How many times have you or one of your friends had a really great idea for a tech startup, but never implemented it? Maybe there wasn’t enough money, any access to people with complementary skills, or not enough confidence to get it off the ground. 3-Day Startup (3DS) provides the opportunity to pitch that idea to a panel of potential investors, release a prototypeand build enough momentum to sustain a startup company outside the event. “It’s a great chance to get experience, in a condensed period of time, and learn what it’s like to work at a startup,” says Joel Hestness, a 3DS organizer and CS graduate student.

On the first weekend of April, 40 UT business and engineering students and recent graduates gathered at the Austin Technology Incubator with one common goal: start a technology company over the course of three days. 3DS provides all the resources for budding entrepreneurs to offer their idea and bring it to life. This year four viable technology startup prototypes came out of the high intensity 3-Day Startup event. Keep an eye out for news and updates on these startups in future newsletters.

Last year, Turn2live.com was born out of the 3DS event and is still alive and kicking. Turn2live.com, a website that allows users to search for live music in Austin based on their moods, officially launched at SXSW 2009 at the Austin Interactive Showcase.

3DS organizers are focusing on fostering connections between campus and local entrepreneurs. Joel says the vision is to make 3DS a reoccurring event. The event has two successful efforts under its belt and is looking to expand.

"This is a fantastic example of the rapid growth of entrepreneurship among students on campus,” says Isaac Barchas of The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI). ATI is a nonprofit organization that harnesses local business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition from early stage ventures to successful technology businesses. Isaac explains, “ATI's involvement means that 3DS has institutional support from the University and the entrepreneurial community that ATI serves."

Joel expresses his gratitude for the support 3DS has received, saying, “We really appreciate the support of our sponsors, UTCS faculty and staffand alumni.” Future involvement from CS students, faculty and collaboration with local alumni with startup experience are essential to the success of 3DS.

Also, essential to the success of the 3-Day Startup events are the sponsors. This year two Friends of Computer Sciences (FoCS) members were among the 3DS sponsors, Amazon and NetQoS.

If you are interested in being a sponsor or applying for the next event please visit the 3-Day Startup website at http://3daystartup.com/.