A weekend ago, some of LA’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and developers participated in a sold out Startup Weekend event out at Coloft in Santa Monica. We caught up with Avesta Rasouli, one of the co-founders of Coloft, and got his thoughts on what went down that weekend.
For the uninitiated, give us a quick rundown on what Startup Weekend is all about.
It’s a 54-hour event where developers, coders, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and create startups! Basically, we started off Friday night with roughly 80 people, 30 of whom pitched an idea. About 10 of those ideas made it to the next round, when teams were formed. Those teams then needed to actually create something (e.g. a live site or app) and have something to show for it Sunday night when presenting in front of a panel of judges, which included Angels, VC’s and successful entrepreneurs.
Who were the winners of the competition this time around?
Here’s a breakdown of the winners and prizes they received:
- 1st Place – Zaarly: A buyer’s market where everything has a price. ($1000 cash, 1 x TechCoast Angels Fast pitch tickets, One Month at Coloft, NerdyShirts package)
- 2nd Place – Eventify Me – Turn your home into income generating event space ($500 cash, 1 x TechCoast Angels Fast pitch tickets, Two Weeks at Coloft for entire company and steak knives)
- 3rd Place – GrubKlub - Food is means to an end ($500 cash)
- Most Complete Product (MCP) – Zaarly (“Launch Conference” package)
- Cleanest Presentation – Hottie Spotter – a place for local guys to find local hotties (Idealab Mint floor cleaner)
How did Coloft get involved with the event and what role do you guys play in it?
Cameron and I were both involved with our own startup when were approached by Tyler Koblasa, the Startup Weekend LA organizer and founder/CEO of Ming.ly (which launched out of Startup Weekend LA in 2009), back in March 2010 to host LASW at Coloft. We were psyched at the idea, and loved what the Startup Weekend folks were doing, so we were in. The first one was in May of 2010. It was such a mindblowing experience and we haven’t looked back since. Cam and I are now part of the organizing team for LA, and put in our all to make each event even better.
Twitter was all abuzz that Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher made an appearance as guest judges over the weekend. How did that come about and what did they think of the event?
Yeah that was truly awesome. Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the president of Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation (and all-round AWESOME guy), was down here for the weekend (he was the one who pitched the winning idea, Zaarly). So it just so happens that he knows Ashton and had told him he should check out Startup Weekend. Next thing you know, he and his wife show up at the event! Both Ashton and Demi were not only super nice and humble, but also VERY smart and understood the tech world really well. Ashton made the rounds and talked to all the teams, gave them feedback, and stuck around to judge as well. Very cool.
What were your 5 favorite startup ideas that you saw over the weekend?
Honestly, both Cameron and I were amazed, as always, to see that these guys built something in a weekend. So they all get number one from us.
