Three Day Startup!

By Shlomo  Maital

3ds cornell 3DS Cornell

 

   This morning, at 8:30 a.m.,  we launch a 60-hour program here at my university, Technion, called 3DS  – Three Day Startup.    Headed by EE/CS  Professor Daniel Freedman,  the project chose 40 diverse students from over 100 applicants.  During the coming 72 hours, the students will each a) pitch an entrepreneurial idea,  b) choose about 7 or 8 of them for development, c) form into teams, and d) develop a winning business plan for each, collect market data and possibly even build a prototype.   On Friday afternoon, the student teams will pitch their idea to a group of venture capitalists.   They will be assisted by a team of experienced mentors.  [The photograph shows the 3DS group at Cornell University].

   “The 3DS program creates a living entrepreneurship laboratory on university campuses by bringing together students ranging from freshmen to freshly-minted PhDs, with diverse backgrounds, including computer science, business, engineering, law, design, communications and others. Participants gain experience in cross-disciplinary collaboration, brainstorming and ideation, and group productivity, including ad-hoc leadership and decision-making under severe time constraints. The resulting experience is just like that of working with a budding startup company.   Over the past four years, thirty-eight 3DS events on four continents have given rise to 28 companies receiving $8 million in funding. Thirteen companies from 3DS have been accepted to accelerators such as Y Combinator, TechStars, and 500 Startups.  3-Day Startup has a track record of success across the globe. The 2000+ 3DS alumni from 38 events over the last three years have started 28 technology companies that have collectively raised over $8 million in investment capital.”

3DS began in the entrepreneurial incubator at the University of Texas, Austin.

 Why not consider organizing and launching a 3DS event at YOUR university?  Check out   http://www.technion3ds.org