Can you build a business in 3 days?

Areas of Study , Entrepreneurship , Entrepreneurship Society , Featured Events Student Organizations & Clubs | Mar 01, 2012 | Nicole Gesualdo

Think of it as a petri dish that grows a business. Fast.

An organization called 3-Day Startup is looking for 40 entrepreneurially minded students to get together at a downtown Manhattan workspace over the course of a long weekend — April 20, 21 and 22 — and emerge at the end with a viable plan for a new business.

If you’re energetic, want to get a new venture off the ground and are willing to not sleep too much, apply for this program now at http://nyc.3daystartup.com. The deadline is March 15.

Now in its fourth year, 3-Day Startup already has produced three technology-focused businesses:

• Forecast (www.foreca.st)
• Famigo (www.famigo.com)
• HootMe (www.hoot.me)

The program gives the 40 participating students the resources they need to actually make a new company happen. Sponsors and partners include RocketHub, Silicon Valley Bank, BMW iVentures, DFJ Gotham Ventures, Domain Co, Moat, Rackspace Hosting, DLA Piper, Microsoft Bizspark, Austin Technology Incubator, Startup America Partnership, Capital Factory, Etsy, Squarespace, Wix and, of course, Fordham University.

Over the course of the weekend, students share their business ideas, vote on the projects they find the most compelling and ultimately self-organize into project teams. These teams create a prototype, perform market research and formulate a business model under the guidance of expert mentors.

Students of all backgrounds are welcome to apply — including business, computer science, engineering, law and design. The event is held at Hive at 55, a shared workspace in downtown Manhattan. Visit the 3-Day Startup web site to learn more and to submit your application.