Which Startup Weekend event (City/Year) was your team created?
Amsterdam 2011

Tell us about your StartUp Weekend company/product. What’s the name…
Party with a Local

…and what does it do?
Party with a Local is a free app that connects travellers and locals that want to party. Because a night out anywhere is better with a local.

How has your company/product changed since Startup Weekend?
Went from vague idea, that probably would have remained that if I hadn’t attended SW, to a kick-arse product that is about to be launched!

What milestones or successes have you had since the weekend?

What has been the biggest challenge since Startup Weekend?
Product Development. It’s strange, but such a simple sounding idea like ‘party with a local’, that everyone gets straight away and seems to like, does not automatically mean a simple and great product. It’s taken a long time and a lot of false starts to discover exactly what ‘Party with a Local’ means and what it should be as a product. This will no doubt continue to evolve, but some tips; don’t assume you know best, get a lot of feedback from users, keep it as simple as possible, the less features the better… drink more beer.

What does the future have in store for you and your company?
1. App launch in European Summer 2012.
2. Rapid growth & lots of buzz.
3. World domination.

…and even if not, it has been, and will continue to be, a lot of FUN.

What was the best part about Startup Weekend for you and your company?

If you could rewind and do your Startup Weekend over again, is there anything you would do differently?
Celebrating getting the most votes in the Friday pitches & with forming a kick-arse team of 8 people by going drinking late probably wasn’t the best idea seeing as I already had a bit of a cold. Combine that with adrenaline, excitement, problem solving, stress, lack of sleep & more drinking over the weekend… by the last day I had the flu & couldn’t even speak to do the final pitch. Having said that… I had a great time & probably would do it exactly the same again.

Give one piece of advice for people (thinking of) attending their first Startup Weekend?

How can the StartUp Weekend community support you going forward?
Join Party with a Local, help promote Party with a Local and give us LOTS of feedback!

What’s your website and how can our readers contact you?
http://partywithalocal.com
Email: info@partywithalocal.com
Twitter: @partywithalocal

Are you hiring?
Sort of. Currently looking for guest Bloggers for the Party with a Local blog, ideally to write about the local party scene in cities all over the world.

Soon after v1 launches we might be looking for a whole range of great people; developers, designers, marketers, business people & more. Key requirements – must like to travel, party, meet locals… & must drink beer in meetings.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Startup Weekend has been proven to be a Mecca of sorts where software developers and business consultants have flocked to in order to collaborate, build, and even start their life as an entrepreneur. There has however been one major missing ingredient. Creatives.

Creatives include Graphic designers, UX designers, Illustrators, even Print designers, Photographers, Videographers and all sorts of other creative people.

We know and have seen the magic and power of teams that have this dynamic three-part combo. What they build, how they work together, and how they present are what helps attendees get the most out of the Startup Weekend experience and dramatically increases their chances to moving beyond the weekend together.

All of us in the Startup Weekend community are excited to reach out and connect with the creative community and truly provide the experience and environment that fosters creative growth, and ultimately, creative freedom.

If you’re a designer, now is your chance to buy a ticket and join Startup Weekend Amsterdam.

Which Startup Weekend event (City/Year) was your team created?
Amsterdam 2011

Tell us about your StartUp Weekend company/product. What’s the name…
Toogethr

…and what does it do?
Toogethr is a social ride-share app. It allows you to easily find offered and requested rides, or add new rides. Toogethr is both for daily usage (commuting) and occasional rides (events, conferences, holidays). Benefits for users include making their rides social, more sustainable and at a lower cost.

How has your company/product changed since Startup Weekend?
Both the company and the product have significantly.
* None of the team members during swAMS joined the company eventually (except for me, pitching the original idea). New founders/team members have come onboard
* Product. The product developed during swAMS was a demo product. Software development started shortly afterwards and MVP took about 4 months.

What milestones or successes have you had since the weekend?
* Launched product beginning of January 2012 in the Netherlands
* Major media coverage (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, blogs)
* Over 5,000 users in the first 3 months
* Over 13,000 rides posted

What has been the biggest challenge since Startup Weekend?
* Funding, especially for pre-revenue startups that requires significant amounts of users
* Customer Development

What does the future have in store for you and your company?
* Continue with near-weekly product releases with new features and improvements
* International scaling

What was the best part about Startup Weekend for you and your company?
* Energy of working on something with a group of people you never met before
* Networking

If you could rewind and do your Startup Weekend over again, is there anything you would do differently?
* Smaller team – everybody needs to contribute evenly
* More focus on the final presentation, less on developing a working demo

Give one piece of advice for people (thinking of) attending their first Startup Weekend?
* Make sure you know what you can contribute (presentation skills, team skills, design skills, development skills, team support skills)

What’s your website and how can our readers contact you?
Web: http://www.toogethr.com/
App: https://m.toogethr.com/

Are you hiring?
Yes! See http://www.toogethr.com/nl/about/jobs

Meanwhile please check out the team – all volunteers dedicating their time help you.

Tickets are already selling fast in anticipation of an awesome event – some of the earlybird tickets are already sold out! Don’t delay – buy yours today.

We’ve already arranged the venue for the next amazing Startup Weekend where you can go from an idea, to an amazing startup in 54 hours!

Tuesday, 14th of February there were 3 startup weekend alumni on the famous Dutch TV show: “de wereld draait door”: SNTMNT (innovation award #swAMS), Goddessalert (winner #swAMS) and Truienradar.nl (winner #swENS).We’re really proud of of what they’ve done so far and can’t wait to hear more from them!

So the question remains….do YOU want to arrive with an idea, and potentially pitch your Startup in front of a million TV viewers a few months later? If so,  then REGISTER now!
Be quick: tickets sell out fast!

Below you can find some highlights of the last #swAMS in 2011, where it all began…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Most Innovative: SNTMNT – a tool predicting stock trends of 25 AEX funds based on online sentiments

Quickest to make a million: ShuffleWear – a subscription service for exclusive and surprising monthly underwear and socks

Most impressive overall: Goddess Alert – an app for men to better cater to the needs of the women in their lives

In addition, the prize for the best pitch went to Tip ‘n’ Trip - a personal travel map that helps you and your friends keep track of cool places to visit.

Thanks all for participating and see you next time!

Eline’s Startup Weekend promotional films should be out soon, we’ll keep you posted!

Check out the video Livestream

And for all you lo-fi followers, check the Twitter stream

Good luck to all teams!