Why every city has a ‘startup week’ now — and whether they should

When Technical.ly first launched Philly Tech Week 15 years ago, the logic was straightforward: gather scattered entrepreneurs and technologists together, put the city on the map, and throw a few great parties along the way. 

A decade and a half later, nearly every US city with entrepreneurial aspirations seems to host a version of a “startup week.” But as economic conditions, work habits and generational preferences shift, some are reevaluating whether the week-long event model is still effective — or necessary.

“The ‘week’ was proof that a city had arrived,” said Brian Brackeen, general partner at Lightship Capital and co-organizer of Black Tech Week, a national conference hosted since 2014. “You had enough happening to fill multiple days.”

The model flourished because it allowed cities to showcase a critical mass of entrepreneurial activity while providing flexible attendance options.

“If someone couldn’t make Thursday or Friday, they could still attend events earlier in the week,” said Maria Underwood, a veteran ecosystem builder based in Birmingham, Alabama, which hosts the multi-day Sloss.Tech, founded in 2015.

Victor Hwang, founder of entrepreneur advocacy network Right to Start, believes a full week’s slate of events encourages more local partnerships. Multiple groups could host their own gatherings under the larger banner, he said, relieving pressure from a single organizer and fostering greater community participation.

Yet some old-school supporters — including Technical.ly CEO Chris Wink, who was instrumental in creating the original Philadelphia model — are skeptical the format still fits.

“Funding isn’t there anymore to sponsor beer-soaked warehouse parties,” Wink said. He described the era of “throwing 300-person parties subsidized by private equity firms” as “insane by today’s standards.”

Instead, Wink said, founders now emphasize business value, intentional connections and efficiency in events — priorities that seem to clash with sprawling multi-day schedules.

‘Happy hours are a dime a dozen’

Brackeen, of Lightship Capital, echoed this shift toward intentionality. Black Tech Week, for example, has evolved to include highly structured investor-founder matchmaking sessions and corporate “biz-dev days,”maximizing direct business outcomes rather than casual networking.

Birmingham’s Underwood agreed. “Happy hours are a dime a dozen,” She said. “The events that will sustain are ones creating intentional, strategic connections for founders.”

Economic realities have also changed. Technical.ly CEO Wink cited the post-pandemic reevaluation of work-life balance and tighter capital environments as reasons why the sprawling event model might no longer be economically sustainable — or desirable.

Still, “weeks” remain valuable to emerging ecosystems. “There’s still a 26-year-old who was 12 when you first threw those parties,” Brackeen reminded Wink. “They deserve their chance to experience it, too.” 

Though some places are still launching “week”-themed editions — DC Tech Week was new on the scene last year, offering two dozen events across several days in the nation’s capital — a rising trend is the startup “weekend” instead. That’s the branding for a program offered by Techstars, which partners on the three-day events in cities from Pittsburgh to New Orleans to Rome and Sao Paulo..

Ultimately, ecosystem leaders agree that while the week model once signaled vibrancy and ambition, its future might lie in hybrid, focused programming emphasizing specific business outcomes over sheer volume of activity.

“The vibe has shifted from ‘cool and fun’ to practical resilience,” Hwang said. “People still care, but they care differently.”