The general format of the event is:
- Fri 6:00-9:00pm – registration, online business ideas are pitched, participants vote on pitches, teams are formed
- Sat 9:00am-9:00pm – work starts on the businesses, mentors work with teams
- Sun 9:00am-9:00pm – work continues, businesses are launched and presented, networking dinner at 7:00 pm
Before the weekend
- Brainstorming and discussing ideas. All ideas presented at Launch48 must answer the following points:
- Name
- The Idea and the problem it is solving
- Business model and monetisation strategy
- The target market & competitors
- Interacting, networking and communicating with each other.
Day 1: Fri 6:00-9:00pm
Friday evening is where participants meet each other, pitch online business ideas, vote for the top ideas, and form teams around those ideas. Teams often start planning and working on their ideas (not limited to the venue for working).
- Round 1 of pitching: The team gathers for a round of 60 second pitches from its attendees. The more ideas the better! Please check the points above which you need to cover in your pitches. Remember, the aim is to create businesses which are viable. After a simple vote from the attendees, the top ideas get selected for Round 2 of pitching.
- Round 2 of pitching: This time around the participants pitching will have 2 mins and should include a brief Q&A. After the pitch, a simple vote is carried out and we will choose the top ideas to be developed over the next 48 hours (the number of ideas chosen might vary depend upon the number of participants since we would ideally like to have around 8 to 12 participants working on each idea)
- Teams, roles and leadership structure defined – All the participants are divided into teams with an idea to work on for the rest of the weekend. Teams at this stage normally divide roles among themselves. Typical roles include Product Development, User Interface, Business Development, Marketing/PR/Communications, etc.
- Depending on the venue, if we can stay longer people can begin to work on their ideas and plan for the rest of the weekend.
Day 2: Sat 9:00am-9:00pm
Saturday is the first full-day for attendees to work on their chosen idea. Saturday will consist of planning, reviewing, and begining development of the web business.
- During the day there will be 2 board meetings for each team:
- The first board meeting will cover; introductions, a brief description of the product they are creating, a brief description of board meetings, what the team will be focussing on until the next board meeting, how to make the best use of mentors, who to speak to if they need any help.
- The second board meeting will cover; what the team has achieved, what problems the team is facing, what they should be focussing on for the rest of the day
- Mentors and sponsors will be popping in to see how teams are going, and offer their assistance. It is wise for teams to plan how they are going to use the mentors and sponsors so they can make the most out of them.
Day 3: Sun 9:00am-9:00pm
Testing, tweaking, and refining is the aim of Sunday. It is an opportunity to begin deployment, marketing, and integration of the product and business model. In the second half of the day, participants will need to begin thinking what they want their role to be after the weekend. A management team for each web app will need to be decided.
- During the day there will be 2 board meetings for each team:
- The third board meeting will cover; what the team has achieved, what they should be focussing on for the rest of the day, what is to be presented at the final presentation
- The final board meeting will cover; what the team has achieved, any last minute problems, any final questions before the presentations
- Teams will be given the opportunity to present their work to the other attendees at the end of the event. This is an opportunity to explain the problems each team experienced, what they achieved, and what they intend to do after the event. Depending on the venue, the final presentations will begin about 5 pm.
- Networking, drinks and food will follow after the presentations.