A first-time feature of the 2011 Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference will be the “Start-up Café,” a hands-on incubator that will build a software company during the two-day event while offering advice to entrepreneurs.
To register for the June 7-8 conference at Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel, go to: http://www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com/events/ent_conf/
The Start-up Café debuts at this year’s conference to provide real-world examples of how to launch and grow a business. Whether its fine-tuning a business model or leveraging social media and mobile marketing, entrepreneurs can learn more through one-on-one sessions with experts. Reservations for one-on-one meetings can be made during the conference.
The Start-up Café will also host a team of software entrepreneurs, designers and engineers who will design, build and launch a company during the conference. This team will utilize lean start-up methodologies including business model canvassing, rapid prototyping and customer development through crowd-sourcing of conference attendees.
“We’ll demonstrate how lean start-up techniques can get a company up and going quickly and at less cost,” said Greg Meier of Spreenkler Talent Labs, which will coordinate the Start-up Café. “We want people to learn how this is possible and interact with team members as they explain how the lean start-up process works.”
Fueled by more than $1 million in private commitments and modeled in part after California’s Y Combinator, an incubator that has launched scores of companies over time, Spreenkler Talent Labs will help launch 10 to 15 start-up companies per year, mainly in the web, social, mobile and software design spaces. Spreenkler has opened an incubator in Milwaukee and will soon open in downtown Madison.
Spreenkler Talent Labs will work primarily with college students and recent graduates. Those selected by Spreenkler’s board of advisers will get the tools and seed funding they need to produce a working prototype and a business plan within 12 weeks.
Other highlights of the ninth annual Entrepreneurs’ Conference include:
- Headline speeches by Tim Kane of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Jeff Rusinow, founder of Silicon Pastures; Joe Sweeney, author of “Networking is a Contact Sport;” and Mark Schmitz, principal and creative director of ZEBRADOG
- Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” Award
- The Diligent Dozen: Presentations by the top 12 contestants in the annual Governor’s Business Plan Contest
- Hands-on panel discussions tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs
- An investors-only event to discuss current trends and best practices
- Plenty of chances to network with 400 attendees over food and refreshments!
Register or learn more by visiting www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com/events/ent_conf.
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