Boulder Startup Week

Welcome Breakfast and Networking. Burritos and Coffee.

Get real work done as you're guided how to untangle competing thoughts, get to the most important factor, and learn how to open a conversation in a way that reduces defensiveness. And we'll learn the one key question to keep in mind for when things get off track or you have no time to prepare. To get the most out of this session, come ready with a situation you're upset or frustrated by or where you want a change.

Join local acupuncturist, breathwork guide & longevity specialist, Amy Jo Accardi to learn simple techniques for managing stress, anxiety and nervous system tension in any circumstance.

Fundraising is hard, and the venture capital ecosystem can be opaque. But, we're here to shed light on what actually happens in VC and answer any of your questions. This will be a safe space to discuss raising money for your startup, discussing the pros-cons, breaking down how it all works, learning all the pesky acronyms, and generally talking about how to make it faster and easier.

An hour of socializing and networking between founders and VCs. Whether you are searching for investment, deals, or just curious about either, come meet like minded folks.

Join us for a Boulder Startup Week x Boulder Health Tech event! We will meet at 9am on the Northwest corner of the parking lot at 8th & Cherry for introductions, and then hike around the Wonderland Lake area for about 60 minutes. After our hike, we will meet at 11am for coffee and conversations. This will be on a combination of relatively flat paved and gravel paths, and at a conversational pace. Please reach out if you have any accommodations you might need!
Approximate loop here! https://www.strava.com/routes/3093344416641500868

Identify the most important user and business metrics for your startup in this hands-on workshop. Learn how to use them to continuously improve your product and prioritize your team’s work. Get the same practical guidance and feedback that startups funded by Google have received.

Join Boulder Health Tech for our annual Boulder Startup Week meetup! Meet founders, investors, and others in the health tech, biotech, and life science community. We'll gather for coffee at 11am, join us anytime until 1pm! This is a casual gathering with good conversation and the opportunity to meet someone new or reconnect with colleagues! If you'd like to get some exercise before meeting for coffee, Boulder Health Tech is also hosting a 9am hiking event.

Legal Landmines 101: A primer
on what to avoid when starting and growing your business. Please feel free to ask us anything about your business or legal issues you’re concerned with, and we’ll do our best to answer and give you guidance on avoiding common pitfalls.

If you are developing physical products, these panelists will help you discover the ins and outs of manufacturing. From design and prototyping for manufacturing, onboarding vendors, contract manufacturing, supply chain issues, to off shore vendors relationships. Covering budget constrained scrapy startups to the well funded top of the line manufacturing methods, we aim to give you advice so you can jumpstart your manufacturing journey. We will offer some useful experience, then open the panel for questions.

Montreal Entrepreneurs meet SAGE Feedback LIVE. 

3 of HEC Montreal's best entrepreneurial teams will pitch in front of a group of Boulder SAGE advisors and get live feedback. Pitching is hard enough in your first language, but these French speakers are pitching in English. This was a great event last BSW and they are back for more.

With issues like climate change and conservation taking the global stage, Colorado has emerged as a hub of innovation for the ever-expanding CleanTech industry. Join Dynamo Energy Hub and Kiln during Boulder Startup Week as they spotlight founders, investors, and leaders at some of the most game-changing Clean Techs in the Rocky Mountain State.

Please follow the link and RSVP to attend

Please register at : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nextcycle-colorado-pitch-competition-tickets-611135180777

Join us for the 2023 NextCycle Colorado Pitch Competition on Tuesday, May 16, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at eTown Hall in Boulder, Colorado. Ten teams will present their company and pitch their idea for an opportunity to meet with Closed Loop Partners, a circular economy-focused investment firm and innovation center, and a $5,000 cash prize provided by Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), a sustainable materials and resource consulting firm.

NextCycle Colorado is a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment-funded business accelerator program providing organizations with the resources and expertise to take their recycling-related business to investment and implementation-ready status. The Pitch Competition is the culmination of the NextCycle Colorado program. These teams were hand-selected through a competitive application process. Through individualized business and technical support, they have refined their ideas which focus on improving recycling and composting end markets in the state.

This event will bring NextCycle Colorado teams, investors, funders, business and community leaders, media, and all others to celebrate growing Colorado's circular economy. The NextCycle Showcase & Pitch Competition is free, but registration is required. 

Pitch Teams

ArborRX is a family-operated tree care service that improves fire mitigation throughout the front range by transforming woody waste into biochar, a valuable soil amendment.
ByBlocks ByFusion is a technology startup with a novel process to convert plastic waste into building blocks through a modular, scalable micro-plant machine.
Rotty Mountain High is a hyperlocal compost project to provide a scalable and decentralized in-vessel composting processing option for a rural mountain community in Gunnison County.
Insecticycle is a technology startup with a novel process to convert industrial/agricultural organic wastes into animal feed and fertilizers through the use of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL).
Mile High Workshop is a non-profit employment and job training program creating unique tote bags from discarded vinyl billboards.
Organic Waste Bricks is a startup creating novel technology to transform waste cannabis and hemp into organic waste bricks for biochar production.
Purple Bucket Compost is a small-scale drop-off compost business in Bailey with franchise expansion options.
REQYRD is a technology startup with a novel process to recover key, high-value materials from batteries and other feedstocks to support battery supply chains.
Terratico is an eco-concrete manufacturing startup with a unique formula incorporating recycled plastic to enhance performance and appearance.
Viable Fibers is a startup transforming waste cannabis and hemp into sustainable products, including textiles, bioplastics, and animal bedding.

Emcee

Showcase emcee Jay Mays, is a 25-year sales veteran, stand-up comedy producer, and recovering stand-up comedian. From his underdog beginnings in dive bars to being awarded Best Comedy Venue in Miami, Jay has produced live comedy events for some of the biggest names in entertainment, including TEDx, Miami Marlins & Live Nation.
As Managing Partner at Pitch Lab, Jay combines the seemingly disparate worlds of sales and comedy to help founders be more confident, engaging presenters. He has worked with NextCycle teams nationwide to help them differentiate from the competition, build stronger relationships and win more deals.

Pitch Competition Partners

Colorado Department of Public Health and EnvironmentNextCycle Colorado, a business accelerator funded by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), challenges businesses, organizations, non-profits, universities, and entrepreneurs to pursue innovative projects that will develop new, or improve existing, recycling and composting end markets in Colorado. Learn more about CDPHE at cdphe.colorado.gov

Centrepolis AcceleratorThe Centrepolis Accelerator is accelerating the growth of Michigan’s advanced manufacturing, innovative hardware entrepreneurs and small manufacturers by providing access to funding, experts and key business and product development resources. Learn more at centrepolisaccelerator.com.

Closed Loop PartnersClosed Loop Partners is a New York based investment firm that provides equity and project finance to scale products, services and infrastructure at the forefront of the development of the circular economy. Learn more at closedlooppartners.com.

Resource Recycling Systems (RRS)RRS is honored to sponsor the $5,000 cash prize for the NextCycle Colorado Pitch Competition. RRS strives to create a world where resources are managed to maximize economic and social benefit while minimizing environmental harm. A world where abundance keeps pace with societal needs. Learn more at recycle.com.

Solve SalesAre you a founder who is “stuck in sales”—are you wearing too many hats, working too many hours, and struggling to take your business to the next level? Solve Sales will help you free yourself from the sales role so you can grow your business with less stress. Visit solvesales.com for more info.

Beyond the well-worn mantra, “kids today,” Gen Z is dramatically different from prior cohorts. On the heels of a recent interview by Forbes, Dr. Kelly Kinnebrew summarizes the research on why and how, and shares the key actions every founder and operating team needs to take to help Gen Z find success in the world of work and startups.

Join Boulder Startup Week and Boulder Health Tech to hear from four Colorado founders focused on behavioral health. They will share the challenges they currently see in behavioral health, and their vision for the future. They’ll also talk about founding a startup in Colorado and advice for entrepreneurs who want to start a health tech company.

Join us for an engaging conversation about the current state of AI, its future directions, and the wealth of opportunities it presents for entrepreneurs, companies, and careers. This session will provide you with a look at AI's impact on both industry and academia, offering a clear perspective on how you can harness its potential and ensure your future is so bright you'll need to wear shades.

Whether you're an AI enthusiast, starting a business, have an existing business that will be impacted (and it will!), a researcher, or a student, "Opportunities in AI" promises to be an enlightening and inspiring exploration of this game-changing technology.

In this talk, we'll take you on a journey through the dark and humorous world of hacking embedded controls. With over 15 years of experience, our speaker will share their tales of triumph and failure and provide insights into the art of exploiting vulnerabilities in cyber-physical systems.

But it's not all doom and gloom - we'll also explore practical strategies for improving your product's cyber-physical security posture. From the latest trends in attack techniques to best practices for defense, you'll leave with a new perspective on how to protect your products and avoid becoming the next headline.

Click here to RSVP so we know you're joining us! 

In celebration of Boulder Startup Week, join Techstars Boulder & Hubpot for a unique networking experience that builds genuine connections between members of the Boulder startup / tech / VC community. Our speed-dating networking structure will give you the opportunity to meet a variety of people and chat with each person for a set amount of time before moving on to the next one. The event will be relaxed and enjoyable, and help you to get to know one another beyond job titles.


You should leave this event with:
1. A deeper connection to the local startup ecosystem and a feeling like you've expanded your network in a meaningful way
2. At least one new contact you can help out in a concrete way
3. At least one new contact who can help you out in an impactful way

Think: mentorship, intros, strategic advice, a new buddy to talk shop with you, best hike recommendations, your new business partner, etc.

Agenda:

• 4:00-5:00 PM: Rapid-fire 1:1 chats

• 5:00-6:00 PM: Happy Hour sponsored by Hubspot

Identifying related industries to find innovative solutions and break problems down to first principles thinking.

Have you been playing around with chatGPT? Did you blink and feel like you missed so much that is happening in AI? Do not fear! Come hang out with our panel of researchers and builders as they discuss the current state and building in AI, what is exciting looking ahead and where the challenges lie. And of course, do not forget to bring loads of questions for them.

Acupressure ear seeds are non-invasive, stick-on stainless steel pellets that address all types of health issues from stress & anxiety to physical pain and chronic health conditions. Try it out with local acupuncturist Amy Jo Accardi. 5-7 minute drop-in sessions at Kiln.

A facilitated discussion on some common traits we always hear leaders need to have - then we'll go beyond to look at how they don't go far enough. When leadership is not in a vacuum, and you're dealing with real day-to-day leadership of your people - what is really needed? We’ll draw inspiration from and build with each other as we talk through leadership perception and reality.

“Being an entrepreneur is supposed to be the high point of my career. But I've never been more miserable.” Entrepreneurs face many external obstacles to their success: finding customers, raising money, building products, creating a culture. And they also face many internal obstacles: comparison, worry, doubt, fear, impostor syndrome, burnout, co-founder conflict, trauma and more. Come join this conversation on how to shift your mindset to overcome the Inner Demons that are holding you back from long-term success as an entrepreneur.

Taking that leap of faith is difficult for many. So what are some important steps to take? Communities to be a part of? Also how can networking be more valuable than capital? 
We will be talking directly to entrepenuers (Chefrack and Nomadiq) about what obstacles they face and what they are doing to navigate their new business journey. 

Fundraising is hard, and the venture capital ecosystem can be opaque. But, we're here to shed light on what actually happens in VC and answer any of your questions. This will be a safe space to discuss raising money for your startup, discussing the pros-cons, breaking down how it all works, learning all the pesky acronyms, and generally talking about how to make it faster and easier.

An hour of socializing and networking between founders and VCs. Whether you are searching for investment, deals, or just curious about either, come meet like minded folks.

Please register at everbrite link ->
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-week-happy-hour-hosted-by-bolster-lighter-capital-sweater-tickets-631519270137

Come celebrate the Boulder and Colorado startup ecosystem during Boulder Startup Week with fellow founders, startup operators, investors, and folks that make our startup ecosystem run.
Bolster, Lighter Capital, and Sweater thank you for joining them for an evening of reconnecting, networking, and fun.

About Bolster:
Bolster is the new way to find the right executives. Built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, our on-demand marketplace of 12,000+ individuals matches CEOs with transformational executives, mentors, and board members. We offer tons of programs and resources through Bolster for Startups - and add new events to our schedule all the time.

About Lighter Capital:
Lighter Capital is the leader in founder-friendly financing. Our unmatched combination of up to $4 million in non-dilutive financing, professional networking resources, product discounts, and capital partner connections have helped more than 500+ US, Canadian and Australian startups succeed on their terms.
Founders find our application process easy and prefer how our financing features no hidden fees, equity, warrants, or covenant requirements. We’ve already financed $300M+ in startups, yours could be next. Learn why companies choose Lighter and start an application at lightercapital.com.

About Sweater:
Sweater is democratizing access to venture capital by pooling money from millions of regular people into a world-class venture fund, wisely deploying that capital into startups that shape the world we live in. Every founder should be able to build their vision, and every person should be able to support the startups that create the next generation of influence and wealth.

​Let's trade some snow for dry ground!

​This will be the first of many Friday hikes so we thought what better week than Boulder Startup Week to kick us off.

​Details:

​8am optional coffee at the Boulderado Hotel then walk to Sanitas trailhead together at ~8:45

​9am - Meet at Sanitas Trailhead (follow the trail North of Sunshine Canyon Road to the trail sign where it splits up and flat)
Expected to go to 11AM
​All abilities welcome!
https://lu.ma/xq0z06zz"

ShapeShift DAO has no executive team, no board of directors, no bank account, and raised $0 from outside investors. Yet we still grew to spending over $500k per month in nine months to build an innovative crypto-currency platform.

The money was acquired through tokenomics initiatives with our minted crypto token. That token is also the medium through which voting takes place to decide how money is spent. 

When the market downturn started, ShapeShift DAO went through the painful process of budget cuts, reducing spend to $200k per month over the following nine months. All this without any one person in charge calling the shots. 

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are disrupting traditional hierarchical structures. Come learn from this first-hand account of spending, building, and cutting. Josh will present how DAOs work and the potential they have to drive innovation in new ways.

Building a company can difficult on the best of days,  throw in bleeding edge research and development problems and you will find some truly unique challenges, but also some of the highest rewards. In this panel conversation learn from three individuals who have successful commercialized technology spun out of universities, national laboratories, and beyond. Specifically, we will discuss how companies and products built on physical science technologies can be successful in raising venture capital, and can also be successful without venture capital. 

The SBIR program, which has existed since 1982, provides non-dilutive funding for small businesses to advance their technology. In 2019, the program provided more than $3.7 billion in awards. Some awardees like Qualcomm became big companies. Learn how to get paid to solve government problems and develop technology the world needs (both government and commercial).

Building an impact-focused ClimateTech startup can be much more difficult than building a typical startup, but the opportunities for incredible impact on the climate crisis are there. Join us and ask your questions about what makes ClimateTech startups harder to get going, how to ensure you don’t lose your focus on impact while also turning a profit, what the difference is between Public Benefit Corporations and Certified B Corps, and learn about some resources to get started on your journey.Chad McGimpsey - Founder of Icademy