It seems like a bit of a pun, starting up a blog about start-ups.  Just a humble beginning about things with mostly humble beginnings, lots of drive, a bit of ingenuity, and a single big idea.  For this blog, the big idea is to promote and discuss start-up activities in North Carolina: new initiatives, venture capital, incubators, etc. Lets start off with a local start-up weekend on July 11-13 in Raleigh.  Here is the concept: a seemingly random (though self-selected) group of people spend a weekend together with the big idea of creating a company from concept to launch.  The organizers are Jess Martin and Wayne Sutton, two local guys passionate about the dynamics of the start-up community.  The details are here:  http://rtp.startupweekend.com. There have been two dozen start-up weekends in the US and abroad since the idea's roots in 2007 (more here: http://startupweekend.com).  You can wonder what the chances are of a successful start-up with the randomness of people selecting themselves to be part of it and the huge time-crunch going from nothing to launch in a weekend.  I don't have any knowledge (yet) about the success or survival of the companies that sprouted from past start-up weekends, but their success or failure is not really the point.  At a middle school science fair you don't expect to see a demonstration of perpetual motion, but you do know these kids are expanding their minds.  Similarly, these start-up weekends are like a science-fair for talent, ideas and entrepreneurial energy to flow freely and explore.  Ideas are born and developed, friendships are made and seeds are planted.  Its like creating a new recipe -- throw some good ingredients together and see what happens. The concentrated nature of the start-up weekend allows tremendous exploration and sorting out of big ideas, applications and execution.  For a successful start-up it requires all three of those and not just a big idea.  I welcome comments and stories from past participants. -marc