I attended Startup Weekend Bay Area this past weekend at PayPal’s headquarters. It was an awesome experience and very exhausting. Here are ten things that I found noteworthy with the experience of developing an idea within 48 hours of the pitch. They are in no particular order.

Everyone has an idea

There were some 51 pitches of ideas on Friday night. If there wasn’t a long line of people waiting to pitch, there may have been more. Many of the ideas overlapped.

Pick the idea that you are most passionate about

If you aren’t into the idea, you won’t last the weekend with the team. Things get hairy and you have to be motivated to see this thing through.

Some people are strong minded

Being open to new ideas and the knowledge of the group is important. Being set on something is only going to make the whole experience more than frustrating for you and the team. Speak your mind but roll with it if the majority does.

Use each person’s talent to the maximum

Ask each person what their strongest talent related to the project is. Put each person to work on something they know how to do and get stuff done.

Some stuff has to wait

Prioritize what’s important for the first version of the product. Tackling too much stuff at once is going to distract the team. Get the core stuff done and if there is any time left, progressively add more to the core. It’s called a “minimum viable product.”  Write down the ideas so you can refer to them later.

It’s gonna change

The product/idea will change a number of times throughout the weekend. Pages that seemed like a good idea initially may be scrapped because they just don’t fit. This is called iterating.

Choose one platform

One team had multiple different platforms all pieced together. This is a great case study for using multiple platforms, but the team had to focus on integration rather than the idea.

You will step on toes

Someone in the team will step on someone else’s toes. Acknowledge it, apologize, and let it pass. Being under pressure of 48 hours is going to increase emotional levels and it most likely wasn’t meant to be a personal attack.

Get some sleep

A fresh mind is wonderful when tackling a bug or problem. If you can’t think clearly, you’re not going to enjoy it.

Have fun

While developing a product is great, having fun is what counts. Making new friends that you can connect with after the weekend is valuable. You can (and should) continue to work on the project with your team into the future.

Would I do this again. Definitely. Being able to quickly adapt to different personalities and viewpoints was a great experience. Making new friends and having fun was all I could ask for.