Startup Week Energizes Local Entrepreneurs
Get your first customer. Get ten more customers. Repeat step two.
That was one snippet of advice from Hurrdat and opendorse co-founder and president Adi Kunalic to a receptive audience at Startup Grind x Lincoln, one of the many events throughout Lincoln during its seventh edition of Techstars Startup Week, held from October 22 through October 26. The October 25 event continued a week-long series of meetups, networking events, panels, and other discussions aimed to the cultivation of the robust and powerful Lincoln startup community.
Throughout the week, events focused on the many aspects of beginning a startup business, maintaining it, and eventually taking the next steps to grow it. For the seventh year in a row, the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development organized various events with the help of presenting sponsor Assurity. With events scattered around Lincoln at various venues such as Turbine Flats, The Barnyard, Fuse, and elsewhere, the schedule presented opportunities to participate in both small group and larger group settings at different times throughout the day.
Monday, October 22’s events culminated with The Pitch Competition, which saw Paul Singh of Results Junkies continue his 2018 North American Tech Tour in Lincoln. A brief Q&A session led by Jared Carlson of Assurity Ventures, enabled Singh to talk about where Lincoln stands among its peers in the realm of startup businesses, and where it’s looking to go in the future.
“Lincoln is pretty far ahead of most cities—believe it or not,” Singh says. “Everyone in this community should hold each other to a higher standard when it comes to growing their business and finding their place.”
The diversity in events continued, with discussions focusing on social media, the impact of video production, and the importance of young entrepreneurs and cultivating a pipeline for them to one day start their own business. Thursday’s Startup Grind x Lincoln event was Lincoln’s first, an event powered by Google for Entrepreneurs.
2019 will kick off strong with a Techstars Startup Weekend beginning January 18 and a JumpStart Challenge Reverse Pitch competition with an industry challenge presented by Assurity in February.
Finally, one of LPED’s own was honored in November for her contributions to entrepreneurship and the startup community in Lincoln. Christina Oldfather, LPED director of innovation and entrepreneurship, was the recipient of the Entrepreneur Advocate Award from the Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship, as she continues to help move Lincoln’s startup community forward. She accepted the award in early November.
We join the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in congratulating Christina for her tireless efforts!
With the close of 2018 bringing big things to Lincoln’s startup community, we are hopeful more great events and opportunities will start 2019 off on the right foot and continue our strong momentum into the future.
The Chamber’s mission is to improve the lives of Lincoln residents by providing increased economic opportunity and can only be accomplished together. For more information on the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, (www.lcoc.com) please contact Jaime Henning at jaimehenning@lcoc.com.