Australian opportunities to be part of the Global Startup Battle next week

Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast will be hosting Startup Weekend programs next week as part of a 200-city strong Global Startup Battle program.

Australian Startup Weekend coordinator Dinesh George told StartupSmart this weekend was the best time for anyone flirting with the idea of getting involved in their local start-up community to jump in.

“The weekends are literally for anyone who is interested in discovering the start-up world. It’s a great way to get a feel for the hustle without quitting your job,” George says.

“We try to ease people into it and watching people jump right in creates an environment where you just get out there.”

The three local start-up weekends will be part of a broader series of 200 Startup Weekends happening during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

“These weekends will have the highest amount of exposure of any we’ve run. There are 200 happening at once so the amount of ideas that are flying around the world is kind of shocking, and we’ll be cross-streaming to other countries,” George says.

The winners of each weekend will create a 60 second video pitch. The videos will be crowd-voted, with the leading 16 going on to the international finals.

Prizes include $20,000 in cash, and there are several industry specific prizes, including an internship with the Bigcommerce founders for e-commerce initiatives.

George adds the weekend is a great way to learn the fundamental approaches to start-up development.

“The main things you learn at Startup Weekend are about creating a minimum viable prototype so you can get feedback and explore customer validation,” George says.

“It’s about shedding the assumptions you have and getting to the core of the real problem. Ideas are great but it’s all about execution.”