So, you want to be an entrepreneur? You’re in good company! West Slope Startup Week is designed for total beginners as well as experienced founders ready to scale. It’s a great opportunity for “noobs” to build their peer network and connect with potential mentors. If we were doing WSSW for the first time, here’s how we’d plan our week.
👉 Para los fundadores de habla hispana, además de las sesiones en español del Latine Track, habrá servicio de traducción simultánea disponible en todos los eventos.
Balance education with inspiration
WSSW invites speakers from across the state—and beyond! —to Durango, bridging essential resources to rural founders. You can go deep on almost every business topic pertinent to launching and scaling a business, but when you’re just getting started it’s important to not overwhelm the creative spark that called you to entrepreneurship in the first place.
“Yes, WSSW is a business event, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be having fun,” says Olivia Reed, the event’s Lead Organizer. “Build balance into your schedule. Be sure to attend sessions that will build the entrepreneurial flame within you as well as those that cultivate it.”
Be sure to put these inspirational sessions on your calendar:
- Opening Kickoff and Keynote with Seth Levine, best-selling author and partner at The Foundery, a Boulder-based venture capital firm he co-founded in 2006
- Opening Night Party and Fireside Chat, during which Startup Colorado—the organization behind WSSW—will reveal some VERY exciting news for rural entrepreneurs
- Founder Showcase: A Food & Ag Brand Story Spotlight with Naturally Colorado
- MakerLab Tour for makers, artists, and anyone with an idea they want to bring to life
- Rural Creative Collective Night Market featuring handmade goods from 15 rural makers
- Loneliness Is a Market Failure: Entrepreneurship as the Antidote, explores how founders can build belonging through business
Mix the basics with variety
WSSW comprises nine thematic tracks, from Tech to Creatives. A lot of folks tend to think they need to attend all sessions within a track. And while you’re welcome to do that, rural entrepreneurship is the world of wearing many hats. If you want to get the most out of your experience, try booking sessions geared towards beginners across tracks. Believe us, email marketing is an essential skill for everyone, even tech founders!
Here are our suggestions for “noob” sessions in each track:
Climate
- Startups Will Save the World! will unpack how to turn more climate ideas into viable companies
- The Rural Advantage: Building Climate Resilient Businesses Together helps attendees explore how their unique skills can contribute to climate solutions
Comms
- You’ve Got Mail: Email Marketing 101, a hands-on workshop to help you build an email marketing strategy
- Building a Sustainable Online Presence for Rural Businesses, everything you need to know about showing up online
Creatives
- Stop Chasing Every Opportunity, why you should stop trying to please everyone and focus on your niche
- Handmade Doesn’t Have to Look Homemade, how thoughtful branding can elevate a handmade business
- The Road Not Taken: Exploring the Many Paths to Publishing, a look at four authors’ careers in a rapidly changing industry
Money
- The Legal and Financial Foundations Every Founder Needs, the key decisions founders should be thinking about as they build and scale
- Know Your Numbers Before You Ask AI, while AI can help founders scale faster than ever, not knowing the financial basics of business runs the risk of costly errors. Here’s what you need to know about Profit and Loss (P&L), Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statements
People
- Veterans as Entrepreneurs: Start, Grow, and Scale with the Right Resources, the practical steps for starting and growing a business as a veteran, how to navigate veteran-specific support systems, and where to find trusted resources
- The Hidden Cost of Ignoring People and Culture, the smart founder will bake culture into their business from the idea-stage. Here’s how.
Tech
- Build an AI Operating System for Your Business Idea, gives you a repeatable framework for turning AI into an actual operating layer for your business
- Build the System Before the Business Breaks, learn how to build systems, workflows, and operational structure from the get-go
Toolbox
- Sharpen the Durable Skills that Drive Your Business, in an AI and increasingly online world, communication, adaptability, critical thinking, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and leadership are essential skills for every founder
- Pricing Your Products (and Services) for Profit, understand channel pricing strategy, product price market fit, the difference between COGS (cost of goods sold) and overhead, and breakeven analysis.
Seriously, sign up for the networking events
In an urban startup hub, you could throw a stick and hit another founder. In rural, your dog’s just going to bring it back to you. That’s why helping founders build their professional community is at the heart of this event.
At WSSW, networking is not a cringe word. You’re not going to find awkward mixers where attendees are left to fend for themselves. We organize intentional opportunities for founders to make authentic, meaningful connections. So lean in!
- Embrace the Awkward: Networking as Your Authentic Self, an interactive workshop built around the idea that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to networking
- Outside City Limits, a celebration of rural entrepreneurship and fundraiser for Startup Colorado. Be prepared to build your network!
- Rural Is Rad Ride-O, because networking is better on a mountain bike. (And yes, you should bring your bike to WSSW)
- Drop the Pitch Dance Party with a live DJ, food, and your first drink free
Download (and use) the official WSSW app
Yes, we know. There’s an app for everything. But the official WSSW app through Whova is actually useful. Build your schedule, explore events, and start connecting with other founders BEFORE your week even begins.
You can find it for Android and Apple here.
