Startup Exchange is a student-run
organization based out of a tiny
room in the Georgia Tech Library. This is a hub for entrepreneurship and
ideation. A connection space. A home for student designers, coders,
businessmen, and ideators to begin something together. This space cultivates
thought-leadership, community, and a desire for learning. It creates cultures
to inspire collaboration, problem-solving, and a deep rooted sense of humility.
We believe that Georgia Tech’s entrepreneurial renaissance will begin in this
tiny tiny room of the Library. Here’s to the Institute. To Atlanta. And to the
exchange of ideas. Let’s bring 3DS to
Atlanta for the second year in a row!
Here's what we do at Startup Exchange:
1)
Launched
an incubation space for student entrepreneurs at Georgia Tech. Over 70+ members. We've hosted workshops on design
thinking, business model canvas, customer discovery, and introduced students to
the resources in Atlanta’s startup community. We've gone out on field trips to
Hypepotamus and the Atlanta Tech Village. We even have street cred from Venture Atlanta, and an article about us that made it to the top of Hacker News.
2)
Run
a startup accelerator program. In Fall 2012, we
coordinated a pilot program to simulate the conditions of a rigorous startup
accelerator. It provided ten student teams with structure, mentorship, and
curriculum on the business model canvas. By the end of 10 weeks, the program
made it to Hacker News and was praised in the blog posts of the Atlanta Startup
Community. The Results: 10 teams, 10
weeks, 3 really cool stories. One interviewed with Y-Combinator, another pitched at Startup Riot, and a third went the finals of the
Inventure Prize.
This
Fall we’re doing it again, and we’re expanding the program to students at
Georgia State!
3)
Coordinated
3DS last Fall. We had 55 people from
8 different colleges come together to form 10 startup teams over the course of
a weekend. Over 20 mentors dropped in this weekend. We had RedBull girls, the
Startup Bus, the late night shenanigans as promised (you know who you are) and
concluded with a Hypepotamus Harlem Shake. It was epically legendary. Here's a recap.
We’re doing it again this Fall and we want it
to be bigger and better than last year!
4)
Collectively, the
entrepreneurs of Startup Exchange are working on 50+ startups. From apps and
software to digital media and ecommerce, our student entrepreneurs are the best
and the brightest who want to show Silicon Valley what it means to be a startup
community with a touch of southern hospitality.
WHAT
IS 3DS?
3 Day Startup is an
entrepreneurship education program designed for university students with an
emphasis on learning by doing. The idea is simple: start tech companies over
the course of three days.
Last
October, Startup Exchange helped bring Atlanta its first 3 Day Startup Weekend.
This is a 48-hour energy drink-fueled intense weekend program that gives
students the opportunity to develop their startup muscles.
Starting
Friday evening, September 27th, the students form teams and begin
brainstorming ideas. Saturday, they hit the ground running, turning these ideas
into business models. The teams work day and night Saturday, only stopping for
food and Redbull breaks. They polish their business plans and pitches on Sunday
in preparation for the pitch competition Sunday night in front of their
friends, families, and judges.
With
your help, we can make this 3DS better than last year!
THE IMPACT YOUR CONTRIBUTION MAKES
Bringing
3DS to Atlanta will allow students from all over the Southeast to get a taste
of the startup life. The excitement. The passion. The hard work. The sleep
deprivation. The lifelong friendships The 3DS will immerse students in the
startup world for 48-hours… Let’s give these students a chance to feel what we,
in the Atlanta Startup Community, feel on a daily basis.
Here
are the costs of bringing 3DS to Atlanta:
1. Event Fee: $2000
2. Free Event Space: Courtesy of Hypepotamus
3. Food: $2000
4. Startup Exchange Swag: $1000
Our
goal is to raise $5000 for this event. We are expecting around 50 students and
10 mentors. Please help us bring this event to Atlanta so we can continue
improving our startup community.
We are also trying to raise additional funds for Startup Exchange. If you are interested becoming a corporate sponsor, please contact us for more details.
Every dollar you donate pushes us forward as entrepreneurs, and
as a community. We sincerely appreciate your help.