On Feb. 10, Calvin seniors Eli Yeong and David Fitch, along with Calvin’s Youngsma Center Program Coordinator Devon Fata, attended Grand Rapids Startup Weekend 2018, a yearly event in which young entrepreneurs gather to pitch ideas and work to develop them over three days. The event was hosted by Start Garden: a local investing and development firm dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in West Michigan.

Startup Weekend was a competition of ambition and ideas, bringing together around 125 participants from all over the area. It started when the stage opened for anyone to pitch an idea. Next, the 125 participants voted on projects they found compelling. Finally, teams formed, usually with around 5-7 participants, and went to work fleshing out the idea and refining a business plan. These plans can include logos, prototypes and a short presentation.

“Working and presenting at Startup Weekend was both familiar and enriching,” said Fata, who teamed up with Yeong for the event. “While working and collaborating in new teams is always a great opportunity, Grand Rapids also has a very tight-knit community of designers and developers, so it’s great to see some familiar faces in the crowd,” he added.

Yeong described his idea as “an app that picks an outfit out for you in the morning based on weather, your schedule and personal style and taste.” He added that it “works mainly through data collection and profile creation. It is built for those merging into the workforce who don’t have time to focus on fashion.”

Several other ideas were developed over the weekend. They included projects that utilized virtual reality to train new employees, a tool allowing educators to more easily access digital and physical materials, a phone app that allows consumers to learn more about the farms their food comes from and several other unique ideas that you can find brief descriptions of on the Start Garden twitter.

Everyone regrouped on Sunday morning, then made presentations in front of a panel of judges. Teams showed business plans, product designs and explained why their products would be valuable to the community.

Finally, the winners were chosen. This year there were two winners: one team had developed a wearable location tracker that would allow the user to send an emergency notification if in a dangerous situation, the other presented a mobile version of a clap-on, clap off smart home system. The winners took home copies of a book on starting businesses and a three-month membership at Start Garden that gave them an office space to further advance their ideas.

“On the whole, I really enjoyed my time at Startup Weekend,” explained Fata. “As a designer myself, this event is distinctive in that a participant’s qualifications aren’t just limited to designing and developing. Rather, Startup Weekend also incorporates business-minded professionals to help get ideas off the ground. I’m always a fan of bringing new perspectives to the table.”