On any given Friday you can find teams convening at a half dozen or so Startup Weekends occurring around the globe. In these instances, the teams of developers, designers and others interested in tech startups move ideas to concepts to minimum viable products in just 54 hours. A panel of judges declares one prototype the best of the weekend, and with a bit of luck and a lot of sweat that team might turn it into the next great high-growth business.
What we’re going to see over the next two weekends is a bit different. More than 130 Startup Weekends – an unprecedented and awesome number – will kick off around the world as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, featuring 1200 teams competing not just against those in the room with them, but against every SW team around the world. The winners at each site will go head-to-head via recorded pitches and, with the final 15 still standing, a jury of accomplished entrepreneurs and investors will pick the winner. It’s called Global Startup Battle, and there’s never been anything quite like it at this scale. Yes, there are some (pretty great) prizes for the winners, but that’s not really the point. If you’re not already participating, follow the action on the Global Startup Battle website, on Twitter and Facebook, vote for your favorite teams, and watch more than 10,000 people around the world in real time building some great products, some maybe not-so-great ones, but all diving head-first into the entrepreneurial experience.
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