Startup and Tech Events in Madison

Who runs events in Madison?

A handful of organizations do most of the work here, and their events repeat. So it's worth knowing who they are.

StartingBlock is the center of gravity. It runs Her Network workshops and founder lunches, and it hosts other people's programming too, including The Workshop's mentorship sessions and Mastercraft Ventures' office hours.

MADdotNET runs Madison's Geek Lunch on the third Tuesday of the month at The Thirsty Goat in Fitchburg. No agenda, just a table of developers and wherever the conversation goes.

Madison Area Software Developers meets monthly and ranges across whatever is moving fast, from microservices to mobile to developer tooling. All levels welcome.

Women in Technology Wisconsin hosts Sip & Sync, a morning coffee meetup that moves around the area, Cottage Grove one month, Waunakee or Sun Prairie the next. Coffee is on them.

Mastercraft Ventures holds VC Office Hours at StartingBlock, right after 1MC. No formal presentations and no speed rotations, just conversations with an investor.

The Workshop runs small-group mentorship at StartingBlock, where a few founders at a time get real table time with experienced operators. You apply to get in.

BioForward Wisconsin pulls the state's biohealth community together, including its Women in Biohealth sessions at University Research Park.

Wisconsin Games Alliance puts on MDEV, a two-day games industry conference at the Alliant Energy Center, with panels, workshops, and a showcase where developers demo what they have built.

Madison is also home to several accelerator and incubator programs worth knowing about, whether or not you ever attend one of their events.
‍

Where should you start?

If you've never been to any of these, go to a developer meetup. Madison's Geek Lunch and the Madison Area Software Developers meetup both happen every month, they're free, and nobody is pitching you anything. Sip & Sync is the easiest one if mornings suit you better.

If you're raising money, VC Office Hours at StartingBlock will put you in front of an actual investor without a formal pitch, and The Workshop will get you table time with operators who have done it before. Both beat a general networking event.

If you're running something we're missing,submit it. The calendar is only as good as what people tell us about.