DG Startup: Entrepreneurs Got Innovative with Innovation 48 » HERE! Dongguan
MANY PEOPLE THINK ABOUT STARTING A BUSINESS, THEY HAVE THE DRIVE, SOME HAVE AN IDEA, BUT MOST LACK THE KNOW-HOW. INNOVATION 48 BROUGHT THESE PEOPLE TOGETHER AND PAVED THE WAY WITH AN INTRODUCTORY 48 HOURS TO STARTUPS.
Entrepreneurial minds gathered in the Songshan Lake (SSL) High Tech Development Zone’s We Valley on August 10 and 11 as part of the first English based startup weekend with Innovation 48. This was the second startup weekend hosted by SSL DGOSA. In the span of 48 hours, a room of like-minded strangers came together to discuss and present business ideas, with the opportunity to be guided by professionals, along with the chance to win the grand prize of 10,000 RMB in startup funds and 3 months free use of office space at the Guangda We Valley’s own startup incubator.
Individuals from all levels were seen at the event, from already established businessmen looking for talents, to those just starting with an idea or willingness to learn.
Seizing the weekend with first place was Carpe Diem, and the idea for athletic wear that features electric muscle stimulation technology. Business developer Minnie Pei said she had already done the research with her company, BRRACE, but was looking for a team. “We did not know each other before today,” she said. The team agreed the next step is to take the funding and space provided to move forward with their idea; they said a big step is out of the way because of the weekend.
In second place was E-Factory, with the idea for a computer plugin that shows factories in Dongguan along with their capabilities to clients. Third place was SGC (Smart Garbage Classification) with the idea to develop a garbage classification voice box to make it easier for households to comply with the strict recycling programs that are being implemented in Shanghai and other select cities.
An estimated 80 people attended the first day, with 12 official teams made. The number of people was reduced to about half the second day and nine teams were left due to personal reasons from participants or teams notworking out. Ziv Glikman, judge and founder of HERE! said this filtered out who was serious about the weekend and had that extra drive.
Individuals from all levels were seen at the event, from already established businessmen looking for talents, to those just starting with an idea or willingness to learn.
“I am surprised at how many young people bring ideas. I want to hear ideas and help build on it to make something happen,” Michael Wong, an attendee, said. He joined the event last year and recommends it to entrepreneurs wanting to make connections.
“I am surprised how motivated the people here are,” June Chen, an aspiring self-boss, said. She said she wanted to brainstorm with those around her.
To get visitors familiar and talking to each other, host Rickey Lin, director of counseling at Inno17 (a Taiwanese incubator in SSL), broke the ice with the famous international game of rock, paper, scissors, and later took them through the step-by-step process of business development with the game half-baked for teams to plan out a mock idea.
“This is not just a game but an example of what you will do over the weekend,” Lin said.
Holding true to that statement, attendees used what they learned from half-baked and applied it to the development of their actual ideas. Lin said he did not want to tell people what to do but instead push them in the right direction to evaluate their plan.
After two days of intensive planning, the teams presented their ideas to the judges with a strict 5-minute time limit and five additional minutes for judges to ask questions.
“There is an idea to do something different and meaningful here, and something new,” Vivian Chen, SSL DGOSA president and city-wide vice-president, said about Innovation 48. She hopes this will bring the international and local entrepreneur communities together. She said this is an example of the up and coming spirit of SSL and its role in the future of Dongguan. She hopes to have more events like this and sees the interest with attendance up compared to last year’s event that was only in Chinese.
The winners attended a dinner hosted by SSL DGOSA to mark their 2nd anniversary, where Carpe Diem presented their plan in full.