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Denver Startup Week is a huge, five-day celebration of all things entrepreneurship in Colorado. There will be a mix of panel presentations, workshops, and more than a few techie happy hours. There will be startup crawls, job fairs, pitch events, and there will even be a photography exhibit at Galvanize depicting the authentic stories of entrepreneurs.
This year there is a truly dizzying array of options for the week, and over 520 events were proposed by the community (an increase of over 200 compared to 2014). In the end, there will be over 210 official startup events hosted in downtown Denver next week. Before you look at the schedule and get overwhelmed, we found some panels and networking events that truly look spectacular.
Monday, September 28th
JumpStart Biz Plan Awards Judging Event
4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Commons on Champa (1245 Champa Street)
The Denver Office of Economic Development will honor the city’s best ideas in small business through a business plan competition. Three companies will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges for the opportunity to win $30 thousand and consulting services. Among the impressive panel of judges will be David Gold, the Managing Director at Access Venture Partners, Nick Wyman and Kate Shillo, Directors at Galvanize Ventures, Nancy Phillips, president and CEO at Viawest, Jeffrey Kass, Attorney and Shareholder at Polsinelli, Doug Van der Zwaag with U.S. Bank, and Catharine Merigold, General Partner with Vista Ventures.
Second pick: Startup Cribs - Why Place Matters
Social event not to miss: Denver Startup Week Opening Party!, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Union Station (1600 Wynkoop)
Tuesday, September 29th
App Strategy Workshop & Happy Hour: Monetize. Optimize. Drive Downloads
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Galvanize (1644 Platte Street)
Ok, so you have an amazing idea for an app - hey, you’ve built the app. This panel will teach you how to turn it into a profitable business. Hear from people from Google, TechStars, Millennial Media, Pollen, and OpenX about how to increase downloads and maximize opportunities to drive revenue. The event will end with drinks, appetizers and networking.
Second pick: Smoke and Mirrors - A Codeless Approach to Rapid Prototyping
Social event not to miss: Conversions and Cocktails: Growth Track Happy Hour, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Blake Street Tavern
Wednesday, September 30th
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Basecamp
This is the fourth annual Startup Crawl, featuring the insides of 12 local startups. A large group (670 people have signed up so far) will meet at Basecamp and take a walking tour through downtown Denver’s startup scene. You’ll get a chance to stop at 12 thriving startups’ offices to eat, drink and be merry — not to mention to get a chance to see inside some of Denver’s hottest startups. Participating companies include: GoSpotCheck, Zayo Group, iTriage/Aetna, PaySimple, CHOOZLE, Parkifi, Signpost, thoughtbot, SendGrid, Ibotta, Inc., Ping Identity, Wayin, FullContact Inc, Zomato, and CommercialTribe.
Second pick: IoT Startup Rockstars
Social event not to miss: Built In Brews hosted by Galvanize & Pivotal, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Galvanize (1644 Platte Street)
Thursday, October 1st
In The Know From The Go: How To Effectively Communicate With Your Key Stakeholders
12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at UCD Jake Jabs Center (1475 Lawrence Street, 5th Floor)
How do you keep an engaged board of directors and investor team informed while continuing to focus on day-to-day business execution? What do you share? How do you share bad news? A panel of early stage CEOs and investors will talk you through some best practices to navigating your relationship with key stakeholders.
Second pick: I’m female and code curious: Now what?
Social event not to miss: Angel Happy Hour, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Thrive Ballpark
Friday, October 2nd
Innovations On The Electric Grid: How Colorado Companies Can Navigate The Opportunities
10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Galvanize (1644 Platte Street)
Our electricity grid is in dire need of an update. Our infrastructure is old and frail, prone to cyber threats and not optimized for new ways of generating electrical power. The industry is ready for innovative disruption. This panel will discuss innovation opportunities and hot button issues in the electric industry and offer perspectives on how startups can work with regulated utilities. The panel will include: Brad Davids of Google Nest, Sunil Cherian, CEO of Spirae, Dr. Richardson of Vision Ridge Partners, Dr. Martha Symko-Davies, Director of Partnerships at NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility and a representative from Xcel Energy.
Second pick: RiNO Maker Tour
Social event not to miss: Denver Startup Week Closing Party, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Denver Sculpture Park
