Venture Mechanics' Scalathon events are unique. Unlike a hackathon, where the goal is to develop code over a weekend, in a Scalathon diversely-talented teams try to solve major real-world problems, by crafting venture-scale business plans optimized for scalability, monetization, and investor readiness. Instead of demonstrating your code at the end, you'll be presenting your compelling business plan to a panel of VCs to see which team has come up with the biggest venture-scale business idea.
Format Overview
- Length: 48 hours (Friday evening to Sunday evening)
- Participants: Teams of 3-6 (encouraged to mix business, technical, and domain expertise, ensuring diversely-talented teams)
- Goal: Develop a robust, investor-ready business plan for a scalable AI startup tackling a significant problem, and deliver a great pitch
- Guest Mentors: Experienced mentors and investors from the Venture Mechanics Catapult Accelerator will roam room-to-room throughout the day Saturday and up until the competition begins on Sunday afternoon. They will touch base with the co-founders and see how their ideas are coming along, providing constructive suggestions to move their ideas forward. You can see guest mentor "office hours" at the end of this page.
Key Activities & Flow
DAY 1: FRIDAY — KICKOFF & IDEATION
- 5:00pm Registration and Networking
- 6:00pm Opening Keynote: “[Industry Sector] at Venture Scale: What Investors Want”
- 7:00pm Problem Space Insights: “Founders” will take the microphone and describe the problem space they are thinking about, and solicit co-founders to approach them to discuss its merits. Potential “co-founders” will then network with founders in the room and brainstorm to identify large, meaningful problem spaces where [the Industry Sector] can be transformative. Conference rooms will be available for breakout whiteboarding sessions.
- 8:30pm-10:00pm Team Formation: Initial “co-founders” will take the stage to describe the problem space they want to attack, and solicit the additional co-founders they still need to complete their teams.
Ideal team formation will include at least one of the following:
- An experienced technologist
- A Go To Market (GTM) expert, aka “growth hacker”
- A domain expert in the problem space
- Recommended: a financial modeling expert
DAY 2: SATURDAY — BUILD & VALIDATE
- 9:00am Doors open
- 9:30am: Team registrations and room assignments
- 10:00am Workshop or Panel
- 11:00am Teams Get To Work on:
- Market Analysis & Sizing
- Monetization Model
- Competition & Differentiation
- Go-to-Market Strategy
- Exit Strategy
- 6:00pm-7:00pm Teams can cross-network to compare notes and blow off some steam before going home to rest and freshen up for the next day.
DAY 3: SUNDAY — FINALIZE & PRESENT
- 9:00am Doors open
- 9:30am Teams sign up for a time slot to practice their pitches with pitch coaches
- 10:00am Teams get their 20 minutes to pitch their deals to coaches in the Airbus Room (10 minutes to pitch, 10 minutes for feedback)
- 2:00pm Teams submit their final pitch deck to missioncontrol@venturemechanics.com.
- 3:00pm Team Presentations (10-min pitch + Q&A) to the investors on the judging panel.
- 5:30pm Awards
- Judges will announce their top selection for the most scalable startup idea
- Audience will crowdvote for their top selection
- Prizes awarded
- 6:00pm -7:00pm Networking reception for all participants
DETAILS
- Free parking
- Meals provided:
- Pizza at 7pm Friday
- Lunch at noon on Saturday
- Snacks and adult beverages Saturday 6pm-7pm
- Lunch at noon on Sunday
- Snacks and adult beverages Sunday 6pm-7pm
- A snack and beverage cart will be roaming room to room all weekend
MOST IMPORTANT
Upon registration, participants will receive the Scalathon Guide , which will lend insights on how to best prepare for the event, what the judging rubric will be, and other details. We recommend registering as soon as possible as space will be limited.
