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Save the Date! RDSW Returns April 7-11, 2025

Where Founders Come Together to Learn, Connect, and Grow

Join us for 4 days of inspiration, insights, and networking as we celebrate the vibrant, growing Raleigh-Durham Startup Ecosystem

Join 1,600+ founders
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ABOUT

What is Raleigh-Durham Startup Week

Raleigh-Durham Startup Week is a regional movement – powered by a team of founders, entrepreneurs, and support organizations dedicated to showcasing the vibrant entrepreneurial community in the Triangle area. We strive to create meaningful moments to enrich entrepreneurial culture and our local startup community.

4

Days Across Two Cities

60+

Sessions & Events

2,100+

Attendees

100+

Speakers

Why Attend

Why attend RDSW 2025

Grow your startup and your network.

Be Inspired

Expand your ideas and your mindset with powerful keynotes from industry leaders and startup veterans that have scaled global startups.

Get Support

Struggling to overcome a challenge or wondering how others have handled a situation? Get insights and new ideas from founders, investors, and experts.

Make Connections

Meet possible cofounders, team members, investors, mentors, strategic partners, friends and more! 

Celebrate

Kick back and raise a toast to personal successes and the exciting growth happening in our local startup ecosystem.

Schedule

4 Action-Packed Days

Discover strategies and solutions specifically tailored to your stage. From hands-on workshops to inspiring keynotes to investor matching, there is something for everyone.

Workshop Sessions

Join us for engaging workshops where you will learn from industry experts. Our tracks are designed for your stage of business. Workshops are 45-minutes and will be held each between 1 PM EST and 5 PM EST.

Get Inspired

Join us for captivating lessons from visionary founders, accomplished startup team members, and industry trailblazers.

Tuesday, April 9, 1:00 PM - Durham

Bringing Lessons from the Valley Back to Durham: How We Can Build Better

Anna Wilson, Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering

A graduate of Duke, Anna boomeranged back to the Raleigh-Durham region after a successful tech career on the West Coast (Google, Pandora, DoorDash). In this fireside chat, Anna will talk about why she's returned and the lessons she's brought back from the West coast that can inform and influence our continued growth as a region.

Thursday, April 11, 1:00 PM - Raleigh

Lessons from Product Launches at Airbnb and Beyond

Allen Mask, Westcap/CoLab

Allen Mask - a tech executive, investor and advisor - will share insights about successful product launches and product marketing from his experiences at Airbnb, Sonos, and Google.

Connect with Expert

Get feedback and answers to pressing matters from experts in funding & legal.

Investor Office Hours

We have reached capacity for our 2024 Investor Office Hours. If you're still interested in connecting with an investor, complete the application, and we'll do our best to match you with a local investor at a later date as well as put you on the list for next year's event.

Legal Office Hours

Have a legal question? Sign-up for some time to meet with a practitioner from local law firms to get recommendations and advice as you build and grow your startup.  

Accounting Office Hours

Have a question on finances and accounting? Schedule a time with a local accountant to get insights and best practices on managing your cash and your books.

It's time to celebrate!

Meet other community members and celebrate the successes of local founders

Tuesday, April 9 - Durham

GrepBeat Happy Hour

Raise a glass with our friends at GrepBeat and all the new connections you made at day one of Startup Week!

Wednesday, April 10 - Durham

The Tweener List Awards

Join us as we celebrate the unveiling of the 2024 Triangle Tweener List as well as showcase 2023's top Triangle startups.

Thursday, April 11 - Raleigh

Big Ideas Raleigh Meetup!

The City of Raleigh Office of Strategy and Innovation is hosting a lunch gathering to spark collaboration & innovation for Raleigh's growth.

Sessions

Workshop Recap

Get a peek into some of the insightful sessions from last year's event

Build

How to Let Customers Guide Your Product Development

Learn about how to master product development. We'll cover tools and data that are essential to optimizing your product.
Scale

Life Inside a High Growth Startup

Unicorn CEOs discuss lessons from their rollercoaster journey at the helm of some of the fastest growing startups.
Scale

Power of the Network

Uncover how to utilize relational capital & LinkedIn for funding, talent, customer acquisition, knowledge share and mentorship.
Scale

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

Learn the importance of culture within companies and communities and its impact on a company's growth trajectory.
Idea

How to Test if People Will Pay For Your Idea

Learn proven methods to determine the optimal price point for your offerings, ensuring maximum profitability and market competitiveness.
Scale

2024 Funding Forecast

VCs across the Southeast predict the startup weather and discuss how to navigate this year's investment climate.
Build

How to Engage the Right Investors

Learn about starting your investor search and engaging with the right investors. We'll cover strategies to boost your fundraising efforts.
Build

Founder Failures: Stories About Lessons & Pivots

Hear from founders about big wins and epic failures along the way. Successful founders share lessons learned as they scaled up.
Idea

How to Fund Your New Idea

This panel breaks down the funding for new ideas. We'll chat about ways to aquire funding and DIY route with bootstrapping.
Idea

I Have an Idea... What Legal Things Do I Need to Consider First?

Join us for an expert's take on legal must-knows for founders: from initial idea protection to best practices in business law
Idea

How to Take an Idea from Napkin to Demo

This session is designed for innovators seeking cost-effective methods to validate their ideas and bring them to life.
Idea

Navigating the Transition from Corporate to Entrepreneurship

Hear lessons learned and personal anecdotes of navigating challenges, becoming your own boss, and making the leap to entrepreneurship.
Build

How to Master Customer Cohort Analysis for Explosive Growth

Keep key insights simple and separate for your customer cohorts. We'll dig into data, KPIs and lessons you should master for your startup.
John Hill
Jes Averhart
Erika Buell
David Shaner
Rachel Orrino
Jon Spinney
Christina Noel
Ryan Bethencourt
Andrea Inokon
Jan Davis
Jenn Summe
Lucy Kosturko
Tom Collopy
Rachael Classi
Last Year's Venues

See Where We Gathered

We've partnered with the startup-minded co-working spaces in both Durham and Raleigh in order to bring you the best event experience.

Durham, NC - Tuesday & Wednesday, April 9-10

American Underground

201 W Main St, Durham

Raleigh, NC - Thursday & Friday, April 11-12

Raleigh Founded - North St.

509 W North St, Raleigh

Inspire
Connect
Support
Celebrate
Inspire
Connect
Support
Celebrate
Inspire
Connect
Support
Celebrate
Inspire
Connect
Support
Celebrate
Contributing Members

RDSW is a community effort

Many thanks to the organizations, individuals, and communities that make this event possible. We truly couldn't do it without you!

ExtensisHR
Vaco
Bank of America
Bridge Bank
Wyrick Robbins
NC State Entreprenuership Clinic
City of Raleigh
EisnerAmper
Smith Anderson Law
Capital Broadcasting Company
Roninson Bradshaw

Partners, Supporting Organizations, and In-Kind Donors

Get Event Updates

We're deep into planning an amazing 2025 event. Sign-up to get event updates.