AI Scalathon

​Venture Mechanics' Scalathon events are unique. Unlike a hackathon, where the goal is to develop code over a weekend, in a Scalathon diversely-talented teams try to solve major real-world problems, by crafting venture-scale business plans optimized for scalability, monetization, and investor readiness. Instead of demonstrating your code at the end, you'll be presenting your compelling business plan to a panel of VCs to see which team has come up with the biggest venture-scale business idea.

​Format Overview

• ​Length: 48 hours (Friday evening to Sunday evening)
  

• ​Participants: Teams of 3-6 (encouraged to mix business, technical, and domain expertise, ensuring diversely-talented teams)
  

• ​Goal: Develop a robust, investor-ready business plan for a scalable AI startup tackling a significant problem, and deliver a great pitch
  

​Key Activities & Flow

​DAY 1: FRIDAY — KICKOFF & IDEATION

• ​5:00pm Registration and Networking
  

• ​6:00pm Opening Keynote: “AI at Venture Scale: What Investors Want”
  

• ​7:00pm Problem Space Insights: “Founders” will take the microphone and describe the problem space they are thinking about, and solicit co-founders to approach them to discuss its merits.  Potential “co-founders” will then network with founders in the room and brainstorm to identify large, meaningful problem spaces where AI can be transformative. Conference rooms will be available for breakout whiteboarding sessions.
  

• ​8:30pm Team Formation: Initial “co-founders” will take the stage to describe the problem space they want to attack, and solicit the additional co-founders they still need to complete their teams.
  
  Ideal team formation will include at least one of the following:
  

  • ​An experienced AI technologist

  • ​A Go To Market (GTM) expert, aka “growth hacker”

  • ​A domain expert in the problem space

​DAY 2: SATURDAY — BUILD & VALIDATE

• ​9:00am Doors open
  

• ​9:30am: Team registrations and room assignments
  

• ​10:00am Scalability Levers Workshop with Gregory Kennedy: Tactics for 10x user/revenue growth with AI-enabled products. A panel of growth hacking experts will discuss state-of-the-art methods that the teams can employ to achieve their scalability goals.
  

• ​11:00am -6:00pm Teams Get To Work on:
  

  • ​Market Analysis & Sizing

  • ​Monetization Model

  • ​Competition & Differentiation

  • ​Go-to-Market Strategy

  • ​Exit Strategy
    

• ​Guest Mentors: Experienced mentors and investors from the Venture Mechanics Catapult Accelerator will roam room-to-room throughout the day to touch base with the co-founders and see how their ideas are coming along, providing constructive suggestions to move their ideas forward.

​DAY 3: SUNDAY — FINALIZE & PRESENT

• ​9:00am Doors open
  

• ​9:30am Teams sign up for a time slot to practice their pitches with pitch coaches
  

• ​10:00am Teams get their 20 minutes to pitch their deals to coaches in the Airbus Room (10 minutes to pitch, 10 minutes for feedback)
  

• ​2:00pm Teams submit their final pitch deck to missioncontrol@venturemechanics.com.
  

• ​3:00pm Team Presentations (10-min pitch + Q&A) to the investors on the judging panel.
  

• ​5:30pm Awards
  

  • ​Judges will announce their top selection for the most scalable startup idea

  • ​Audience will crowdvote for their top selection

  • ​Prizes awarded
    

• ​6:00pm -7:00pm Networking reception

​‍Details

• ​Free parking

• ​Meals provided:

  • ​Pizza at 7pm Friday

  • ​Lunch at noon on Saturday

  • ​Lunch at noon on Sunday

  • ​Light dinner and adult beverages Sunday 6pm

  • ​Snacks and beverages available all weekend.