Let me set the scene. I’m standing center stage at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis before a crowd of over 700. Moments earlier, event sponsors and MCs were helping us stall for time. Sol’s laptop — from which we intended to project our demo — was inexplicably refusing to connect to the WiFi. Cold sweat on my brow, my mind is spinning about what to say without our demo. A last minute hustle and an ethernet cable is plugged in! Down a few steps from where I stand, Kjell and Sol look up at me. I think they’re ready. Staring out across the audience, my heart pounding, I wonder how this could possibly be real. Then I look down at my mic and flip it on. It’s go time!
This was last Thursday at Minnedemo 30, an event put on by Minnestar, a nonprofit that serves the Minnesota technology community. The Minnedemo events they’ve held a few times a year for over a decade are just one of the many ways they bring that community together. As a company with founders based in both Minneapolis and in Seattle, we feel thankful to have been given the opportunity to share Sujjest with a large crowd and get feedback.
Plus, it was a great opportunity to compare notes with other presenters and founders in a similar stage of their startup journey. And by the way, we were in excellent company. From Suprabook digitizing litigation binders in their quest to bring justice to those whose would otherwise not be able to afford legal fees, to Hydra FPV putting on a live drone race right over the theater audience, the presentations were diverse, and all impressive. If you’d like to see the range of our fellow presenters, here are some links to their websites:
We’d like to shout out a big Thank You to the Minnestar organization and all the volunteers that helped to put the event together. A HUGE amount of work goes into these events to make sure they go smoothly.
If you’re in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and are interested in attending, volunteering, or perhaps even applying to present at a future Minnedemo, check them out at https://minnestar.org/
