NB Startup Weekend Glows
FREDERICTON – Fredericton was the capital of ideas over the weekend.
Over 50 people, ranging from high school students to passionate budding entrepreneurs participated in New Brunswick’s Startup Weekend.
Making the winning pitch was third year St. Thomas University student Adriana Rivas and her team.
“I love the idea of startups and working together in an innovative idea with a group of passionate people. It was one of the best decisions I have made,” Rivas said. “I heard about the opportunity and thought to myself ‘why not?’ and [mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#d6b71d” txt_color=”#ffffff”] You can watch all of the Startup Weekend pitches here.[/mks_pullquote]decided to take on the adventure. The initial idea was pitched by one of my friends and I knew how passionate he felt about the idea and the issue he wanted to solve.”
Their idea?
Glow, a company aimed at modernizing the way the hiring process is done.
Basically, getting rid of the resume.
“The hiring process takes a lot of time and resources from a company – read resumes, cover letters, exchange emails, set the appointment, finally you get to meet the candidate but only to find out that they are not what you are looking for,” Rivas said.
“Our idea is to give applicants the opportunity to make their first impression before the actual interview. Employers will benefit from this because this would allow them to have a better sense of what kind of applicant they are interacting with and it will give them the chance to consider whether or not they have what they are looking for for their company/organization.”
Riva’s group (along with all the others) got advice and feedback from seasoned mentors to help refine their pitch throughout the weekend. The final pitches were Sunday evening and Glow reigned victorious with a very direct and clear pitch.
“We were and still are super excited that we had won. We hugged, cheered, and jumped when we saw our name in the slide show,” Rivas said. “We felt grateful to all those mentors that took the time to sit with us, give us their feedback, and share their knowledge with us.”
Stratup Weekend NB’s co-lead organizer Nicola MacLeod said the weekend showed how much talent and cutting edge ideas New Brunswickers have.
“In every region and every demographic, from the university students to the First Nations communities, New Brunswick is full of untapped entrepreneurial talent! There were great ideas-pitches, but what’s even more impressive is the groups that pitch a so-so idea and turn it into a great idea in just two days. Watching the transformation is pretty incredible,” MacLeod said.
After the weekend, MacLeod said folks from Moncton and Saint John have expressed hosting their own Startup Weekends in the future.
“It will be awesome to have more Startup Weekends going on in our region. Whether the teams continue with their ideas or not, the process and the takeaway are the real wins,” she said. “The more we can empower people towards the entrepreneurial mindset and problem-solving, the better off we all are.”
As for Glow, Riva said the future of the company has yet to be determined, but looks promising.
“I strongly believe we are onto something really cool and modern and really, why not continue? We have a great, passionate team and a very unique idea,” Rivas said.
“We have sent our pitch to different competitions – we still have yet to discuss as a team what our future plans would be for the future. “