Switchyards‘ next startup experiment, Startup x Month
The initial plan for this design/consumer accelerator was to build a team of 3 to 4 folks, led by Switchyards Founder Michael Tavani, to zone-in on an idea that would be launched in one month. Tavani defends his decision to serve as CEO because of his previous experience with Switchyards Weekend Accelerator. He states that “when pulling a team together for a sprint like this, it’s super important to have a leader that’s making the ultimate decisions and guiding the product, etc.” In mid July we announced that Startup x Month was accepting applications and today marks the end of the first full week of the project. Of course we had to follow up.
So far the team has been built, and the product is in full swing. Tavani gave us a few insights about the progress so far:
- The Talent – The Startup x team ended up including 9 people (+Tavani) instead of only 3 or 4. When choosing team members Tavani realized that enlarging the team would not only allow for a heavy emphasis on product development, but also provide the bandwidth to focus on acquisition. Check out the current team below.
- The Product – They are building a platform where budding innovators can post their nascent ideas to gain support. Tavani describes this “Kickstarter light” type platform as a facilitator of feedback loops, email signups, and pre-purchase or donation payments.
- Next Steps – The team has already built out the platform’s shell and plans to focus on UI in the next week.
- The Result – The first Switchyards incubated company. Tavani stresses “we’re putting a lot of stock (and pressure) in the product and launch.” They are planning for a Sept 3rd launch day.
Melanie Crissey
@MelanieCrissey
Client Success Manager at Rigor
Founded a StartupChicks Circle at Atlanta Tech Village
Azhar Bande-Ali
@azharba
Software Engineer at NCR
He turned a personal annoyance to a solution that serves hundreds of people daily with RedditLetter
Patrick Di Rito
Designer
@birdgeoisie
www.patrickdirito.com, Photographer, videographer, and artist as well.
Chas Lemley
Developer at Hotel Tonight
@chaslemley
Logan Allen
Developer, Gather Technologies
@loganallenc
17 year old superstar
Justin Kronz
Developer at Scoutmob
@justinkronz
Dan Fontaine
Head of Video Production at Tarkenton Companies
@danfontaine
Founded ATL Beer Tours
Matt D. Smith
Lead UI Designer
@mds
mds.io
Jennifer Clinehens
Sr. Product Development, AT&T Innovation
@jenclinehens
JenClinehens.com
[Photo Credit: http://www.diaryofagoldmember.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/621_week_one_update.jpg]
