(http://www.cvstartups.com/)

STARTUP WEEKEND CEDAR FALLS: WHO WILLMAKE IT BIG?

NOVEMBER 23, 2014 (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/STARTUP-WEEKEND-CEDAR-FALLS-WILL-MAKE-BIG/)

/ LEAVE A COMMENT (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/STARTUP-WEEKEND-CEDAR-FALLS-WILL-MAKE-

BIG/#RESPOND)

CEDAR FALLS – Mellow.

That’s the best word to describe the mood early Sunday afternoon as Startup Weekend Cedar Falls

teams work together in the time between the frenzy of Saturday’s heavy work day and the

rollercoaster ride of tonight’s final pitches.

The main competition of the early afternoon? A ferocious ping pong tournament that drew team

members out of their temporary office space at UNI’s Center for Energy & Environmental Education

(CEEE).

The team office spaces were littered with hot pink and green sticky notes, empty Red Bull cans and

Styrofoam carry-out containers. The scent of very strong raw onion permeated the air but no one

seemed to mind too much. Free food is free food and they were happy for it.

Here’s background on a few of the teams:

inSight

On the second floor the inSight team of seven—one developer, two designers and four non-technical

members—happily worked on the idea which required all day buy-in. Through team building and

working with each other, the group transformed the idea originally pitched by Andrew Baird, a

(http://www.twitter.com/cvstartups)

(http://www.facebook.com/cvstartups)

L E T ’ S CO N N EC T !

S U B S C R I B E

First Name*

Last Name

Email Address*

* = required field

SUBSCRIBE NOW

P O P U L A R P OS T S

Startup Weekend Cedar Falls Pitch Fest(http://www.cvstartups.com/startup-weekend-cedar-falls-pitch-fest/)

Startup Weekend Cedar Falls Day 2: Get towork. And drink mo...(http://www.cvstartups.com/startup-weekend-cedar-falls-day-2/)

Startup Weekend Simple Connection team winswith tech suppor...(http://www.cvstartups.com/startup-weekend-simple-connection/)

HOME (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/) ABOUT (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/ABOUT/) EVENTS (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/EVENTS/)

RESOURCES (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/RESOURCES/) SUBMIT A STARTUP (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/SUBMIT-A-STARTUP/)

EVENTS (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/EVENT-POSTS/) /

NEWS (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/NEWS/) /

STARTUP PROFILES (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/STARTUP-PROFILES/)

University of Iowa entrepreneurship student, into “something pretty cool” that had been originally

pitched on Friday.

“Having seven minds instead of just one is beneficial and crucial,” said Stephanie Mathena, UNI

graphic design senior.

It’s a really excited group with different skill sets, said Russel Karim, UNI computer

science/entrepreneurship major.

They also credited Saturday’s mentors for the transformation.

“They asked us questions to make us think differently,” said Trent Schulte, UNI/finance MIS. Were

they ready to pitch to the judges in a few hours? Team members smiled and laughed at the

suggestion.

“Give it ‘til 5 and we’ll be ready,” Schulte said.

BlipLearn

The guys on the all-male BlipLearn team didn’t seem to be worried about the time crunch. It’s a high-

tech team of seven, including four developers.

They’d taken Jamey Davis’s original idea and focused it, but other than that kept it the same. That

made Davis “super happy.” He’s been a developer at Far Reach “for 64 days,” he said.

They met for the first time on Friday night after more than half of the team had made pitches and

came together to make one idea work.

“We’re the team with the most visionaries,” Davis said.

Sure, they’d had a few disagreements but they always approached resolution in a friendly

atmosphere.

“Yes-men don’t get a group anywhere,” Davis said.

Simple Connection

1 Million Cups Cedar Valley Kicks Off with aBrew (http://www.cvstartups.com/1-million-cups-cedar-valley-kicks-brew/)

Entrepreneurs discuss startup community atUp The Valley (http://www.cvstartups.com/up-the-valley/)

Several yards down the hallway the 100% non-tech Simple Connection team members were heads

down pulling together their how-to idea. Still in the theoretical stage of the idea, they weren’t

bothered by the absence of developers on their team.

Alarrrm

In a dark corner under the back stairs under the watchful eyes of a somewhat menacing hand-drawn

logo the the Alarrrm team of five plugged away.

The idea stayed relatively the same over the weekend.

“We made it more robust, so we added a key character story behind the idea,” said Jason Thompson,

UX/UI designer at Visual Logic.

The group’s sole developer said he’d pitched the idea. His goal as a developer is to make tech

products easy to use and attractive.

Who Will Be the Big Winner?

The pitches are ready to start, and we’ll find out soon. When you make it big, winners, remember

CVStartups for giving you your first press.

Spread the News

 (http://www.cvstartups.com/startup­weekend­cedar­falls­will­make­big/?share=facebook&nb=1) 6

 (http://www.cvstartups.com/startup­weekend­cedar­falls­will­make­big/?share=twitter&nb=1) 5

 (http://www.cvstartups.com/startup­weekend­cedar­falls­will­make­big/?share=google­plus­1&nb=1)

PREVIOUS ARTICLESTARTUP WEEKEND CEDAR FALLS DAY 2:

GET TO WORK. AND DRINK MORE RED

BULL.

(HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/STARTUP-

WEEKEND-CEDAR-FALLS-DAY-2/)

NEXT ARTICLESTARTUP WEEKEND CEDAR FALLS PITCH

FEST

(HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/STARTUP-

WEEKEND-CEDAR-FALLS-PITCH-FEST/)

EVENTS (HTTP://WWW.CVSTARTUPS.COM/EVENT-POSTS/)

DOROTHY DE SOUZA GUEDES

Dorothy de Souza Guedes is a Cedar Valley freelance journalist and paralegal.

Twitter: @dorothydsg (https://twitter.com/dorothydsg)

M O R E P O S T S ( H T T P : / / W W W . C V S T A R T U P S . C O M / A U T H O R / D O R O T H Y / )

LE AVE A REPLY

Enter your comment here...

© 2015 CEDAR VALLEY STARTUPS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 (http://www.cvstartups.com/startup­weekend­cedar­falls­will­make­big/?share=linkedin&nb=1)

 (http://www.cvstartups.com/startup­weekend­cedar­falls­will­make­big/?share=email&nb=1)

Related

(http://www.cvstartups.com/st

artup-weekend-cedar-falls-day-

2/)

Startup Weekend Cedar FallsDay 2: Get to work. And drinkmore Red Bull.(http://www.cvstartups.com/startup-weekend-cedar-falls-day-2/)In "Events"

(http://www.cvstartups.com/st

artup-weekend-simple-

connection/)

Startup Weekend SimpleConnection team wins withtech support video pitch(http://www.cvstartups.com/startup-weekend-simple-connection/)In "Startup Profiles"

(http://www.cvstartups.com/ka

uffman-foundation-visits-1-

million-cups-cedar-valley/)

Kauffman Foundation Visits 1Million Cups Cedar Valley(http://www.cvstartups.com/kauffman-foundation-visits-1-million-cups-cedar-valley/)In "Events"