AWS Startups Blog

The Startup’s Guide to re:Invent includes of the key moments from the overall re:Invent schedule, and the startup-specific sessions. We’ve asked some re:Invent veterans (and newbies) to offer their game plan for the days they will be in Vegas for the conference. Finally, we’ve identified some re:Invent sessions, picked from the main catalog, and grouped them based on a particular need, or type of startup product and focus.

This year Startup Central is headed to the Aria Quad at AWS re:Invent and we’ve designed a series of technical talks, speed networking activities, mentorship opportunities, and straight-up fun, for those of you planning to join us in Vegas.

AI picked up a lot of heat through 2017 and 2018. In what felt like an overnight rush, interest exploded, as fresh information, new techniques, new products, and new risks hit the scene. News reports came in massive waves, and businesses scrambled to figure out where AI fit into their product offerings.

In 2007, Chuck Slaughter launched his new social enterprise, Living Goods, in Uganda, “borrowing from the Avon playbook.” But instead of going door-to-door selling lipstick and hand creams, Living Goods’ community health workers arrive on local doorsteps offering medical services, health education, medicines, and health products.

Like many startups today, Nummo was born in the cloud and given our industry and our future goals, we wouldn’t compromise any other aspects of our offering. People needed to feel their data is secure when using Nummo.

Growing up in Bahrain, Esra’a Al Shafei saw the damage that authoritarian regimes could inflict on minority voices, political outliers, and the causes of social justice. From a young age, she felt an enormous sense of responsibility to take action.

The need for Fast, Secure Delivery of Business-Critical Applications has never been greater: Snapt’s disruptive software-only Applications Delivery Controller (ADC) Solution ensures best performance.

Sam Parnell has been an AWS evangelist most of his career. While Chief Technology Officer at popular sports news site Bleacher Report, he ran the company “100 percent on AWS.” When Turner Broadcasting acquired Bleacher Report in 2012, Parnell got involved with aspects of the media giant’s infrastructure, and again started moving critical operations into the cloud.

If you ask a developer what they think of marketing, it’s unlikely you’ll get a very positive response. Why? For the most part, they’re tired of marketers telling them how awesome a product is. They have a healthy skepticism, in that they just don’t believe the messaging. But what if your target market is developers? How do you attract them to—and keep them using—your platform?

VERO’s infrastructure was hosted in a Rackspace data center in London. After facing some capacity and scalability issues with Rackspace, VERO had decided to explore external options. This migration was critical for the customer.

In today’s capital-fueled startup market, it’s easy to feel behind the curve when it comes to keeping up with the most recent tech products. New companies launch, fly, or fail faster than even the geekiest of us can keep up with, sometimes slipping under the radar amid crowds of hopefuls looking for their big breaks. “I think building successful companies and products relies a lot on speed,” says Ryan Hoover, founder and CEO of Product Hunt, an online informational hub for and about startups. “It’s a matter of just how quickly can you figure out which ones will work and which ones won’t.”