At the end of 54 hours, the team that called its company Your Bucket List was declared the winner of the Kalamazoo’s second Startup Weekend.
The company, one of five to go from the idea stage to being up and running online over the course of one weekend, developed a way for people to not only create a "Bucket List" -- the list of things a persons most wants to accomplish before they "kick the bucket" -- but also it offers ideas for how to get the items on the list accomplished.
For example, if one of the things you’ve always wanted to do is fight a bear, the list recommends you visit the Discovery Channel website that introduces you to Bear Gryllis, who would probably punch back if you hit him in the face.
The winning team was made up of: Matt Sornson, a student and a novice developer; Ben Janik, a professional front-end web developer; Reid Berryman, studying at Western Michigan University; Roger Egelera, a senior CIS student graduating in December; and Andy Bentz, who has an eight-year track record of building and leading outstanding teams. He currently works as an Operations Manager at medical device maker Stryker Corp.
Other competitors over the weekend included
a10antlife.com, a site where tenants could discuss their landlords,
Bitfolio.me, a portfolio website for developers in the open source community that could serve as a go-to place for hiring professionals,
PersonURL.com, an online reference point that allows a person to have their contact information in one place so it can be easily updated, and
Quite.alike.com, a site that links people with common interests, giving them a place to meet new people and chat without the pressure of dating sites.
Perhaps even more important than the founding of five new companies is the further expansion of an entrepreneurial network in Kalamazoo.
Organizer Ryan Goins says this group proved to be more organized and dedicated than entreprenerrs working on their businesses at Kalamazoo's first startup weekend in the spring of 2011. The fall round drew 30 participants, about five more than six months ago. The majority of the businesses started in the spring still are working, Goins says.
Judge Patricia Randall, a Portage City Council member, says she has developed an interest in fostering such entrepreneurs based on the interests her three sons. She also indicates the the decision was "extremely difficult."
Yourbucketli.st won a year’s free office space in the Bureau, a shared works space in downtown Kalamazoo, five hours of legal advice from Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn, plus $2,000 from MacUpdate to move their business ahead.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Startup Weekend, Kalamazoo
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