How to ace Startup Weekend like a boss

The author was a participant at Startup Weekend Manila. A version of this article first appeared on WebGeek.ph, a community of web developers, designers, technopreneurs and geeks . The next Startup Weekend will be happening in Cebu, Philippines this Friday.

I’ve been part of two Startup Weekends already and I must say there is nothing like the energy of founders trying to turn an idea into a startup in a scant 54 hours. Here are some things I did that helped me during the event.

1) The Pre-Startup Weekend

I made soft connections and went to tech events before Startup Weekend, asking around who’s going while I’m at it. I also caught up with a few friends who were going to the Weekend via Facebook, Twitter and through meetings offline.

I’ll explain later why I did this.

2) The Idea

 Thinking up an idea can be a struggle. Here’s what I did.

I thought about my idea way before the Weekend. I tried to find out if startups needed a better way to connect with mentors and discovered that yes, they do. Essentially, a good idea is a solution that hasn’t existed yet, but solves a problem that is bugging people.

Believe in your idea and the problem it solves. For me, I really believe that mentorship is important for young businesses to thrive. If you believe your idea and how it will change the world, that goes a long way in attracting people to your team.

No idea yet? The most popular ideas are either fun or world changing. Again, make sure that you are really convinced yourself that the problem is worth solving.

3) The Pitch Day

When Friday came, I practiced pitching my idea to real people. I realized that I can’t be afraid of sharing my idea since it will attract people to my team early on. Also, talking really loosens the vocal chords and removes a bit of the tension.

I made my pitch short since one of the odd things about the venue is that people are split into two rooms, so we needed to run or jog between them. It also helped me keep my idea nice, tight and easy to grasp. If you can communicate your idea in just three sentences, go for it.