Five days. Nearly 40 programs and activities. More than 50 speakers. There's a lot packed into Louisville Startup Week 2021.
The annual entrepreneur-led event, powered by Techstars, is back next week after a pandemic-related hiatus last year. The week of free educational programming and networking will kick off on Monday, Sept. 20, with all events having both in-person and virtual components.
Michael DiCenso, Louisville Startup Week organizer, told me the event isn't just for existing startup founders. Its goal is to bring together future entrepreneurs, students, investors, service providers and corporate innovators, too, to help build up the ecosystem.
"Techstars has said events like this are great for the opportunity for collisions... the opportunity for two people or a group of people to have thought-provoking conversation and thought-provoking content put in front of them," he said. "Maybe you come to Startup Weekend and you find a co-founder, a new customer or an investor. Maybe you share some ideas and a new startup is spun out of it. But it's all about providing the opportunity for these collisions to happen."
DiCenso wanted to highlight two events in particular he believes folks will benefit from.
- On Monday, Rami Goldratt, CEO of Goldratt Group, will have a keynote address called "A Practical Guide to Breakthrough Innovation." He's a consultant and has worked with businesses of all sizes across the globe. Notably, Goldratt's father, Eliyahu, is the author of "Theory of Constraints" and "The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement." That event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lodgic (552 E. Market St.) and online.
- On Wednesday, there will be a keynote address from Dr. Debra Clary, associate vice president of organization effectiveness CAO leadership at Humana, who will discuss the importance of narrative leadership. That will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at Louisville Thoroughbred Society (209 E. Main St.) and online.
I was also particularly interested in several venture capital-focused events, such as a local investor panel on Wednesday led by Kelby Price, executive director of venture development at Kentucky Science and Technology Corp., and a Thursday Venture Capital 101 discussion led by an all-women panel including Kelli Jones, co-founder and general partner of Sixty8 Capital, Tessa Flippin, investor at TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Molly Fowler, CEO of Dorm Room Fund, Janine Sickmeyer, founding partner of Overlooked Ventures, Lenore Champagne Beirne, founder of Bright Ventures, and Savannah Johnson, a VC investor.
You can find the full schedule of events and register to attend here.
