Startup Weekend: For the Builders, the Founders, and the Startup Curious
For years, entrepreneurial ecosystems have been working hard to drive innovation through community engagement. From pitch competitions to workshops and networking events, bringing like-minded people together has been an effective way to push innovation forward.
That’s what the creators of Startup Weekend thought too.
In 2007, Andrew Hyde created the very first Startup Weekend in Boulder, Colorado. By 2015, UP Global and the Startup Weekend events were acquired by Techstars.
Today, over 200,000 entrepreneurs have participated in Startup Weekend events across 135 countries including the likes of Zapier, Rover, and many other successful startups.
So when Open Range established our partnership with Techstars in 2025, we thought it was only right to bring it back to Nebraska.
What is Startup Weekend?
Startup Weekend is a two to three-day program where aspiring entrepreneurs can experience what it’s like to build a startup from scratch. Brand new ideas are pitched to a panel of judges and the local community on the first night. The top ideas are selected and teams form around the founders.
Over the course of the weekend, the teams work to build a viable prototype. On Sunday, the founders pitch again for the chance at a grand prize.
The goal of Startup Weekend is to bring the community together through a give first attitude. Teams form around a founder to support their ideas, without any guarantees or expectations.
How Startup Weekend compares to hackathons
If Startup Weekend sounds familiar, you may be thinking of hackathons (aka coding sprints, hackdays, code jams, etc).
A hackathon is a high-energy coding event where programmers and software engineers come together and build a solution to a specific problem in a short amount of time. Often done internally across one-day to one-week sprints, hackathons are designed to foster innovation and cross-functional collaboration.
The goal of these sprints is to encourage skill-sharing, quick decision making, and demonstrated action. By the end of the event, teams should have a tangible, functional, and complete project.
While Startup Weekend shares some of that fast-paced, team-based energy, the focus is broader. Participants are expected to validate a business idea, talk to customers, and think through market viability in addition to building a product.
History of Startup Weekend in Nebraska
In 2008, Danny Schreiber made a community request to bring Startup Weekend to Omaha. What started as a push to bring Startup Weekend to Omaha eventually connected Schreiber to the broader Startup Weekend ecosystem himself.
Schreiber is now the Director of Product at Zapier, the winner of the first Startup Weekend Columbia (Missouri) in 2011. Not long after winning, Zapier was accepted into the Y Combinator seed program and went on to become a unicorn company by 2021.
In Nebraska, the events evolved over time, moving between campuses, coworking spaces, and community-led organizers as the local startup ecosystem continued to grow.
Timeline of Startup Weekend in Nebraska
2008: Danny Schreiber puts out a call to vote to bring Startup Weekend to Omaha.
2010: The first Startup Weekend is held at What Cheer, organized by Corey Spitzer. A second event is held at the Mastercraft building six months later.
2011: Startup Weekend is hosted at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
2012: Startup Weekend Lincoln debuts in September at UNL’s campus. Startup Weekend Omaha returns to Mastercraft two weeks later.
2013: The first Startup Weekend UNL is assembled by the student-led entrepreneurship organization HIVE.
2015: Startup Weekend Nebraska is hosted at Omaha Code School, with over 100 people attending.
2016: Startup Weekend Omaha returns in September, hosted by the UNO Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Franchising at Mammel Hall.
2026: Startup Weekend Omaha makes its return once again at Catalyst presented by Open Range and Techstars Omaha.
Why you should attend Startup Weekend in 2026
Startup Weekend is about thinking outside the box and pushing doubts aside to create something real in less than 48 hours. It’s an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a founder or an early-stage employee.
Connect with the community.
Aside from being part of a team or project you’ll get the opportunity to engage and connect with like-minded individuals. Skip the bars and pickleball courts and meet people who really get you. You might meet new friends, mentors, future employers, or co-founders.
Learn from local experts.
We’ve assembled a roster of deeply talented and experienced mentors who know what it takes to build, market, and scale startups. Mentors are available during specific time blocks throughout the weekend including dedicated pitch practice on Sunday.
Build your skill set (and resume).
Looking for a resume boost? Ready to make a career switch? Startup Weekend helps you learn and adapt quickly. Plus, speakers will be sharing their wisdom during meals on topics like Customer Discovery and Go-to-Market Strategy.
Take home free stuff.
Tickets are $50 for students and $75 for everyone else. Pretty cheap for an experience unlike any other startup event in Nebraska. On top of that, we’re giving you five meals, unlimited coffee, free parking, swag bags, and the opportunity to win a grand prize valued at $30,000.
What to expect
Startup journey lightning panels
Customer Discovery
Most startups fail because they build something nobody wants. Validate your assumptions before you burn your budget by understanding the art of the unbiased interview.
Speakers:
Andrew Prystai, Founder & CEO of Vesta
Kimberly Bailey, VP of Marketing at Alpaca
Building Your MVP
Learn to focus on your idea’s most essential feature and use expert shortcuts to build a working version in just a few hours. More importantly, how to walk the line between overengineering and getting a product in front of customers.
Speakers:
Ravan Charles, Founder & CEO of Griot Labs
Devon Seacrest, Founder & CEO of CodeBuddy
Business and Financial Modeling
Translate your vision into a viable roadmap by building a model that scales. This session focuses on the “how” of your startup. Our experts will share how they turn ideas into sustainable, investor-ready business frameworks.
Speakers:
Jack Sellwood, Founder & CEO of Grapple
Brittany Wozny Welchert, CFO of Ervin & Smith
Go-To-Market Strategy
These speakers are experts in their fields and have taken startups from new ideas to scaling success stories. They’ll share their insights on target demographics, competitive positioning, and distribution channels to engineer a cohesive roadmap for a successful product launch.
Speakers:
Joshua Hample, Founder & CEO of Andover Analytics
Alyssa Kropp, Head of Sales at Strider
Joe Petsick, Co-Founder & CEO of Auctic
Pitching to Investors
Founders hear “pitch” and immediately think they need the perfect deck, the perfect story, or the perfect answer for every question. This session is about understanding what actually matters when it comes to pitching.
Investors and founders will talk through what makes someone investable in the first place and will discuss how to communicate your vision, show traction, and tell a compelling story about your product.
Speakers:
Teresa Friesen, Founder & CEO of SheMate
Shelby Strattan, Investment Manager at Invest Nebraska
Amie Konwinski, COO & CCO at AeQuitas invest
Morning activities to stay grounded
We’re all about influencing an air of balance at Startup Weekend. It’ll be an intense and exhausting weekend, so we want you to start each day grounded and centered. Check out our totally optional yoga and meditation sessions on Saturday and Sunday morning from 7-8am. Don’t worry, the coffee will be on and hot!
State of the art co-working spaces
Thanks to Catalyst Omaha, we’re able to provide dedicated work stations for every team. Experience what it would be like to work at Catalyst.
*A grand prize valued at $30,000
Thanks to our incredible sponsors, we’re able to award the winning team with a prize package valued at $30,000 including:
Logo and branding from Ervin & Smith
“Hire a CodeBuddy” credits from CodeBuddy
6-months of co-working space at The Grove by Nebraska Startup Academy
30-minute meetings with MOVE Venture Capital and Invest Nebraska
*All prizes are contingent upon business formation.
Startup Weekend isn’t only for people who consider themselves founders or entrepreneurs, or even for current or future employees of startups. It’s for anyone who’s even a tiny bit interested in doing something new, fun, creative, and collaborative. As an individual, you’ll develop skills, push your mindset, and meet new people. As a community, you’ll help others get one step closer to their dreams in the spirit of giving first.
We’re happy to answer any questions you have about the event, and if you’ve made it this far, take $10 off your ticket with code: GIVEFIRST2026.