Apply Today

Organize a Startup Week

All the resources to help you learn more about Techstars Startup Week and how to become an organizer.

https://youtu.be/YUOJDJjUy-U

Techstars Startup Week is a five-day, entrepreneur-led, community event held in cities across the world to showcase the local startup community through meetups, lectures, discussions, and celebrations. 

We continue to grow as a worldwide movement and are excited about new cities and countries adding their community to the map. Since the first Startup Week was held in Boulder, Colorado in 2010, Techstars Startup Week has been taken to communities around the world — including Seattle, Austin, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Amman, Lagos, Taipei, Bangkok, and over 80 other cities. We’ve had more than 200,000 people attend a Startup Week, and we’re committed to bringing more people into the ecosystem over the years to come.

Volunteer-run: Techstars Startup Week is entirely volunteer-run by local individuals who help organize and support the week’s programming, content, and logistics. Because it is typically a 100% free event, we don’t hire people to run the event or activities.

Tracks: The week is focused on a series of themes, called tracks, to help the community learn, develop, and grow its entrepreneurial ecosystem. Local organizers, called ‘track captains,’ select a minimum of five tracks for the week, and they run the tracks they feel are most relevant to their community. Speakers and panels are based on the tracks and can be invited from within and outside of the community to provide education, motivation, and inspire. We found that this tried-and-tested curriculum and framework is a great way to highlight and empower local entrepreneurs. 

Participants choose: Over the course of the five days, participants can choose events of interest to attend. These events are held at various venues across a city and will include many networking opportunities to help build relationships.

Open to all: Startup Week is open to all, and is aimed at showcasing and including all involved in the community. The intent is to bring entrepreneurs together to build momentum and opportunity around the local community’s unique entrepreneurial identity. We want to develop the community into an environment with better conditions to start a business in. 

Connectedness: Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely experience. Startup Week participants may find that they feel more connected to their community and no longer feel alone in their efforts. It’s this support network that can make the difference between giving up or pushing through to success.

The Techstars Startup Week mission is to help establish thriving ecosystems anywhere people are interested in developing a community. We’ve found it’s one of the best ways to galvanize a community around startups and bring a diverse group of people together to celebrate entrepreneurship. 

We have defined four core values in line with this mission:

01. Connected Communities 

We believe strong entrepreneurial ecosystems are created from connected communities. That’s why we create strong community bonds by facilitating connections and sharing our networks. This is the foundation for community transformation. 

02. Giving First

We help others whenever possible, giving first to our community, with no specific expectations of return. We believe that the pay-it-forward principle builds strong startup networks and communities. 

03.  Teamwork Matters

We believe collaboration drives innovation. As a team, we act with integrity and treat others with respect. We believe that having entrepreneurs within the core organizing team will help with outreach to the local entrepreneurial community.

04.  Inclusive & Open

Techstars Startup Week is always open to all. We’re committed to making people feel included and welcomed. We invite all communities to participate. We use inclusive language in communications and respect cultural differences. We lead with empathy and encourage inclusive behaviour that will nurture a safe and inclusive environment.

https://youtu.be/wBtrPFlz6tU

Techstars Startup Week’s structure is designed to bring an entire entrepreneurial ecosystem together in one place within a city. An easy way to remember the format for the week’s structure is 5 x 5 x 5:

  • 5 days: A 5-day, week-long celebration providing enough time to showcase the community. Organizers may extend the week to include the weekend.
  • 5 tracks: The week will typically be centered around 5 different tracks, or themes. We believe that 5 tracks provides a good amount of diversity in subjects to provide great value to the community. 
  • 5 events: Running 5 events, like panels or workshops, within each track provides the opportunity for everyone to attend at least 1 event within a track of interest.

Whether you’re looking to build a startup community in your local city, or interested in developing as an entrepreneur yourself, organizing is a great way to get involved in the startup community. Here are a few reasons our organizers decide to get involved:

  • Play a vital role in building startup culture and creating impact in your community.
  • Join an extensive community of passionate, capable, and connected organizers around the world.
  • Meet and network with talented, driven people from around your local or regional community. 
  • Develop organizational and people skills that will help expand your work portfolio and advance your professional development. 
  • Gain access to unique opportunities in the Techstars network through techstars talent. 
  • Potential to attend one of our community leader summits.

Apply here.

STARTUP WEEK

Ready to Organize a Techstars Startup Week?

Apply to Organize

Organizer Requirements

Organizing a Startup Week is incredibly rewarding on many levels. It also requires hard work and commitment. So, before you apply, we’d like to share some expectations on organizing. These are six of the most important requirements. 

01. Time Commitment: Organizing a Startup Week is a lot of work. It is recommended to have a lead-time of six months to organize a Startup Week, especially if it’s your first time organizing in your community. 

02. Community & Volunteer Focus: The event should focus 100% on making the community a better place to start a business. It’s also 100% volunteer-run.

03. Knowing Your Local Community: Knowing what experiences, content, and networking opportunities your community needs will be essential in organizing a successful Startup Week event. We believe that having entrepreneurs within the core organizing team helps to reach the startup community. 

04. Strong Core Team: Forming a strong team is one of the most important parts of executing a successful Techstars Startup Week. A core team size of around 8 to 10 members is recommended. Some of the top qualities to look for in a core team include: A strong work ethic, organizational experience, creative problem-solving, industry knowledge, and an entrepreneurial spirit. 

05. Techstars Brand Compliance: All Techstars Startup Week events have to comply with the Techstars brand rules and guidelines. All events are standalone and cannot be co-branded with any organization or entity. 

06. Community Leader Agreement: The lead Startup Week organizer applicant will be required to agree to the Techstars Terms and Conditions and the Techstars Startup Weekend & Startup Week Organizer License And Event Agreement before submitting an application to organize a Startup Week to ensure that you’re aligned with Techstars’ mission, goals, and expectations.

What Matters Most When Building a Team

01. A Shared Passion & Mission

The most successful Startup Week teams share a passion for supporting entrepreneurs and bringing their communities together. They also share a mission to drive positive change by boosting local economic growth and innovation. 

02. A Diverse & Inclusive Approach

Gender and racially diverse teams and companies perform better, and yet, there is a serious diversity challenge within entrepreneurship, and even more so within the technology startup ecosystem.

03. Commitment to Success

Form a team with those whom you trust will see the event through to the end. You’ll have many team meetings in the six months leading up to the event, and the entire core team is expected to attend. Look for those with a strong work ethic and those who are committed to the mission and the community.

https://youtu.be/maV3LjGvuiI

Your team will be responsible for nearly all aspects of organizing a Startup Week. For example, you’ll need to find sponsorships to cover event costs, secure multiple venues, find local mentors, and so much more. In the following video, you can see a brief overview of the main tasks that you’ll need to complete in the months leading up to your event.

Techstars Community Leaders

Ready to Apply
to Organize?

Help the next generation of founders by bringing Techstars Startup Week to your local community.

Apply to Organize