Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) November 08, 2012
On Thursday night, November 15, hundreds of techies, developers, entrepreneurs and business experts and mentors will descend on ASU SkySong for an evening of workshops, conversations with major players in the startup space, building startup infrastructure and networking. ASU Venture Catalyst is bringing Techiepalooza 2.0 (TP 2.0) to the Phoenix startup community on the heels of Techiepaloozas (TP) successful first event. Held in June 2012, TP drew more than 500 people to the ASU SkySong facility and, with the announcement of Steve Blank and Patrick Koppulas participation in the event, TP 2.0 is expected to be an even bigger success this year.
Steve Blank, Silicon Valley-based retired serial entrepreneur will be joining TP 2.0., offering attendees a chance to engage in a special satellite conversation with arguably one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. In his talk, Blank will tell audience members about his epiphany that eventually evolved into the Customer Development and Lean Startup movements. He will be discussing how a startup is not simply a smaller version of a big company. Blank will introduce the method of Customer Development as the process that has been designed for startups to search for a repeatable, scalable, profitable business model, providing tried and true processes and frameworks that entrepreneurs and startups are able to implement immediately. Listeners will learn how to successfully discover and validate their business opportunity while transforming their business concepts and ideas into products and services that customers will want to buy.
TP 2.0 is honored to have such an entrepreneurial thought leader involved in this years event. Steve Blank is a Silicon Valley-based retired serial entrepreneur. Since arriving in Silicon Valley in 1978, Steve has been part of eight startups. Blank created the Customer Development methodology rooted on startups “getting out of the building,” talking to customers and using that feedback to develop and refine their product, which has since spawned the Lean Startup movement. He teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, and Columbia Universities where he created the Lean LanchPad.
Blanks participation in TP 2.0 is also a part of ASUs larger effort to incorporate the Lean Startup Methodologies throughout the universitys entrepreneurship courses and initiatives. ASU has created multiple opportunities for students and community members to learn and live the Lean Startup Method. At the student level, the W. P. Carey School of Business offers Lean Launch (MGT 494/594), a 7.5 week course employing the customer development process to undergrad and graduate students of all majors and interest areas to attempt to flush out a business model and ideally launch a venture all while safely still a student. At the community level, ASU Venture Catalyst offers Rapid Startup School Lean LaunchPad, and has additionally partnered with Gangplank, a local co-working space to deliver two no nonsense courses to Arizona startups requiring teams to either get out of the building and become customer developers or get out of the course.
Also joining TP 2.0 will be founder of GarageBand Patrick Koppula. A Distinguished Lecturer at Arizona State Universitys Arts, Media & Engineering department, his startup successes include GarageBand, iLike, and ffwd. Koppula will be speaking about the very critical startup component of forming the right founding team.
Techiepalooza will also feature a number of workshops designed to give startups and techies the practical tips that they can begin to implement within their businesses immediately. Workshop topics include: mobile application development, creating a company website in WordPress, payment solutions, SEO, 3D Printing, prototyping, and using LEAN to optimize your startup. Startups and established companies will also be showcasing their companies and employment opportunities for techies and business-minded folks.
TechiePalooza was first started as a much-needed answer to developing an integrated startup community in the Phoenix area and beyond. Connectedness has always been challenging in the Phoenix tech and entrepreneurial communities and TP 2.0 will highlight and bring together the growing community of techies and entrepreneurs in the valley. In keeping with theme of connectedness, TP 2.0 is also focused on going local, welcoming talent, speakers, sponsors, food trucks, microbrews, and wines from around town.
More than 500 people have already registered to attend TP 2.0, and more are available at http://www.techiepalooza.com/tickets.
Thanks to our sponsors and community partners-Recruiting.com, PADT, Microsoft, WePay, City of Tempe, ASU Alumni Association, SEED Spot, City of Scottsdale, Local First Arizona, the Hool Law Group, Yodel, Massage Envy, Spectrum Solutions, Popchips, WordCampPhx, LaunchSpot and Gangplank- TP 2.0 is also a completely free event.
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About ASU SkySong (http://skysong.asu.edu/):
ASU SkySong impacts local, state and international economies by engaging the University with businesses and governments to drive economic development and corporate engagement. ASU SkySong helps grow the economy through launching and accelerating new companies and promoting use inspired research. ASU SkySong, and the dozens of emerging innovation driven companies located there, are dedicated to positively impacting the economies of our state and the country for years to come.
About ASU Venture Catalyst (http://asuventurecatalyst.org/p/):
ASU Venture Catalyst equips high potential startups for success. The Catalyst assists university students, faculty and staff, as well as local and global companies, with launching startups or accelerating existing ventures. Based at ASU SkySong, The Catalyst offers investor connections, technology road maps, go-to-market strategy consulting, mentoring opportunities, and several other programs and services, all designed to identify and develop investment-grade companies.