Buffalo Startup Weekend has long served as a first step for people who want to get involved in the startup scene but don’t know where to start.
Now that people are shedding their masks and getting together in-person again, the event is back.
“This is a reintroduction of the Western New York startup scene to the community and to itself,” said Dan Abbotoy, founder of his own startup, the Food Court, and one of the event’s organizers this year. "It's a chance after two years behind a computer to get back in person and see all these other people who are like you."
The three-day event – ”a hackathon meets networking meets a pitch competition,” according to Abbotoy – will be held April 22 to 24 at Seneca One Tower. Attendees will gather, pitch their ideas and then spend Friday night, all of Saturday and then Sunday morning building a business. Winners will be crowned Sunday.
Like many others in Buffalo’s startup economy, Abbotoy was introduced to the entrepreneurship scene through a startup weekend in 2018. He spent several years trying to build the company he created there, dubbed Cast Yourself, before throwing himself into a new idea.
He noted the unique energy of the event – where community leaders mix with newcomers who’ve come to see what the fuss is about – all while building something tangible.
Four years (and a crushing pandemic) after Abbotoy took the leap and introduced himself via Startup Weekend, he’s part of the volunteer team organizing the event.
There will be old friends, for sure, but it’s the fresh faces he’ll really be looking for.
“This is a great entrance point for anyone who has an idea living in their brain and wants to pitch it to successful entrepreneurs,” he said. “There is so much value on this event because it is based on action and not just talk.”
