Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The agenda for the second annual celebration of start-ups in Nashville was announced on Monday, and it includes 26 different opportunities for interested individuals. They range from nearly two dozen workshops to a “Closing Party.”

The slightly rebranded series of events – now known as “Nashville Entrepreneur Week” rather than “Nashville Startup Week” – begins on May 15 with a kick-off party at WeWork’s One Nashville Place location. Festivities start at 6 p.m., for the two-hour event. However, based on this Eventbrite registration link, it looks like it is sold out.

Here’s the schedule for the first full day on May 16:

• 8 to 8:45a.m. – How to Build a Company Culture. James Fields, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Concept Technology, will lead an interactive discussion including the sharing of tools and lessons on building an enriching company culture for any stage of a start-up business.
• 9 to 9:45 a.m. – 6 Questions to Validate Your Business Idea. Channing Moreland and Makenzie Stokel, Founders of EVAmore, will lead a workshop focused on the six questions entrepreneurs need to ask to validate their business idea and make sure it’s worth pursuing.
• 10 to 10:45 a.m. – How to Approach Big Healthcare with Your Medical Innovation.Jason Reminick, Founder and CEO at ThalamusGME, will provide an overview of how to approach healthcare-related institutions as a potential entry point for new ventures and the exploration of pathways to enlist physician advisers and/or test early stage products.
• 11 to 11:45 a.m. –Customer Development + Predictable Revenue. Sean Sheppard, Co-Founder of Silicon Valley-based GrowthX and GrowthX Academy, will discuss the all-important topic based on his efforts in successfully growing dozens of early stage companies across a wide variety of products and markets.

You can register for any of the May 16 sessions at this link.

On May 17, the programming shifts to the afternoon with the sessions running from 3 to 6 p.m. at Fisk University, 1000 17^th Avenue North. During each 45-minute block, the organizers are offering multiple options. They are as follows:

3 to 3:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:Leveraging Data to Understand Talent – Brad Lawrence, LinkedIn;
• Option 2:Roadblocks Surrounding Technology for Young Companies –Rusty Goodsell, Director of Tennessee at TekLinks; or
• Option 3: Early Stage Marketing for Start-ups – Kelly Mayes, Marketing Consultant at KKMC.

4 to 4:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:The MVP of Your MVP – Tommy Norman, Director of Agile Operations at Acklen Avenue; or
• Option 2:Blockchain For Business Good & Decentralizing Governance – Magut Kipkosegei, Founder of Zyllion.

5 to 5:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:Building an Agile Workplace – Andrea Drake, Managing Partner at MomSource Network;
• Option 2:Accounting Workshop for Start-ups – Phylicia Moye, Business Advisory Services Consultant at Pathway Lending; or
• Option 3:Launching a Physical Product – Shannon Britt, President of Novion Devices, LLC.

Click here for registration links to these May 17 events.

The final day – May 18 – is set for the new oneC1TY development at 8 City Boulevard. Programming starts at 12 noon and includes these sessions:

12 noon to 12:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:Love the Product: A Path to Product Market Fit –Karen Thomas, Co-Founder, Managing Partner of Fishbowl, LLC;
• Option 2:Benefits of Brand Ambassadors to Scale Your Start-up – Yolanda E. Shields, Founder and CEO of YES Builds; or
• Option 3:Meet NAVIGATION and Get Connected –Jocelyn Youngdahl, Navigation Lead, Nashville Entrepreneur Center.

1 to 1:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:How to Create a Solid Brand Positioning – Danny Belch, Vice President of STRIVR;
• Option 2:Give Loyalty Before Asking for It – Joe F Brannon III, Co-Founder of TL Connects; or
• Option 3:Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later: Don’t Practice Law Off the Internet – Alan Hall, Managing Member of Alan D. Hall Attorney at Law PLC.

2 to 2:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:Pitching to VCs – Andrew Goldner, Co-Founder of GrowthX;
• Option 2:How to Create a Third Place –Alexa Hulsey, Owner, East Nashville Community Acupuncture; or
• Option 3:Tracking and Reporting KPIs, Viraj Parikh, Managing Partner, TechCXO.

3 to 3:45 p.m.:

• Option 1:To Be a Great Leader, Do What Drug Addicts Do – Michael Brody Waite, CEO, Nashville Entrepreneur Center; or
• Option 2:Raising Equity for Your Company: It’s Not as Scary or Expensive as You Think – Chris Sloan, Chair, Emerging Companies Group, Baker Donelson

4 to 6 p.m.: CATFISH TANK.

Registration for these programs is available at this link.

Finally, the “Closing Party” runs from 6 to 8 p.m. May 18, again at oneC1TY. Here’s the registration link.

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