Hey there,

For my very first post, I'm going to tell you about my time at Startup Weekend Nantes, which was two weeks ago (more info on their Facebook page). The goal was to build a (fictional) startup in 54 hours (and we were free to keep it going in real life afterwards). We had to do the whole package! That means: build a mobile app, a website, design a nice logo, handle the communication, put together a business plan, a budget, and so on.

So it all kicked off on Friday evening, 6pm. Arrive on site, check-in, and they hand out the weekend essentials: a tee-shirt and two cups (one for coffee, one for cider). The organizers brief us on how the weekend will unfold before THE crucial choice: the team! Several "pitchers" each get a maximum of 1 minute to convince us to join them. We then have 3 votes to back the projects that seem the most promising. After elimination, 17 are left in the running, and now we just have to choose. Personally, I went with the startup that was meant to take surfers to the best spot for a given timeframe. It was also supposed to offer accommodation with locals for the conviviality and to discover the local heritage (and yes, "supposed to", because as we'll see, that's not necessarily where the idea ended up).

Bit by bit the team comes together. We end up with 6 in total. There are 3 designers (including me), 2 non-technical folks and 1 developer. We get assigned a cosy spot: 3 beanbags, a mezzanine, stone walls, perfect! After some quick hellos, it's already time to get to work. The discussion begins, we have to agree on the project idea. It all goes smoothly, we take everyone's ideas and blend them together. We even start the business plan to map out the key points, right up until our mentor shows up at 1:20am… (There were coaches in various fields and 1 mentor for every 3 teams; they steered us whenever we didn't know what to do or were heading straight for a wall) "Yeah, this isn't going to work," those were his words, and he was right. We were overcomplicating it, trying to please everyone (us the creators, but also the future customers). Some people leaned more towards the conviviality side and others more towards the surf side. So we had to refocus. After 10 minutes of debate, we drastically simplified and went with the idea of a startup offering mystery trips (where you know neither the destination nor the itinerary), staying with locals, still with that local-heritage discovery angle (the surfer gets dropped, but we keep the mystery principle, because sending them to the best spot for a set timeframe depends on the weather). End of a first day that was already pretty instructive.

Another piece of advice from our mentor was to test our idea out on the street. See if people like it and get feedback to refine our concept. The next day, we put together a questionnaire and headed off into the Nantes jungle. We targeted tourists, so one group was at the train station and the other by the elephant. Surprisingly, most people were happy to answer our questionnaire. Armed with all this feedback, some ideas got rejected (the idea of receiving a souvenir once you're back home) and others got pushed forward (building up the suspense by dropping clues about the destination each day of the week before departure).

Meanwhile our developer was starting on the mobile app, because yes, there was one! (and it actually works!) It handles booking the trip. It also connects hosts with customers (a bit like Uber). Then it displays the itinerary once you're there (revealed day by day or all at once depending on your preferences).

Now comes the moment to choose the startup's visual identity. The designer team gets together while the non-technical folks handle the final business plan. We look for inspiration around travel, encounters, emotions and human warmth. After digging up all sorts of illustrations, we settle on a purple/red/orange/yellow gradient. Now it's time to divide up the tasks, because there's no way we're shipping anything in the next 24 hours otherwise. I take on the logo design while the others start on the mobile app design and a great gradient to drop into the "header". That gradient was so great that even after several tries, none of us 3 could pull it off… Thank goodness the internet is there with its lifesaving tutorials!

Once the main graphic elements were created (in the end we simplified the gradient to keep just red/orange), we plugged them into our startup's Facebook and Twitter pages. Oh right, its name is Aqapela. But I'll tell you a bit more tomorrow, because right now it's time to rest before the final stretch.

9:00am (on a Sunday !), a new day begins. We do a check-in. While the old folks were sleeping, the young ones made progress on the mobile app mockups, awesome! We get back to work. The pitch presentation gets going while I take care of building a web page (note: if you see a slightly weird design, that's normal! No time to account for every screen size. But on a 13-inch (or by shrinking the window) it should be fine).

The presentation takes shape. We rehearse. We go from twenty-something slides down to about fifteen. We add little icons and images to make the whole thing pleasant. Once everything's in place, I take care of harmonizing it all. With everyone working on their own part, there's no way to know if it'll all be done in time. Bit by bit the puzzle comes together and at 4:00pm, it's all finished. Every objective met, this team is on fire again!

The pressure eases for a few moments but there's no time to dawdle, because the final pitches start at 5:00pm. 5 minutes of presentation and 3 minutes of questions.

Moment of truth: we'll be 12th to present our startup. The "pitchers" go off to get ready while the rest of the teams settle into the room. Some great presentations happen. The stress starts to build. Let's hope we don't run over the 5 minutes, let's hope the demo works, let's hope it isn't boring. So many questions without answers, but that was without counting the fact that we had THE "pitcher" with us. The room couldn't stop laughing, a presentation full of enthusiasm, great intonation, little jokes to make up for the demo not working (so saaaaad), absolutely top!

And the results in all of this? No podium, no "crowd favourite" or "wild card". On the other hand, if there had been a prize for the coolest startup, I think we'd have won it

Either way it was a brilliant weekend! Rich in experience, rich in emotions, rich in encounters (we didn't know each other and we managed to carry this project all the way through) and above all rich in caffeine and candy.

I would have loved to learn even more, to see how the financial side was pieced together, how the business plan got finalized, how the presentation was built. But there was no time to dawdle, there was a ton of design work to get done.

It also let me test myself, having taught myself the web designer trade. I had nothing to be ashamed of in my work. And it was the first time I'd worked with real designers (you can talk about stuff the others don't understand!), a great buzz.

As the French lottery would say, who's next?