Pure magic is happening in Denver. Three years ago a group of entrepreneurs, business owners, city leaders and volunteers led by Ben Deda, Tami Door, and Erik Mitisek got together with the seed of a simple idea: shine a spotlight on the Denver tech community. This simple thought has rapidly grown into the largest free entrepreneurial event in North America: Denver Startup Week. For the third year in a row the entrepreneurs of The Mile High City will rally around business, design, technology, and manufacturing from September 15 – 20 to raise awareness of the great happenings within their community. The inspiration behind Denver Startup Week came when Deda noticed that local entrepreneurs in Denver were having a difficult time connecting with each other. As he explains, Denver had a cowboy mentality where CEOs would work on their products, keep their heads down, and not crow about their startups every day. When Deda, Mitisek and Door announced the first Denver Startup Week, they were counting on the fact that entrepreneurs would take a step back, relax, and get to know everybody else in their community. They absolutely fulfilled that goal, and the love for Denver Startup Week spread like wildfire in the community; the first year, 2012, they had 3,500 attendees. This year they are expecting upwards of 7,000. By leaving the majority of the creative control up to the community, it accomplishes the task of giving them something to be proud of that is inherently their own. All that the Denver Startup Week organizers ask in return is two things. First, they want people to get knowledge, new ideas, and inspiration from the sessions during the day. Second, and this point is a bit more important, they want to provide people with opportunities for collaboration that lead to amazing things throughout the rest of the year. To help further this mission, last year’s Denver Startup Week featured Basecamp Launched by Chase, a new segment that acts like mission control for the whole week. Sponsored by Chase via Todd Munson, the first Basecamp was so overwhelmingly successful that it will be making a heralded return this year. According to Munson, Basecamp is the spot to be if you’re involved in the community at all, especially if you’re in the private equity community. It’s where all the entrepreneurs come to connect over issues, elements of starting up, and new trends to pay attention to. Registration for the event is completely free, although all of the events are on a first come first serve basis. Make sure to grab your tickets today!
