How to Organize a Startup Week in Your City | Techstars

All the resources to help you learn more about Techstars Startup Week and how to become an organizer.
https://youtu.be/YUOJDJjUy-U
Techstars Startup Week is a five-day, entrepreneur-led, community event held in cities across the world to showcase the local startup community through meetups, lectures, discussions, and celebrations.
We continue to grow as a worldwide movement and are excited about new cities and countries adding their community to the map. Since the first Startup Week was held in Boulder, Colorado in 2010, Techstars Startup Week has been taken to communities around the world — including Seattle, Austin, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Amman, Lagos, Taipei, Bangkok, and over 80 other cities. We’ve had more than 200,000 people attend a Startup Week, and we’re committed to bringing more people into the ecosystem over the years to come.
Volunteer-run: Techstars Startup Week is entirely volunteer-run by local individuals who help organize and support the week’s programming, content, and logistics. Because it is typically a 100% free event, we don’t hire people to run the event or activities.
Tracks: The week is focused on a series of themes, called tracks, to help the community learn, develop, and grow its entrepreneurial ecosystem. Local organizers, called ‘track captains,’ select a minimum of five tracks for the week, and they run the tracks they feel are most relevant to their community. Speakers and panels are based on the tracks and can be invited from within and outside of the community to provide education, motivation, and inspire. We found that this tried-and-tested curriculum and framework is a great way to highlight and empower local entrepreneurs.
Participants choose: Over the course of the five days, participants can choose events of interest to attend. These events are held at various venues across a city and will include many networking opportunities to help build relationships.
Open to all: Startup Week is open to all, and is aimed at showcasing and including all involved in the community. The intent is to bring entrepreneurs together to build momentum and opportunity around the local community’s unique entrepreneurial identity. We want to develop the community into an environment with better conditions to start a business in.
Connectedness: Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely experience. Startup Week participants may find that they feel more connected to their community and no longer feel alone in their efforts. It’s this support network that can make the difference between giving up or pushing through to success.
The Techstars Startup Week mission is to help establish thriving ecosystems anywhere people are interested in developing a community. We’ve found it’s one of the best ways to galvanize a community around startups and bring a diverse group of people together to celebrate entrepreneurship.
We have defined four core values in line with this mission:
We believe strong entrepreneurial ecosystems are created from connected communities. That’s why we create strong community bonds by facilitating connections and sharing our networks. This is the foundation for community transformation.
We help others whenever possible, giving first to our community, with no specific expectations of return. We believe that the pay-it-forward principle builds strong startup networks and communities.
We believe collaboration drives innovation. As a team, we act with integrity and treat others with respect. We believe that having entrepreneurs within the core organizing team will help with outreach to the local entrepreneurial community.
Techstars Startup Week is always open to all. We’re committed to making people feel included and welcomed. We invite all communities to participate. We use inclusive language in communications and respect cultural differences. We lead with empathy and encourage inclusive behaviour that will nurture a safe and inclusive environment.
https://youtu.be/wBtrPFlz6tU
Techstars Startup Week’s structure is designed to bring an entire entrepreneurial ecosystem together in one place within a city. An easy way to remember the format for the week’s structure is 5 x 5 x 5:
Whether you’re looking to build a startup community in your local city, or interested in developing as an entrepreneur yourself, organizing is a great way to get involved in the startup community. Here are a few reasons our organizers decide to get involved:
Organizing a Startup Week is incredibly rewarding on many levels. It also requires hard work and commitment. So, before you apply, we’d like to share some expectations on organizing. These are six of the most important requirements.
01. Time Commitment: Organizing a Startup Week is a lot of work. It is recommended to have a lead-time of six months to organize a Startup Week, especially if it’s your first time organizing in your community.
02. Community & Volunteer Focus: The event should focus 100% on making the community a better place to start a business. It’s also 100% volunteer-run.
03. Knowing Your Local Community: Knowing what experiences, content, and networking opportunities your community needs will be essential in organizing a successful Startup Week event. We believe that having entrepreneurs within the core organizing team helps to reach the startup community.
04. Strong Core Team: Forming a strong team is one of the most important parts of executing a successful Techstars Startup Week. A core team size of around 8 to 10 members is recommended. Some of the top qualities to look for in a core team include: A strong work ethic, organizational experience, creative problem-solving, industry knowledge, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
05. Techstars Brand Compliance: All Techstars Startup Week events have to comply with the Techstars brand rules and guidelines. All events are standalone and cannot be co-branded with any organization or entity.
06. Community Leader Agreement: The lead Startup Week organizer applicant will be required