Changing tide
Mashup Weekend to help develop marine business ideas
People with ideas for marine or oceans-related startups are invited to take part in what is being billed as a mashup weekend there they can brainstorm with other aspiring business people to further develop their proposals.
Mashup Weekend: Oceans Edition will take place at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on Friday and Saturday.
The session will be led by Andrew Button, who began his business Mashup Labs in 2014 after 15 years of working with various businesses and economic development organizations.
Based in Bridgewater, Mashup Labs focuses on working to see more entrepreneurs in rural communities. The Port Hawkesbury session is sponsored by Island Sandbox and Innovacorp.
“I thought that there was an opportunity to bring some of the ideas, processes, methodology from the startup work into more rural parts of Nova Scotia,” CEO Andrew Button said in an interview. “Since then we’ve been helping people in rural parts of Atlantic Canada, across Nova Scotia figure out that if there are great businesses to be built around their great ideas.”
Button said he was working with officials with both agencies on other initiatives, and the concept for the Port Hawkesbury session developed from that.
The oceans theme for the event is appropriate for the Strait region, which has a long history of marine-related industry and which is home to the Nova Scotia Community College’s Nautical Institute.
“Any business that you can think of that would have some connection to the ocean, so that’s a super-wide spectrum — that could be a scientific device that helps to monitor gases in the ocean to something as simple as, ‘I work on a lobster boat and I see a product that could work better,’” Button said.
As another example, he noted a recreational boater may have encountered a problem and discovered a better way of addressing it.
“Any and all of those things would fit into this Mashup Weekend,” Button said.
During Mashup Weekends, would-be entrepreneurs come in with their ideas and small teams are formed to “see how far off the ground they can get that business idea lifted,” Button said.
Some people may be reluctant to share their ideas in fear that someone else may take it and run with it, but he said more can potentially be gained through the model than someone may initially suspect.
“You can share the idea without necessarily sharing the secret sauce of how it works, how it does what it does,” Button said.
Many people may not see themselves necessarily as an inventor or entrepreneur but they may have a potential solution to a problem, Button said.
“Often times those are the products that solve real problems,” he said.
It’s not necessary to have your full business idea figured out going into the weekend, he added.
The session has a nominal $25 fee for the weekend, and includes materials and meals. Anyone interested can register at mashupweekend.com. Preregistration is encouraged but people won’t be turned away at the door, Button said.
“I thought that there was an opportunity to bring some of the ideas, processes, methodology from the startup work into more rural parts of Nova Scotia.”
CEO Andrew Button