Celebrating Innovation & Entrepreneurship Across The Sacramento Region
Every year during the third week in November, hundreds of countries and thousands of communities across the globe celebrate entrepreneurship through tens of thousands of events during Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). These events inspire millions to explore their potential as an entrepreneur while fostering connections and increasing collaboration within their ecosystems.
For years, the Sacramento startup community has celebrated GEW through a limited set of events and activities. This year, thanks to the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sacramento is taking Global Entrepreneurship Week up to a new level, from Monday, November 16 through Friday, November 20.
While there are dozens of events and activities planned for the week, here a few that we’re especially looking forward to.
Testing Business Ideas with David Bland
Building on the best selling Strategyzer books, David J Bland and Alex Osterwalder curated a list of experiments for people who are stuck Testing Business Ideas. They identified three major themes from design thinking and applied them to rapid experimentation. In this talk, David will describe the principles behind Testing Business Ideas and facilitate an interactive session on sequencing experiments.
When: Monday, November 16, 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Register To Attend Testing Business Ideas with David Bland
GEW Launch & Entrepreneurial State of the Union
The Entrepreneurial State of the Union will feature a panel discussing our region’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem! This virtual event will feature a distinguished panel consisting of a mix of entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. The discussion will highlight the different actors of the Sacramento entrepreneurial ecosystem and how they connect to grow our region’s entrepreneurial and innovation community.
When: Monday, November 16, 5:00 – 6:30 PM
Register To Attend Entrepreneurial State of the Union
An Entrepreneurial Mindset: Love the Problem with Ash Maurya
The Carlsen Center is excited to bring you an opportunity to learn from the creator of the Lean Canvas and founder of LEANSTACK, Ash Maurya. In this workshop, you will explore the entrepreneurial mindset and how it starts with a LOVE for the PROBLEM. Ash is praised for offering some of the best and most practical advice for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs all over the world. Driven by the search for better and faster ways for building successful products, Ash has developed a systematic methodology for raising the odds of success built upon Lean Startup, Customer Development, and Bootstrapping techniques.
When: Tuesday, November 17, 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Register To Attend An Entrepreneurial Mindset: Love the Problem
StartupSac Happy Hour featuring Chris Johnson, CEO of Rapid Brands
Christopher Johnson is the Founder & CEO of Rapid Brands, Inc. As the inventor of the Rapid Ramen Bowl, he successfully pitched his invention on Shark Tank in 2013, and secured an on-air deal with Dallas Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban. His leadership and strategic execution have led Rapid Brands to become the fastest growing microwave cookware company in the country. Chris has secured license partnership with billion dollar brands such as Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Collegiate, Top Ramen, Minute Rice, and General Mills to name a few. This event will feature a short interview with Chris followed by an open informal Q&A session.
When: Tuesday, November 17, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Register to Attend StartupSac Happy Hour featuring Chris Johnson
FourthWave Future Landscape of Women-led Innovation
Join in celebrating the culmination of the FourthWave’s 2020 cohort while engaging in a discussion about the future of women in leadership! This event will be the culmination of FourthWave’s 17-week long accelerator journey and will include a celebration of the cohort of 13 female founders who will lead a conversation about the Future Landscape of Women-led Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
When: Wednesday, November 18, 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Register to Attend FourthWave Future Landscape of Women-led Innovation
Mentor Sacramento Office Hours Sprint
The purpose of Mentor Sacramento Office Hours Sprint is to further connect startup founders and mentors, prove the value of mentorship, and establish Mentor Sacramento as a go to platform to connect. Participants will have the opportunity to meet in three 15-minute sprint sessions with mentors who are investors, advisors, subject matter experts, and former entrepreneurs.
When: Thursday, November 19, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Spark Venture Competition Demo Day
Watch the demo day of the Spark Venture Competition in Sacramento where finalists will compete for $20,000 in prizes. Two tracks are available, one for businesses and another for social impact ventures .
When: Thursday, November 19, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Register for Spark Venture Competition Demo Day
There are dozens more events and activities planned for the week. Check out the set of events on the Carlsen Center GEW page.
