizes in increasingly unusual ways.

TiECON Sydney, which will take place next month, is an annual event hosted by TiE Sydney, a non-profit organisation aiming to support entrepreneurs in the greater Sydney area.

In a bid to set itself apart from the hundreds of other start-up competitions, the organisers of TiECON Sydney have launched a 25-words-or-less competition.

The winner of the competition will receive a two-hour timeslot at the event, which, in addition to a $50,000 pitching contest, will feature keynote speeches from the likes of Doron Ben-Meir, chief executive of Commercialisation Australia.

Angel investment group Sydney Angels, along with Google Australia engineering director Alan Noble, will also be in attendance.

“We have a two-hour slot open at TiECON Sydney 2012 on 10 October,” TiE Sydney president Dilip Rao wrote on Silicon Beach Australia.

“All we need are topics of interest to entrepreneurs that are not already covered by our program. Suggest a topic here and explain why [it is of interest], in 25 words or less.”

“We’ll pick the best and give you a free ticket to attend TiECON.”

Start-up competitions continue to diversify as organisations look for novel ways to attract the attention of entrepreneurs, who are increasingly spoilt for choice with regard to what’s on offer.

British television series Dragons’ Den, aired by the BBC, allows budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to deliver a three-minute pitch to five multimillionaires willing to invest their cash.

Meanwhile, Montreal recently hosted the International Startup Festival, a three-day event that aims to bring together entrepreneurs and investors from around the world.

The event offered a number of quirky prizes for start-ups, including Grandmother’s Pick, whereby a panel of seven grandmothers selected their favourite start-up.

There was also an award called Teenager’s Pick, which saw a cohort of teenage judges hand out an award.