Late nights, surprise expenses, feeling cut off from friends, managing fussy moods, being drained of energy. Also, the thrill that comes from creating something out of nothing. Such is the startup life.
“Parentpreneurs” — that is, parents juggling Mom and Dad duty with starting a business — get a double dose of day-to-day unpredictability and adventure. This year’s Forward Fest is dedicated in part to them.
“Launching a startup is a marathon,” says festival co-founder Matt Younkle, co-founder of Murfie, an online music store. “The journey can be difficult for the entrepreneur’s family. There are many ways to succeed and fail in balancing the demands of having a startup and caring for a family.”
Madison’s annual technology and entrepreneurship festival launches its sixth year on Thursday, Aug. 20. Its flagship event — the daylong Forward Technology Conference on Tuesday, Aug. 25 — has come to the weary parentpreneur’s rescue with free childcare (sign up when you register). The conference features two afternoon sessions devoted to the topic of parentpreneuring, including a talk by Josh Levs, author of All In, a book on modern fatherhood and our work-first culture.
There is also a family-friendly, all-ages networking event, “Parentpreneur Night,” Friday, Aug. 21, featuring kids’ games, ice cream and custom-brewed “Forward Festive-Ale” by Mobcraft for the grownups.
Folks looking to schmooze sans kiddos can drop into the festival’s most popular event, High Tech Happy Hour, on Thursday, Aug. 20, also offering complimentary MobCraft ale.
Back by popular demand this year is Clash of the Tech Trivia Titans at the Coopers Tavern, where festival-goers flaunt their “knowledge of IT, biotech, hard sciences, the local startup community and tech-pop culture,” according to the website. Last year’s contest “was a ton of fun, and will sell out again this year,” Younkle expects.
The festival this year will also sound the theme that “location matters,” with sessions devoted to attracting would-be business owners to Madison. “We’re attracting an important demographic for starting companies,” says Younkle. “From 2000 to 2010, Madison gained 10,000 20- to 40-year-olds.” And he points to global brands that operate out of Madison, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Zendesk.
“We’re doing well, but we can do much, much better,” he says. “I hope that the conversations and connections happening during the Forward Festival set the stage for our community to take another big step forward.” (See cover story, page 17, on efforts to advance the local gaming industry.)
Now in its sixth year, Forward Festival attracts more than 2,000 attendees to its 30-plus events over eight days, ending on Aug. 27. Many events are free, though advanced registration is required. Day-of tickets are available for the Forward Tech Conference, Nexxpo, Pitch Night, and several other Forward Fest events. Go to forwardfest.org to be a part of what Younkle calls “a shining example of Madison doing something great, in a grassroots way that’s authentically Madison.”