Startup Boot.Camp is our first intensive program leading up to our Accelerator

We believe startup success starts by building a good business.

• You need time to test, validate and iterate
• You can learn faster and stay focused with guidance from people who have done this before
• It is better to do something and learn actively than to simply listen to speeches, see demos, or read blogs.

The Hong Kong tech entrepreneurial community is small but tightly connected and we think ready to grow. We're starting with Startup Boot.Camp. Apply and be a part of growing Hong Kong’s tech community.

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Nokia is throwing a impromptu meetup at Boot from 8pm-10pm on Feb 16th. If you are looking for someplace to talk tech with folks and would be interested to see what the latest phone is from Finland, come on out.

From the sponsor: Nokia is the global headline sponsor of Social Media Week and we're active around the world at the various cities to meet with people on the ground. With this event, we want to bring together like-minded people who are interested in tech and the latest gadgets. And for those who are interested, we'll be happy to demo the new Nokia Lumia 800 and get your thoughts on it. Pizza and beer for everyone, and two people will win a Nokia Lumia to take home.

Space is limited to around 40, so please RSVP here with your Twitter name, or just your name.

We've been tossing around doing some basic renovation work to organize the space more efficiently. After weeks of deliberations and quoting work, we decided to just start tearing things down this weekend and jumpstart the process. 

For anyone that is around Sunday late afternoon or evening, or the coming Tuesday, we will be doing more work and can always use more hands. Especially Tuesday. 

(download)

Click here to download:

bringing-down-the-house-boothk-renovation-work-starts-JmuaGJvcbyJBrGIyhwjH.zip (3.09 MB)

Thanks Jimmy Wong, Louie Fong, and a few others for coming by Saturday to help. 

Come out and network with young entrepreneurs from around Hong Kong and learn more about the 2012 Make a Difference Award. Also available is a pitch practice with feedback.

Registration deadline is May 15th, so sign up today if you are interested.

Starts at 7pm, beers and retrospectives provided by Thoughtsauce.

(download)

Click here to download:

hackjam-mintyboost-aid-for-japan-dctCqEIDIgfftpeFtCiv.zip (466 KB)

Over a dozen people learned how to solder and basic circuit board assembly. This meetup is happening regularly on Tuesdays at 8, with a wide range of projects being worked on by a solid group of people learning about all things hardware and software.

See more at http://www.hackjam.hk

Just a quick update for the BootUP! this weekend. We are going to hold in in the BootHK HQ in Wan Chai. Those that have been accepted for the event should have received an email confirming your spot. If you registered but did not receive a confirmation, please send an email to jon.buford at boot.hk.

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A year ago, I was working from home and StartupsHK was just a group of startup founders that met up every other week at Habitu. Step forward to now, StartupsHK is a community of startups that numbers in the hundreds of members and I'm working from BootHK on my projects. We are coming up on the third month anniversary of BootHK's first site being open, and there have been many amazing things that happened in that time and while setting things up. 

Funding

To get BootHK open, we needed around $200,000 (USD $25,000) in total so that we could set it up and have about 3-6 months operating float. The reality is that we did it with around $120,000 (USD $15,000), which covered getting things set up, but did not allow for any float. At this point, I'm happy to say that it looks like we are running at a break even revenues and it is anticipated that we will be able to grow that so that we can start repaying some of the up-front investment that was put in.

Lessons learned:

1. Until you have cash in hand, don't count funding that has been promised.
2. It will take longer to finalize funding than you plan on.
3. Sometimes support will come from unexpected places.

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