by Seth Blank, Orian Marx, Alexandra Cavoulacos, Kathryn Minshew and Vivek Sharma
Most startup entrepreneurs, investors and incubators will tell you that two founders are better than one. What they won't tell you is two founders are more likely to try to kill each other - or at least kill their startup. Co-founder disasters are a bit of an industry taboo. We never hear about most of them. Many great entrepreneurs have had to sacrifice a beloved startup to learn valuable life lessons about working with partners. This panel brings together four entrepreneurs who lost their prior startups to infighting but survived to tell their tales in the hope that you can avoid some of their mistakes.
by Jani Byrne, Claire England, Guy Diedrich, Sancia Matthyssen and Jonathan Libby
Appearing at the 2012 SXSW Interactive Festival, IBM is looking for top entrepreneurs to join our Startup Showcase Video Series. We will be in the Startup Village hosting an audience participation session where your ideas count! Bring your smart phone and have ‘real time’ interaction with our panelists as we discuss entrepreneurial perspectives on Crowdsourcing, Social Entrepreneurship and more! Your participation during the session can help influence you being selected as one of four finalists for the IBM Startup Showcase Video Series. Following SXSW, we will work with our finalists to create the Video Series, capturing conversation about their startups and hear how they are improving the lives and businesses of their customers. The video series will be delivered through multiple channels reaching tens of thousands of developers, consumers, investors, and businesses around the world. This session is sponsored by IBM.
by Jeff Slobotski, Ben Milne and Bo Fishback
With easy access to new technologies, resources, and ideas, more and more startups outside the Valley and the Alley are finding early success in places like Kansas City, Missouri and Des Moines, Iowa.Having assisted or launched several startups outside the traditional ecosystems, Dwolla’s Ben Milne and Zaarly’s Bo Fishback will discuss the role that the Internet has had in leveling the playing field for the builders of the 21st century. Moderated by Big Omaha and Silicon Prairie News founder, Jeff Slobotski, the candid conversation will provide audiences an unfettered, behind-the-scenes look at how one region is overcoming the odds and cultivating an entirely new kind of startup manifesto."
by Chris Bennett, Hadiyah Mujhid, Monique Woodard and Nnena Ukuku
This workshop session is taught by Black Founders Startup Ventures. Black Founders Startup Ventures was founded to increase the success of black entrepreneurs in tech through educational workshops and events. What is little known about Black Founders is the stories of its co-founders and how helping others has led to a path of opportunity for their own independent tech startups. Meet the co-founders of Black Founders, a coder, lawyer, marketing guru, and product guy, and learn how their contributions to their community has ultimately taught them to be better entrepreneurs.
by Jerry Colonna and David Kashen
Five of the world's top startup-focused executive coaches choose entrepreneurs from the audience who want to volunteer with a problem or area for improvement. In speed coaching sessions, they attempt to make quick and dramatic shifts in beliefs and behaviors which will bring more success and happiness for the subjects' work and companies. In this dramatic demonstration you'll see the power and effectiveness of coaching for startup founders and leaders, and why coaching is a hot trend for high-performing founders recommended by top VCs.
by Vanessa Keitges, Kate Brodock, Kate Dohring, Nicole Glaros and Jesse Draper
There was an article - or 100 - the other day that said something about entrepreneurs being...The life blood of society! The new drivers of our economy! The largest employers of our citizens! The solution to our problems!
And what about all the LinkedIn profiles stating "Entrepreneur" as a title?
But are all these "entrepreneurs" really entrepreneurs?
We'll be hashing through what entrepreneurship really means, what a startup really is, and what innovation really makes a difference on society and the economy (what is "making a difference" anyway?). Our panel will be a group of diverse "entrepreneurs" - from high-growth speedups as described by Startup America to social entrepreneurs who might not provide huge financial returns but contribute in other ways - and we'll be talking about the similarities and differences between everyone's idea of their own Entrepreneurship.
It's a frank discussion on some of the realities and frustrations surrounding this debate.
by Paige Craig, Mark Davis, Nick Seguin, Marc Nager, Shane Reiser, Andrew Yang and Brad Feld
Why do some tech communities thrive while other fail? What can you do to start, fix or grow your city's startup scene?
This panel will take a grounded look at the key ingredients of successful startup communities in any geography. We'll look the role that events, spaces, accelerators, VC, angels, universities, and government play in the equation, and we'll dissect the intangibles as well - including culture, philosophy, mentorship, education, and more. We'll also have some time at the end for audience questions. Panelists include Brad Feld, Paige Craig, Mark Davis, Nick Seguin, Marc Nager and Andrew Yang.
by Pooja Sankar, Victoria Ransom, Michelle Zatlyn, Piya Sorcar and Kara Swisher
Ginger Rogers may have said it, but today's female entrepreneurs are proving it. Right now, women are starting and leading new and innovative companies at an unprecedented rate. From e-commerce to healthcare to Internet infrastructure, women are breaking new ground across all industries these days. But, why now? What are today's female entrepreneurs doing differently to build sustainable businesses and get the attention and credit they deserve? What unique struggles do they still contend with and what advice can they share with tomorrow's generation of female leaders? These questions and more will be addressed in this entertaining panel.
by Naval Ravikant, Joshua Baer and Jason Cohen
Everyone in a startup should be able to give the "elevator pitch", even the programmers! Having the right pitch can help you land a big customer, attract investors, and just explain what you do to your mom. Learn about the 3 secrets to a killer pitch from an expert speaker who has pitched at TechCrunch50, SXSW Accelerator and Ignite. Then pitch your startup and get feedback on the spot. Not for beginners! We have seen thousands of pitches and invested in hundreds of companies. Come after you’ve already practiced your pitch a 100 times and are ready to take it to the next level. First I’ll spend 15 minutes talking about the 3 secrets and show some killer examples. Then YOU get up on stage and give YOUR 90 second pitch, and then one of the panel will give YOUR pitch showing how we would improve it. If you want to pitch your startup, send a link to your 90 second pitch video to sxsw@killerelevator.com
by Alexa von Tobel, Donna Wells, Meredith Flynn-Ripley, Julia Hartz and Courtney Myers
Even though the U.S. workforce is comprised of 50% women, our society still finds it unusual for women to hold roles in certain fields – one of them being technology. In fact, only 25% of people that work in tech are women, and a very small percentage of that number are women in top-level positions. It’s still widely assumed that women who assume upper-level positions in their profession will be forced to make sacrifices in their personal life.
In this panel you’ll hear from four successful female CEOs/Founders of tech companies about their (wildly different) paths to the top. The panelists will provide a unique perspective about what it’s like to be a woman in tech today, the changing role of the CEO, the past and present obstacles of this profession, and advice they'd give to aspiring CEOs of both genders.
From running an online training startup, to co-founding an online event registration site with their spouse, to having served as a CEO for both enterprise and consumer tech companies, these women are at the forefront of leadership and innovation in technology. Learn from their successes and mistakes and ask them questions about their careers and work-life balance that you’ve always wanted to know.