About

What is Ultra Light Startups?

Ultra Light Startups is a community dedicated to helping technology startups become successful. The community is built around monthly events held in-person in New York, Boston and Toronto and viewable online via free live video stream. Events feature startup pitches, networking and interactive panel discussions with successful serial tech entrepreneurs. Our mission is to create an ecosystem for startups to become successful with a supportive network and best practices from founders who have done it before.

Here’s a video from when the BBC filmed an event in 2009. It gives a good flavor of the community in its early days.

What topics do we cover at our events?

• Technology – Technology platform selection, finding co-founders, finding development agencies, doing it yourself.
• Marketing – Cost-effective marketing strategies, social media and traditional marketing, PR, advertising, analytics, engagement, etc.
• Design – User experience design, interaction design, information architecture, usability testing, visual design, etc.
• Finance – Revenue models, seed/angel/VC financing, startup legal issues, etc.

What are Ultra Light Startups events like?

Ultra Light Startups events are held monthly, usually on the second Thursday of the month.  The format includes startup pitches, networking, and a panel discussion on a topic of interest to startup entrepreneurs.

The events are held simultaneously in New York, Boston, and Toronto.  The panel is based in New York and is broadcast to Boston and Toronto via live video streaming.  Pitches and networking happen in all locations.  You can also watch the live video stream from anywhere.

In New York, we typically have ~150-250 attendees.  In Boston it’s around ~50-100 and in Toronto ~30-50.  Additionally, between 200 and 5,000 people watch each event online.

To find out more about our next event, check the Ultra Light Startups website, our email newsletter, or our groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Meetup (New York, Boston, Toronto).

Who can attend?

Anyone can attend Ultra Light Startups events.  There are a few restrictions on who can pitch at Ultra Light Startups events.

I’d like to run Ultra Light Startups in my city.  How do I do that?

Ultra Light Startups is actively seeking new chapters, particularly in cities the Eastern U.S. time zone (due to the time-specific nature of live video streaming). If you would like to join the network, send an email to chapters@ultralightstartups.com for more information.