Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce - eCapeChamber
Entrepreneurs' Weekend

Top Teams took home cash prizes from Entrepreneurs’ Weekend 2

Three teams took home top prizes and accolades from judges and peers at the second annual Entrepreneurs’ Weekend, an interactive event designed to launch new business ideas on Cape Cod. Entrepreneurs Weekend was held March 12-14 at Venture Hyannis and Cape Cod Community College’s downtown Hyannis campus.

The first place team was Wheel Watcher, led by Bill Bennett of E. Sandwich and featuring a safety technology for automobile drivers. His teammates included John Sedivy of Analytica and Wendy Thompson of Cape Cod Public Relations.

The second ranked team was Brown to Green Solar, led by Judith Underwood of Harwichport and featuring a renewable energy project. Teammates included Donna Miller, Fred Rice, Carl Persson, Patricia Austin, Russ Blanc, Dulcie Sloan and Andrew Slayton.

The third ranked team was Referral Hero, led by Andreas Miller and Tracy Anderson.

Sponsored by the Executive Office of Economic Development & Housing/Mass Office of Business Development, 34 people gathered in downtown Hyannis on Friday night to share ideas and pitch concepts. The networking process boiled down the list to eight ideas around which teams formed. The teams worked through the weekend to craft a business plan, coached by area business advisors offering help with marketing data, financial structure, patents and licensing and more. In the final three hours on Sunday, eight presentations were pitched to a panel of judges mimicking investors.

A panel of four judges gave feedback and ranked the plans based on a scorecard. The final rankings were announced Sunday at the event.

“We had a few entrepreneurs from last year because they got so much out of the process,” said Cape Cod Tech Council president and co-organizer, Peter Karlson. “Some of them called the weekend ‘transformational’.”

“The energy in the room was palpable from the first mixer to the final presentation”, said Cape Cod Chamber CEO Wendy Northcross. “Even those who didn’t place in the top three came away with valuable lessons on developing a plan and seeking investors.”

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