Congratulations to the winners of Startup Weekend Folsom! Held over this past weekend, 20 ideas were pitched and six teams formed to create brand new startups over the course of 54-hours. While three top teams were selected by a panel of judges, everyone was a winner!

  • 1st Place: Smartooth — pH sensors to treat tooth decay
  • 2nd Place: Birdfund — a digital equity crowdfunding platform
  • 3rd Place: Katana Hiro — Japanese-inspired gaming cafe with a cast of original characters

This is the third Startup Weekend to be held in our region this year. What happens post Startup Weekend? Some teams will stay together and continue to pursue their ideas. Others will consider the work they completed over the three days a hands-on fully-immersed lesson in entrepreneurship but won’t be interested in moving the idea forward. But what they learned over the weekend will serve them well as they continue to explore the entrepreneurial journey. Some people will discover during the course of the weekend that the life is not for them. How great to learn that in 54-hours instead of pouring blood, sweat and tears into a startup idea for months or years only to find out it’s not for you!

If a team decides to pursue their idea, there are lots of resources available in our community to help them move forward. 1 Million Cups is one such program. This weekly founder coffee offers a safe place to present your idea and get sound feedback from an audience of your peers. Early stage startups from idea stage to MVP to revenue are all welcome to apply to present. Presentations are 6 minutes long, followed by 15-20 minutes of Q&A and feedback. Have you presented at 1 Million Cups yet? What are you waiting for?! Apply to present

1 Million Cups isn’t just for presenting — our regular attenders have discovered a great community and a weekly place to meet other founders who “get it.” It’s important for startup founders to get out and meet with other founders for reasons of mental health as well as to share ideas about moving their companies forward. Do you get out a few times a month? If not, give 1 Million Cups a try. Next Wednesday, 7/31,  we’re meeting at Uptown Studios in Sacramento from 9-10am. Come a little early or stay a little later to meet other early stage founders.

Plan Ahead

The Lean Innovator Dan Casas-Murray has a workshop coming up, Traction Testing for Startups, next Wed, July 31 at InnoGrove in Elk Grove. Dan gets rave reviews from early stage startup founders. Come check it out! RSVP

The Sacramento Female Founders meetup group is celebrating its 1 year anniversary on Wed, July 31 at The Bank. Their special guest is Lisa Thee. Lisa will share her story as the CEO and founder of Minor Guard and how she was acqui-hired by the largest player in the child safety market, Bark. This event is free to attend. RSVP

Do you want free business mentorship, advising, or consulting? StartupSac and the Capital Region SBDC have partnered to provide free business support mentorship to help Sacramento region entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Learn more and sign up!

We’re building community! The StartupSac Community Facebook Group has over 300 members. Now we need you!  Request to join here.

There’s lots of great stuff going on in the tech startup community–check out the details in this week’s Startup Digest. If you’d like to receive the digest in your inbox every Monday morning, sign up for free here. And for even more startup information, happenings and resources, browse  the  StartupSac Website.

If you’ve organized (or know about) an event you think belongs in the Startup Digest, please submit it here for consideration.