Startup Lakewood

Mission Statement

Help Lakewood's community of soon-to-be entrepreneurs turn their ideas into business realities.

Startup Lakewood Initiative is a program approved by the City of Lakewood which is geared toward making Lakewood a more appealing place for entrepreneurs to build and grow ideas into legitimate businesses. This program will be overseen by Mike Belsito as its Director of Ideation.

Startup Lakewood will provide meaningful resources to budding entrepreneurs within the City of Lakewood, specifically centered around helping take ideas and turning them into real businesses. These resources will come in the form of focused “ideation” sessions, programming, and a permanent space in which people could work on bringing their business ideas to life.

Startup Lakewood will launch with two specific components:

Ideation Sessions:

Have an idea for a new product, business, or even a marketing campaign? Startup Lakewood’s Ideation Sessions are focused brainstorm sessions where Lakewood residents can openly discuss their ideas with Startup Lakewood’s Director of Ideation, special guests, and other soon-to-be entrepreneurs.

Ideation Sessions take place in the highly creative cafes that Lakewood boasts, where there will be coffee, snacks, and whiteboards available to participants. Ideation sessions are free and open to all Lakewood residents.

Upcoming Ideation Sessions:

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
6:00 PM
University of Akron Lakewood, 14725 Detroit Avenue
At our April Startup U event, we will be discussing "Metrics that Matter" with two local business owners, John Knific of CitizenGroove and Tim Needles of Onix Networking. Startup Lakewood's Director of Ideation Mike Belsito will be moderating the discussion asking what and why metrics matter, and how metrics are used to drive performance and realize growth.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012

All Ideation Sessions take place from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the University of Akron-Lakewood, 1415 Warren Road.

Startup U:

Looking to educate yourself on what it takes to launch your business idea? From marketing on a shoestring budget to understanding the legal aspects of starting a business, Startup Lakewood’s Startup U produces programming relevant to soon-to-be entrepreneurs looking to turn ideas into real businesses. Startup U is free and open to all Lakewood residents.

Upcoming Startup U sessions:

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

All Startup U Sessions take place from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the University of Akron-Lakewood, 1415 Warren Road.

Startup Lakewood is a collaborative effort between the City of Lakewood, the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, LakewoodAlive, and Pillars of Lakewood.

For more information on Startup Lakewood, visit www.startuplakewood.com.