UKZN THE FIRST UNIVERSITY TO HOST STARTUP WEEKEND IN SA

THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL’S (UKZN) GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP (GSB&L) HAS BEEN GRANTED PERMISSION TO HOST A GLOBAL INITIATIVE KNOWN AS STARTUP WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER. THIS INITIATIVE IS A FIRST FOR THE PROVINCE OF KWAZULUNATAL AND A FIRS

T he UKZN GSB&L sees this as an important initiative that will inspire a thriving startup culture which is vital for the province’s economic growth and development.

STARTUP WEEKEND is a 54 hour weekend event during which aspirant entrepreneurs take an idea from concept to company. The hands-on experience will see aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas, form teams, build offerings and launch startups. This learning and information sharing process will begin with open oral pitches on Friday, when attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practising LEAN Startup Methodologies and building a minimal viable product.

On Sunday afternoon teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of judges. The event creates a platform for entrepreneurs to network and engage with successful business owners, experts on LEAN Startup Methodologies and coaches and judges who come from a background of experience in start ups. This will inspire the participants to diversify and expand their thoughts and ideas benefitting from the wealth of knowledge and experience of experts in the entrepreneurship sector.

STARTUP WEEKEND allows participants to join a global community of over 100 000 alumni from across the globe all on a mission to change the world – one venture at a time. There have been over 1000 Startup Weekend events run in over 300 cities across the globe. The impact of this intervention is significant with over 8000 startups created across the globe.

STARTUP WEEKEND is presented as one initiative in dealing with South Africa’s dismal performance in entrepreneurship. South Africa’s total early stage entrepreneurial activity continues to decline despite governments’ dedicated commitment to entrepreneurship ( GEM Report 2012). Even more concerning is that only 2% of South Africa’s population had firmly established small businesses and 4% of the population closed a business in the past year.

The argument has been advanced that government policy should move away from supporting startups to supporting sustainable businesses. I am of the view that startup support should be selective. In other wrods carefully selected potential can and should be nurtured to promote sustainable and scalable enterprises. Such enterprises have the potential to grow and create the much needed jobs that the country needs.

STARTUP WEEKEND will be hosted by the UKZN GSB&L from the 27th until 29th September, 2013. For more information visit the website: durban.startupweekend.org