10 Things you Don’t Want to Miss at Boise Entrepreneur Week
by Sharon Fisher
There’s so much going on at Boise Entrepreneur Week that it’s easy to miss things. So we decided to put together a list of the 10 things that you definitely don’t want to miss.
1.The Block Party (Thursday, Oct. 27, 6-10 pm, JUMP - JUMP Commons)
“The block party is exactly what it sounds like,” said Nick Crabbs, Boise Entrepreneur Week co-chair. “It's a chance for you to come out, network, meet people in a little bit more casual the setting.” This year’s block party features musical guests Lo-Fi and The Shivas. In addition to networking opportunities, it’s also where all the pitch competition giant checks will be awarded.
2. The Pitch Competition (Thursday, Oct. 27, 1-4 pm, JUMP - The Jump room, 5th floor)
“What you'll see is a wide variety of companies from different industries at different stages -- you're basically walking into a Shark Tank-style vibe,” said Tiam Rastegar, Boise Entrepreneur Week co-chair. “Pitches are about seven minutes long, and there's five minutes of q&a, so you'll get to watch the judges grill the entrepreneurs with some really hard questions.” Especially if you’re working on a startup idea yourself, this is one you won’t want to miss, so that you can be prepared when it happens to you.
3. Founder War Stories (Tuesday, Oct. 25, 7:15-8:30 pm, The Olympic, 1009 W. Main St.) 21+
“This is actually an event that predates Boise Entrepreneur Week,” Crabbs said. “It's been going on here for about 10 years. This is a chance for you to hear really short stories from founders in our local ecosystem about times they've had to overcome a challenge or get through a tough time. This is a chance for our ecosystem's new founders to realize that other people have already had to solve these problems and gone through these hard times. It's good to network with founders who have already been there and done that, and hear their stories” – again, especially if you’ve got an idea for a startup yourself.
4. Trailmix (Thursday, Oct. 27, 3-6 pm, Trailhead)
One of the ways Boise Entrepreneur Week is special is that it also has a separate track for food entrepreneurs, including the Trailmix pitch competition. “We wouldn't be able to do that without our partner Albertsons,” Rastegar said. “The winner actually gets $50,000 in cash, and shelf space at the Albertson's Broadway store.”
In addition to the pitch competition itself, there’s a food expo – and what would a food expo be like without free samples? “The food expo takes place right here at Trailhead,” Rastegar said. “The space transforms into a little mini farmers market you can walk around and try the finalists’ food,” as well as the food of those who didn't make it to the final Trailmix, he said.
5. Women in Power (Tuesday, Oct. 25, 5:30-7:15 pm, JUMP - The Deck, 5th floor)
Co-hosted by Idaho Women In technology, the Women Innovators and the Idaho Women’s Business Center, “Women in Power is an evening networking event that's really just your chance to meet other movers and shakers within our ecosystem,” Crabbs said. All sexes are welcome.
6. Cybersecurity Entrepreneurial Challenge (Wednesday, Oct. 26, 4-5:15 pm, JUMP Tent)
Sponsored by Boise State University, this event has students competing for $20,000 in prize money, Rastegar said. Unlike the main pitch competition, the cybersecurity challenge is a reverse Pitch Competition, he said. Contestants pick problem statements from private industry partners and come up with innovative solutions to solve them.
7. Recruiting events (Thursday, Oct. 27, 4:30-6:30 pm, JUMP - The Jump room, Terrace and Friday, Oct. 28, 9:30 am – 1:45 pm, meet at JUMP - The Jump room, 5th floor)
“Entrepreneurs need three things to be successful: access to markets, access to capital, and access to talent,” Crabbs said. “Our Boise Entrepreneur Week recruiting events are trying to solve the last piece of that puzzle. So during Boise Entrepreneur Week, for its entire existence, we've been bringing students from every major university in the state of Idaho to Boise to meet with our local entrepreneurs and local companies to be recruited. And these are really fun ways to connect with companies here in Boise.”
It’s actually two separate events. First is Meet the Movers and Shakers. “It’s really a career fair-like event,” Crabbs said. “About 20 companies are up there, and they have two minutes to pitch themselves to anyone interested in looking for a job.” The next morning is the other event, the Startup Crawl. “You actually go on site to a majority of these companies to see what their office culture is like,” he said.
8. The Elevator Pitch Competition (Friday, Oct. 28, 2:30-4:30 pm, JUMP - The Jump room, 5th floor)
The Elevator Pitch Competition – also known as “Life's a pitch” -- is probably the most accessible pitch competition at Boise Entrepreneur Week, said Rastegar. There’s two tracks: One is dedicated to students, and one is dedicated to everybody else. “You literally walk into a room full of people,” he said. “And you have to weave through crowds and find folks who have a judge nametag. You’ve got to really get out there and get right in front of them, get their attention, and deliver your pitch in under three minutes.” For that, you can walk away with some cash. So polish your pitch, and we'll see you there.
9. The Virtual Reality (VR) Bash (Wednesday, Oct. 26, 6-9 pm, StrangeLove, 100 S. 6th St.) 21+
“One of the longest-running marquee events of Boise entrepreneur week is what we used to call ‘The VR Bash,’” Crabbs said. “This year’s is called 'VR in a Bar' and it’s a 21+ event where you can do VR over at StrangeLove. They’ll have about 10 stations set up a bar that you can exchange your drink tickets for, and have a good time relaxing, trying some VR, and networking with people who are also there to be enthusiasts of this exciting technology platform.” One will be Librarium, a local VR company that just launched in the Oculus store a couple of weeks ago, he said.
10. Hacking 4 Homebuilding (Tuesday, Oct. 25, 3-5 pm, JUMP, The Jump room, 5th floor)
Here’s another way Boise Entrepreneur Week is different from other startup shows. “A few years ago, the key stakeholders in the construction industry and Boise State got together and they were trying to figure out how are we going to spur innovation in this industry,” Rastegar said. And Hacking 4 Homebuilding was born. “You'll get to watch students and the public compete for $40,000 in cash prizes,” he said.
Of course, with more than 100 events, these 10 are just a taste of what’s going to be available at Boise Entrepreneur Week. “There's a ton of stuff going on,” Crabbs said. “There's plenty of chances to learn, meet people, and grow as an individual.”
Some of the events Crabbs said he isn’t going to miss:
University Presidents Panel (Wednesday, Oct. 26, 3-4 pm, JUMP - The Pioneer Room). “This is a chance for Gov. Brad Little and our Idaho universities to talk about what's coming up and how they're collaborating, and how they are also being innovative.”
Past winners panel (Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2-2:30 pm, JUMP - The Inspire Room, 4th Floor). “This is a panel of previous Pitch Competition winners. We're going to come back and talk about what they've done since they've won.”
Fireside Chat (Tuesday, Oct. 25, 3:15- 4:15 pm, JUMP - The TENT). “This is between Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, and the special representative for Commercial and Business Affairs from the U.S. Department of State, Dilawar Syed.”
And of course there’s the famous corporate dodgeball tournament.
You can register for the event at www.boiseentrepreneurweek.org.
Sharon Fisher is a digital nomad who writes about entrepreneurship.