For 54 hours, between November 1 and 3, budding entrepreneurs will learn how to pitch, test and launch their big ideas to the world at the Techstars Startup Weekend, supported and delivered by Startup Queenstown Lakes (SQL).
General manager Marco Dingemans says the weekend’s like a pressure cooker for potential entrepreneurs — anyone with a big idea, from any background, can attend and pitch, and get feedback immediately as to whether it could be a business.
After a quick intro late on the Friday afternoon, it goes "full-on", Dingemans says, with mentors and others on hand to offer coaching and guidance the whole way through.
While participants are primarily Queenstowners, they come from all cultures, nationalities, walks of life and ages, with a few travelling from across New Zealand and Australia to attend.
"Last year we had people fromas young as 12 attend — accompanied by a parent — to the oldest who was nearly 70.
"And the quality of the pitcheswe heard from participants was just incredible" he says.
He notes the Queenstown Lakes has birthed numerous successful startups over the years, including Wherewolf, First Table, Loaded, Teddy, High Performance Academy, Kea Outdoors, Scannable and Matchfit, and hopes the weekend, and other programmes SQL offers, will foster the entrepreneurial spirit for more success stories.
Earlybird tickets to the event are $119, which pays for all meals over the weekend, via shorturl.at/0ASQw
