{"id":9279,"date":"2015-12-10T15:59:03","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T15:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=9279"},"modified":"2018-05-09T12:51:33","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T12:51:33","slug":"winner-of-startup-weekendfiu-moves-on-to-global-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2015\/12\/10\/winner-of-startup-weekendfiu-moves-on-to-global-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Winner of Startup Weekend@FIU moves on to global challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/6a00d83451b26169e201b8d17a7139970c-800wi.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/6a00d83451b26169e201b8d17a7139970c-800wi-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"6a00d83451b26169e201b8d17a7139970c-800wi\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A team of FIU students that wants to change the way fans, musicians and venues connect has launched its idea on the world scene, competing for a chance to win recognition \u2013 and support \u2013 from top leaders in the tech world like Google, YouTube and Hootsuite.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HeadlinerCo\">Headliner<\/a> \u2013 an online platform designed to enable users to crowdfund for the bands of their choice \u2013 took a $500 first prize at the university\u2019s first-ever <a href=\"http:\/\/www.up.co\/communities\/usa\/miami\/startup-weekend\/7293\" target=\"_blank\">Startup Weekend<\/a>\u00a0event last month and is now part of a global competition involving thousands of would-be entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globalstartupbattle.co\/overview\" target=\"_blank\">Global Startup Battle<\/a> is the biggest startup competition in the world,\u2019\u2019 said <a href=\"https:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/2015\/10\/fiu-names-jeff-brown-first-entrepreneur-in-residence\/93471\" target=\"_blank\">Jeff Brown<\/a>, FIU\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/sjmc.fiu.edu\/resources\/entrepreneur-in-residence\/\" target=\"_blank\">Entrepreneur in Residence<\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/sjmc.fiu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/a>. \u201cThis is an amazing opportunity for our student entrepreneurs \u2013 who did an incredible job during Startup Weekend Miami \u2013 to get even further exposure and momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Headliner team \u2013 comprised of students in computer science, finance, marketing and public relations \u2013 posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/app.reviewr.com\/gsb\/pitch?evtid=1305517&amp;group=1305626&amp;subid=1352000\" target=\"_blank\">90-second video<\/a> on the GSB site, outlining their plans and the concept of the app, which they say will \u201cdisrupt\u201d the music industry by allowing fans to connect directly with artists and venues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FrUYwCLatug\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHeadliner will match the crowd and the artist with a nearby venue,\u2019\u2019 said Gregory Jean-Baptiste, a computer science major who came up with the idea after a summer in San Francisco where he attended live performances planned and funded by fans. \u201cThe venue gets the crowd, the artist gets to connect with their fans and the fans get the time of their life. Everybody wins.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Teams in the global startup challenge garner votes by sharing their video via social media and encouraging family, friends and co-workers to vote. In addition to online voting, industry judges review and score the submissions.<\/p>\n<p>All of the prizes \u2013 including branded swag, free workspace, web hosting and consulting services from major industry players like Google, We Work, YouTube and Hootsuite \u2013 are designed to help startups get off the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Headliner doesn\u2019t nab the global championship, the team will have plenty of help from FIU. Brown and others at the university have committed to helping FIU students who participated in Startup Weekend Miami \u2013 and who continue to work toward a launch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe quality of teams that competed during Startup Weekend is the best I\u2019ve ever seen,\u2019\u2019 Brown said. \u201cOn average, only 12 percent of teams go on to create a viable business. From this event, I believe nine of the teams will likely launch. We want to support them on their journey.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>During Startup Weekend@FIU, <a href=\"http:\/\/miamiherald.typepad.com\/the-starting-gate\/2015\/11\/big-ideas-come-to-life-at-startup-weekend-fiu.html\" target=\"_blank\">88 participants competed in 16 teams<\/a>, working for three days to\u00a0create, pitch and launch their startup ideas.\u00a0More than 200 people \u2013 developers, designers, coders, investors and entrepreneurs \u2013 attended the three-day event, held at the university\u2019s $3 million innovation hub, <a href=\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/2015\/08\/the-future-of-tech-education\/91679\" target=\"_blank\">Tech Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After a trip to New York with other students from the <a href=\"http:\/\/hospitality.fiu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management<\/a>, Leira Fombrun and Marina Boulanger came up with the idea for an app that would allow users to tip for service \u2013 without having to carry cash.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-94835 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/6a00d83451b26169e201bb0894cf13970d-800wi-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"6a00d83451b26169e201bb0894cf13970d-800wi\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUpon arrival to our hotel, we were welcomed by a bellman who offered to take our bags to our room,\u2019\u2019 said Fombrun, president of FIU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StudentHotelClubFIU\" target=\"_blank\">Student Hotel Club<\/a>. \u201cAfter he finished placing the bags in the room, Marina and I tried to find some cash to tip the bellman but found none. At that moment, we thought to ourselves, there should really be an alternative to tipping if you don\u2019t have any cash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thus, the idea for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tipngo.co\/\">Tip N\u2019 Go<\/a> was born, eventually taking second place at Startup Weekend. The team is now working to get the idea patented, as well as identify investors and developers.<\/p>\n<p>Third place at Startup Weekend went to a social platform for soccer enthusiasts called <a href=\"http:\/\/xogo.fit\/\">XOGO<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Alumnus\u00a0Juan Gomez said he came up with the idea when he tried to use existing platforms like Meetup and SportsBuddy to find fellow soccer players quickly and easily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to play soccer but could not find a solution that would provide me the immediacy I was looking for,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI feel very positive this will revolutionize soccer\u00a0participation, making soccer more popular than it already is.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>FIU Vice President for Engagement <a href=\"http:\/\/engagement.fiu.edu\/about-us\/administration-staff\/saif\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Saif Y. Ishoof<\/a>, who helped organize Startup Weekend, said all of the teams embodied the spirit of successful startups \u2013 innovation and hard work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe passion and commitment we witnessed was transformational,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cAs the university races forward to make our \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/beyondpossible.fiu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">BeyondPossible 2020<\/a>\u201d goals a reality, we intend to continuously capture, harness and expand the culture of innovation in every part of our FIU.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>via <a href=\"http:\/\/news.fiu.edu\/2015\/12\/winners-of-startup-weekendfiu-move-on-to-global-challenge\/94832\" target=\"_blank\">FIU News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team of FIU students that wants to change the way fans, musicians and venues connect has launched its idea on the world scene, competing for a chance to win recognition \u2013 and support \u2013 from top leaders in the tech world like Google, YouTube and Hootsuite. Headliner \u2013 an online platform designed to enable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":9283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[381,400],"class_list":["post-9279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-newsletter","tag-startups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15101,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9279\/revisions\/15101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}