Speed Dating! N-house 16/17 Sem 1.

Waddup homies! Last week at N-house’s Wicked Wednesdays, we held our first-ever speed-dating event.

That’s right. Speed-dating. But not the kind between interested parties of males and females, no. We invited startup teams from across NUS for a chance at 10 minutes of face-time with one of our guest mentors Kris, Fitzkhoon, or Darrell to have their ideas honed and sharpened for the wild world of startups. (see our post on the Business Side of Startups where we discussed the fascinating Startup Curve for a greater understanding of the challenges of starting up.)

As we cannot divulge the details of the interactions the startups had with their mentors, we can only show you how the event unfolded. So, pictures.

RAs Jasmine (L) and Jake (R), both of whom worked for VCs during their NOC internships, helped teams sharpen their questions and concerns before they were to meet their mentors.

Startup teams huddled and discussed their ideas while gathered in the waiting area.

Eugene and Kiat Han explaining their startup, ExchangeBuddy, to Jake and Jasmine.

Kris Childress from NUS Enterprise noting down details from Alan, who’s thinking of starting up.

Fitzkhoon, who currently runs his startup AfterYou, poring through the finer details of Bing Yang and Farhan’s startup idea.

Pictured: the intense eye contact between interested parties on a speed date.

Pictured: the exchange of smiles between interested parties on a speed date.

Pictured: the twinkle in the eyes of an interested party on a speed date.

While it was unfortunate that Darrell was unable to mentor on the day due to work — startups are a fickle thing, especially when yours is busy launching a new product — , a productive session was had by all. Sometimes all one needs to move ahead with starting up is a good conversation.

That is all. Stay tuned for the next updates of N-house’s Wicked Wednesdays.