If you’re unfamiliar with Startup Week, a “track” is a series of events themed around a particular subject of interest to the local entrepreneur. These tracks are overseen by one person, a “Track Captain,” with an expertise in these fields. Currently we have 13 different tracks all with some exciting speakers, demos, and panels. So before you decide which ones you’re going to go to, let me introduce them to you.
Veteran Entrepreneurs
No, we don’t mean people who have been Entrepreneurs for a long time (not necessarily). We’re talking about men and women who have served in the armed forces, come back home and started a brand new life with a brand new job. In this track we have events that will give you tips on how to proceed in civilian life and use the skills you learned in the military to help build your own brand new venture.
Captain: Greta Kinsbauh
Craft Beer Entrepreneurs
Craft beer is big and growing in Tampa. Cigar City Brewing, a locally established brewer, is widely considered one of the top in the nation, and plenty of smaller outfits have followed in their footsteps. This track will teach you all about the business of good beer and help you determine if the craft life is for you.
Captain: Eric Rabinovitz
Education Entrepreneurs
There’s more to education than just teaching. In this track, we’ll tell you what needs to be improved in local education and what you can do help.
Captain: Andy Gold
Entrepreneurial Concepts
Everything you need to know about coming up with an awesome idea, selling it to investors, hustling, networking, working day and night, and making the dream a reality. This track gives you a head start if you’ve never considered starting your own business, and pumps you up if you already have.
Captain: David Akers
#EverythingLocal
Tampa is such a great place, we’ve set up a track specifically for celebrating it. Here you’ll meet a bunch of leaders, innovators, and just normal dudes in the Tampa area that will likely convince you to stay if you haven’t decided already. If for no other reason, then for all the free stuff they hand out.
Captains: Ryan Sullivan and Nicholas Matthew from NHIE
Fashion
More than just a catwalk, this track will teach you how to leverage your natural fashion design abilities into a lucrative business and dress for success. Check out the fashion track for advice from models and designers on how you can follow in their footsteps.
Captain: Nancy Vaughn
Maker
Makers, tinkerers, hammerers, 3-D printers, inventors, this one’s for you! If you’ve been making your own original projects and you just need to find a way to either do it better, patent the idea, or distribute your sales, we’ve got all that advice and more on this track. You can meet with IP lawyers, established inventors, and local people just like you all of whom can help get your product to market.
Captain: Bill Shaw
Social Entrepreneurship
If your idea of a great new venture is one that helps a great cause, this track will get you there. We’ll give you all the tools you need to get started with a new charity or nonprofit idea.
Captain: Christine Mendonca
Internet of Things
The Internet: It’s not just for computers anymore! As we enter into a new age of technology, we find that more and more devices are being connected to this vast array of systems we collectively refer to as the Internet. And there is a lot of opportunity to be found, too! Join this track to meet people who can teach you how to work these technologies and see demonstrations of some of the coolest tech.
Captain: Miles Metschke
Developer
For some startups, it all starts with the code. If you can code, you can go a lot of places in life. And this track will teach you all about what’s important and what’s new in the ever-changing world of development.
Captain: Toni Aliberti
Design
All you creative types are probably wondering how you can possibly start a startup with your abilities. Well, let us tell you in this track! Here you’ll learn about crafting a creative culture, typography, Web design and a lot more. You’ll also bump shoulders with other creative types who have been through your struggles and made it.
Captain: Bret Lindstrom
Sound
That sweet feeling you get from the perfect song is something you wanna feel for the rest of your life, and maybe even get paid for it. But everyone knows musicians can’t make a living, right? Wrong! Join this track to motivate your business side and learn to support yourself while living the dream. Oh, and bring your instrument!
Captain: Zac Tomlinson
Health & Fitness
If helping people get into shape is your thing, we’ve got just the track for you. Join up here to meet people who can help you work out your best ideas, put together a recipe for success, and supplement your information with some of their own.
Captain: Jonah Story
Check out all of the events we have scheduled for these tracks on the event schedule on our website!