Lightening talk given at ABEL Spring Conference, April 28, 2014. Presentation covered what Startup Weekend Toronto EDU: Library Edition was, what happened, why it mattered and what's next.

1. 54 Hours in 5 Minutes
STARTUP
WEEKEND
Helen Kula
ABEL Spring Conference
Toronto, Ontario
April 28, 2014

2.
WHATWAS IT?
STARTUP
WEEKEND
§ Held
on
March
28-­‐30,
2014
in
downtown
Toronto
§ Brought
together
60+
developers,
designers
and
startup
people
+
library
community
to
solve
library-­‐focused
problems
§ Affiliated
with
global
and
local
Startup
Weekend
&
SWEDU
organizaOons
§ Used
the
Startup
Weekend
program
template:
§ Team-­‐based
§ Intensive,
experienOal
learning
–
“no
talk,
all
acOon”
§ Grounded
in
lean
startup
methodology

3. § Friday:
Pitches,
voOng
+
team
formaOon
§ 25
iniOal
pitches
§ 11
teams
formed
§ Saturday:
Work!
§ Product
development
(working
prototype)
§ Customer
discovery
&
validaOon
§ Design,
branding
&
business
model
§ Sunday:
More
work,
final
pitches
+
awards
WHAT HAPPENED?
STARTUP
WEEKEND

4. § I
facilitator
§ 20
mentors
+
observers
§ 21
sponsors
§ 5
judges
§ 4
award-­‐winning
teams
§ 1st
prize:
§ 2nd
prize:
§ 3rd
prize:
§ Organizers’
Choice:
BrookList
WHAT HAPPENED?
STARTUP
WEEKEND

5. § Offer
new
kind
of
experienOal
learning
opportunity
for
the
library
community
§ NOT
a
conference
§ Expose
library
community
to
‘startup
thinking’
and
tools,
e.g.
§ Customer
development
-­‐
‘get
outside
the
building’
§ Minimum
viable
product
(MVP)
§ Business
model
§ Pitching
§ Build
relaOonships
between
startup
+
library
communiOes
§ Empower
library
communiOes
to
build
their
own
soluOons
§ Seed
community
of
library
professionals
who
are
commiged
to
acOve
innovaOon
WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
STARTUP
WEEKEND

6.
DID ITWORK?
STARTUP
WEEKEND
§ PosiOve
feedback
about
event
§ At
least
3
teams
commiged
to
project
post-­‐event
§ Challenges
included:
§ Diversity
of
library
types
§ Pitching
&
business
experience
§ ApplicaOon
of
for-­‐profit
template
to
non-­‐profit
library
context
§ ConOnuing
community
momentum