Andrew Hyde helped launch the businesses of over 100,000 entrepreneurs. He is the founder of StartupWeekend.com, which holds 54-hour hackathons in more than 400 different cities in over 100 countries.
The event brings developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts together to share ideas, form teams, build products, launch startups. Through it, aspiring entrepreneurs have the opportunity to find out if their startup ideas are viable. Open mic pitches, customer development, product building, and even prototype demos all happen in one weekend. Since 2007, Startup Weekend has helped entrepreneurs launch over 8,190 startups.
Andrew has worked at startup incubator TechStars for three years and has created local events such as TEDxBoulder, a self-organized event with a TED-like experience, and IgniteBoulder, a volunteer-run geek event. To date, he has founded several startups, including Inside.co, a travel guide website.
Currently, he is focusing on Startup Week, a non-profit that promotes entrepreneurship, grassroots leadership, and community-building. A five-day event for entrepreneurs, local leaders, and friends, it helps build momentum and opportunity around a community's unique entrepreneurial identity. Startup Week holds events across the globe, offering a support network for startups with a mission to develop communities wherever they may be.
Aside from startups, Andrew has a background in freelancing and design, as well as a passion for community, writing, and travel. He channels these varied interests into different projects, such as his book called "This Book is About Travel" and his personal website, Andrewhy.de, where he chronicles his travels. He has written for Laughing Squid, The Next Web, and Read Write Web, and his work has been featured in the NYTimes, NBC World News, Washington Post, Boing Boing, Boston Globe, INC, Entrepreneur, Daily Mail, Yahoo! and the Nepal Times. He is also a marathoner, Ironman competitor, user interface builder, and buzzword originator, on top of being a blogger and event organizer.
