Pulling out the tech scene star power, Startup Weekend Iowa City (Sept. 30 – Oct. 2) is featuring a video introduction by Zappos CEO and best-selling author Tony Hsieh. “(I) defintely encourage all of you, if you’ve got an idea, pitch it,” Hsieh says in a five-minute video that also features Dylan Bathurst of Zappos’ development team.
“A bunch of us went on this bus across the country last year to promote my book ‘Delivering Happiness’,” Hsieh said as he stood in front of ‘The Happiness Bus.’ “We went to 23 cities in three and a half months and Iowa City was one of our early stops and actually one of my favorite cities.”
Though Hsieh won’t be physically making it to the event, he is scheduled to deliver the weekend’s keynote by video, a point of the weekend that organizers hope will be an extra incentive to attend the city’s first Startup Weekend event.
Following the established format, Startup Weekend Iowa City will be 54 hours and bring together developers, designers and business people to suggest ideas, execute on them and then pitch their final products on Sunday evening to a panel of judges. As the event is taking place in the home of the University of Iowa, the organizers are offering students a highly discounted ticket to the event – $99 for registration, $35 for students.
BECOME A SPONSOR
Join us in championing the narrative of success, resilience, and ingenuity that defines Nebraska’s startup community. Learn more »
To learn more about the Startup Weekend Iowa City and register, visit iowacity.startupweekend.com.
Here’s the event’s promotional video featuring Tony Hsieh:
