Startup Weekend

by Nayantara Bhat | Photo credits: Startup Weekend HKU| 12 October 2016

It’s that time of year again – Startup Weekend is back at HKU for the third year running, and this time it’s bigger than ever.

The past two years saw exponential expansion in both the number of teams competing and the variety and depth of the pitches that were proposed. With this year’s SWHKU preceded by three pre-event bootcamps, we’re all looking forward to seeing what is sure to be an even better line-up of ideas and innovation.

Given the marketability angle of Startup Weekend, one of the pre-event bootcamps was on conceiving of viable startup ideas. The other two was about building the “MVP” (Minimum Viable Product), from designing a user interface to creating a responsive web app to show off at the final pitches.

Not only were the bootcamps intended to boost participants’ odds for the competition, they’re also aimed at building a startup community. The hope is that the bootcamps and the competition itself will combine to create a collaborative environment where engineering and non-engineering majors can work together and maintain their momentum to carry the idea forward.

Many other hackathons have been characterised by problems of communication and momentum, and this year’s SWHKU aims to solve this through the workshops, which addressed the basic techniques of UI/UX and mobile app building and gave a multi-disciplinary grounding to students of all majors. This will enable effective communication between business majors, developers and designers, leading to faster and better prototype design.

As always, participants of every major – not just computer science – are invited to join the competition, giving students from different majors a chance to meet and take ideas forward. The workshops are intended as a guide: you may be a business major or an arts major or an engineering major, and you may not even remember the exact techniques, but the idea is for you to come out of it with a knowledge of the tools available to you for idea-building. You may even meet your business/technical co-founders through the competition!

Ultimately, Startup Weekend is not limited to CS majors, nor does it exclude the many innovators who don’t have a technical background. As always, it’s a good platform for people of different disciplines to meet, create, and participate in the growing startup environment.

In previous years, TecHKU was the official media partner for SWHKU. This year, the SWHKU organising committee is mostly made up of our very own TecHKU writers and editors, along with a fresh team of undergraduates, who are all working together to kickstart the rise of HKU’s startup community.

All of TecHKU’s coverage on past Startup Weekend HKUs
Register for Startup Weekend HKU #3 Oct 14-16
**40% OFF for developers**

hit me up

Nayantara Bhat

Second-year journalism student at HKU. Book-lover. Food-lover. Music-lover. Chronic procrastinator.
hit me up

Blog: Final pitches at Startup Weekend HKU #3

Posted by on 8:36 pm in All News, Opinion, Startup Weekend HKU, Students | 0 comments

Blog: Final pitches at Startup Weekend HKU #3

by Aman Gupta;

A recap of what went down at the final pitches at the third Startup Weekend HKU – the winners, hits and misses.

read more

Blog: Startup Weekend HKU #3 Day 1!

Posted by on 11:30 am in All News, Startup Weekend HKU, Students | 0 comments

Blog: Startup Weekend HKU #3 Day 1!

The third Startup Weekend HKU have officially kicked off yesterday. Almost a hundred developers, entrepreneurs, and designers joined the first pitching session. There were both promising business plans and, frankly, ideas that were just weird.

read more

From media partner to organiser: We are back at Startup Weekend HKU!

Posted by on 12:00 pm in All News, Startup Weekend HKU, Students | 0 comments

From media partner to organiser: We are back at Startup Weekend HKU!

by Nayantara Bhat;

In previous years, TecHKU was the official media partner for SWHKU. This year, the SWHKU organising committee is mostly made up of our very own TecHKU writers and editors, along with a fresh team of undergraduates, who are all working together to kickstart the rise of HKU’s startup community.

read more

The Quartz App: My New Favourite Thing

Posted by on 4:03 pm in All News, Opinion | 0 comments

The Quartz App: My New Favourite Thing

by Nayantara Bhat;

Our contributor shares how the new Quartz app has changed the way she consumes news — chat interfaces and emojis are the way to go.

read more

Examining the Hybrid Theory and Microsoft’s Brand New Entry

Posted by on 7:53 pm in All News, Opinion | 3 comments

Examining the Hybrid Theory and Microsoft’s Brand New Entry

by Aman Gupta;

A primer on the current state of hybrid devices in the market.

read more

Blog: Final Pitches at Startup Weekend HKU #2

Posted by on 12:17 pm in All News, Opinion, Startup Weekend HKU, Students | 0 comments

Blog: Final Pitches at Startup Weekend HKU #2

by Natalie Lung and Nayantara Bhat;

Everything is bigger and better the second time around: Our discussion on the final pitches at the second Startup Weekend HKU.

read more

Blog: Startup Weekend HKU #2 Day 1

Posted by on 11:36 pm in All News, Opinion, Students | 0 comments

Blog: Startup Weekend HKU #2 Day 1

by Natalie Lung and Nayantara Bhat;

Our thoughts on the initial pitches at the second Startup Weekend HKU.

read more

How pinpointing value-adding solutions is key to Insight Robotics’s success

Posted by on 3:45 pm in All News, Tech Leaders | 0 comments

How pinpointing value-adding solutions is key to Insight Robotics’s success

by Natasha Arora;

As part of TecHKU’s innovative tech leaders series, we talked to Rex Sham of Insight Robotics, a “disruptive” robotics firm based in HKSTP, about the technologies behind his firefighting robots, big data, and his startup journey.

read more

Geeking Out: Testing the Windows 10 Insider Preview

Posted by on 7:01 pm in All News, Opinion | 0 comments

Geeking Out: Testing the Windows 10 Insider Preview

by Aman Gupta;

Our Microsoft fanboy-in-residence finally gets his hands on the Windows 10 and Office 2016 Preview two weeks prior to their official release.

read more

Poor pitching skills and low exposure may be blunting local students’ competitive edge: FYP Tips

Posted by on 7:00 pm in All News, Students | 0 comments

Poor pitching skills and low exposure may be blunting local students’ competitive edge: FYP Tips

by Kelvin Wong;

As Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem is rapidly gaining momentum, how well-equipped are local students to succeed in it and beat the competition from neighbouring regions? Earlier last month, we asked the judges at a local FYP competition for their thoughts.

read more