different types of funding,” she says.
Shai Goldman, a judge at this Startup Weekend NYC and a director at Silicon Valley Bank, called Waggit a no-brainer idea that fit the needs of busy pet owners. It did not hurt Waggit’s chances that Rocco, Goldman’s Yorkshire Terrier, sat at the judges’ table during the presentations.
Austin Neudecker, an associate with Genacast Ventures, says he and the other judges weighed the scalability and revenue models of the presentations but took into account the short timeframe the teams had to work with. “We do recognize it’s a weekend,” he says. “They’re not going to have detailed financials out to five years; we don’t expect that.”
Neudecker says entrepreneurs come to Startup Weekend to advance ideas they have already been working. “That can work but it’s a little dangerous,” he says, due to the friction that can arise within these quickly formed teams. “Someone may start ‘Winklevossing’ your ass,” he says. “That’s an issue.”
Neudecker says judging the competition also serves as a sort of audition for people he may be interested in working with for potential long-term projects. For example, he says he liked the ideas from the CK Tech team, which created software to remotely control smart appliances, though the technology needed fine-tuning. “Smart equipment in the home is going to be a big space,” Neudecker says. “They haven’t addressed it quite yet but I like where they’re going.”
Tan says she plans to continue working on customer development for Waggit while sorting out the team to build up the business with her. “I’m quickly realizing this is not a sprint; this is a marathon,” she says.
