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PROVO — The city of Provo welcomed entrepreneurs to its first Startup Weekend Thursday.
The three-day event allows people to come together and pitch ideas to peers while learning about how to found a successful startup business. The event has been held in Salt Lake City and Ogden, but this is the first time it is being hosted in Provo.
“It’s got a great startup community there, so we’re really excited to be down there," said organizing committee member Sara Jones.
The event is grassroots community driven, so if an organizer in a city wants to host the event they can, she said. Registration for the event has closed, but people can see what products end up being launched during the demo day Saturday at 5 p.m. at the workspace Camp 4.
“It’s kind of like a ‘Shark Tank’ style and that is always a ton of fun because you just won’t believe what is created in two days. It will just blow you away,” Jones said.
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She said there are always some fun, goofy ideas, but also hardcore technology. There will be about 100 people attending the Provo Startup Weekend.
“You can kind of see what technology trends are surfacing by what ends up being pitched,” she said. “It’s really quite fascinating.”
In previous years, people have worked on projects like developing an app for Google Glass or finding uses for Bitcoin. Most of the participants have full-time jobs, but use the event as an opportunity to get their creative juices flowing.
