Adopting the lean startup philosophy, Startup Validation Camp, a two-day event organized by garag3 and e27, helps students validate their business idea.
Ryan Lou, curator of this event said, “The Startup Validation Camp lets participants experience the process of validating an idea within a sandbox environment – to get them beyond just interviewing their social circles for market research.”
The attendee numbers were capped to 45. Each attendee was given a chance to pitch their respective ideas, from which 7 teams emerged.
To help participants validate their ideas, each team consisting of 4-7 members were provided with
- A budget of S$100 to spend on domain name, online ads, outsourcing work
- In-house designer to refine the startup’s landing page
Along with the above benefits, founders of full-fledged startups, who have gone through the process of customer development, conducted workshops on some of the tenets of lean startup methodology. Yan Phun from FlickEvents and Michael Cho from MyAdEngine spent some time with the participants educating them on design and online ad optimization respectively.
Yan Yun and Sara from Stick and Balloons gave a talk on using Kickstarter to raise funds for their project and also regaled the participants by showing Act 1 of their animation film.
The top 3 teams from the camp (as voted for by the participants) were:
1) Kids ‘R Geeks
Kids ‘ R Geeks is the brainchild of a local company that believes technology has no boundaries. By incorporating Arduino’s open-source electronics prototyping platform, it is the bridge between sophisticated, high technology toys and young, inquisitive minds.
Our qualified and professional tutors will be conducting the hands-on workshop sessions. Participants will learn skills ranging from electronics, mechanics, controls and programming.
2) NUS Cap 5
Nuscap5 is a “matchmaking” platform that links solution-seekers to solution- providers within the NUS student community. The platform empowers students to engage in independent learning by providing detailed step-by-step guide to problems that students may have. This can be achieved by having a peer system where students provide hints and guidance to problems posted.
Nuscap5.com also includes features such as a virtual white board that allows students to clarify their doubts with tutors live.
3) Relief 2.0 (Entrepreneurial Response)
Relief 2.0 strives to empower local communities impacted by disaster to be self-sustainable and connect them with relief organizations.
The three main company products are:
- A Marketplace of locally produced goods and services offered to a global audience;
- A global database of resources needed/offered locally (by local stakeholders and relief organizations);
both supported by - A Capacity Building and Certification Program.
The other teams include:
Tech Saver – Platform for non-tech people to build websites
Long Ju Yuan – Online shop selling native Chinese products not available in Singapore
Big Cat Cookie Bar & Bistro – a student loft to enjoy cookies, baking classes and great company
Pie Fund – A funding platform to match investors and small businesses
Here’s a video of what some teams thought about the event:
Interviews with participants of the ‘Startup Validation Camp’ from Garag3 on Vimeo.
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