June in San Francisco: Lunch & Learns, Workshops at the AWS Startup Loft

In April, we announced the re-opening of the San Francisco AWS Startup Loft, an innovative space open to all startups building on AWS, and a free benefit for existing AWS Activate members.

The San Francisco AWS Startup Loft is a hub where founders, builders, and their teams gain access to the expertise they need to build, launch, and scale their startup. This month, you’ll find six exclusive in-person events for startups looking to optimize your product for better product-market fit and understand how to build to MVP.

To register, simply visit the Loft page, and click “sign up” to create a profile. From there you’ll have access to free Loft co-working, events, networking, and mentorship. Current Loft members only need to sign in.

June 8: Lunch & Learn: This Isn’t That MVP Session

Time: 10:30AM – 1:00PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Speaker: Mike Apted, Startup CTO Engagement Lead

You’re eager to build your MVP: something viable you can take to an investor. And while AWS strives to help founders get started, this isn’t THAT MVP session. Instead, this is an MVP workshop that goes beyond the tools, to focus on how to get started fast and validate your assumptions with the least amount of work (and paying customers).

Designed by a former founder-turned-AWS Startup Solutions Architect, this session dives into managed services, optionality, risk reduction, how to test for free with AWS credits, and how to iterate based on user behavior. We’ll also review good (and not so good) MVP examples. Come with questions, leave with answers, ready to build an investor-worthy MVP. Sign in / sign up to RSVP.

June 9: Lunch & Learn: Founder-Led Sales

Time: 10:30AM – 1:00PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Speaker: Mark Birch, Principal Startup Advocate

Are you a startup founder that has never sold a product before, and you need tactical strategies and steps to do so? In this session, we’ll go over the 12 steps to start selling with confidence and consistency. You’ll learn how to build a Motivation Matrix to unpack customer problems and the formula for the right customer messaging. You’ll then develop initial lead lists and use templates for prospecting. We’ll end with deal qualification, running a sales meeting, and closing the deal. This session is appropriate for early-stage B2B/B2B2C startups looking to uplevel and systematize their sales process for scale. Sign in / sign up to RSVP.

June 14: Lunch & Learn: From 1 to 200 – Choosing the Right Solutions for Your Startup at the Right Time

Time: 12:00PM – 3:00PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Speaker: Igor Geyfman, Principal Startup SA

You have a vision for how you want your product to perform. Now, you just need to put the right tools in place to make it happen. But with over 200 AWS services, how do you decide what’s best for your startup?

Whether you’re looking to go serverless, build containers, or want to get something up and running quickly to validate assumptions, AWS Startup Solution Architect Igor Geyfman will break down the key services startups need to consider on Day One. He’ll also help you look ahead at the essential services to add as you scale. This session is well-suited for early-stage technical founders and startup cloud architects. Sign in / sign up to RSVP.

June 16: Lunch & Learn: From 1 to 10 Million Users

Time: 10:30AM – 1:00PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Speaker: Itzik Paz, Sr. Startup Solution Architect

Cloud computing gives you a number of advantages, such as the ability to scale your web application or website on demand. But if you have a new web application and want to use cloud computing, where do you start? Join us in this session to learn best practices for scaling your resources from one to millions of users. We show you how to best combine different AWS services to optimize systems and costs and how to make smarter decisions for architecting your application. This session is great for both B2C and B2B companies who are looking for a relevant and practical framework for thinking about scale. Sign in / sign up to RSVP.

June 21: AWS Lightsail Workshop: Spinning Up Your Web App Fast

Time: 9:30AM – 1:00PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Speaker: Kunal Batra, Developer Advocate Manager & Sisira Narayana, Principal Product Manager

For startup developers who need to build websites or web applications, Amazon Lightsail is the easiest way to get started. In this half-day workshop, learn how to create a WordPress website in minutes without deep technical knowledge. You will learn how to collect site visitor information, share job descriptions, and utilize automation to keep your customers updated on the latest news. We’ll also walk you through how to configure custom domains, modify the website copy/theme, and integrate Amazon SES for email communication with users/customers. You’ll also deploy a LAMP stack application with a multi-channel communication service to communicate with your users through SMS, email and more. Sign in / sign up to RSVP.

Please allot approximately 2.5 hours for the full workshop. 

June 23: AWS Amplify Workshop: Get Your MVP to Market Faster

Time: 1:30PM – 7:30PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Speaker: Ritik Khatwani, Startup Solutions Architect & Jessie VanderVeen, Principal Product Manager

Build and and ship complete apps in hours instead of weeks and launch your MVP with AWS Amplify Studio! In this workshop, jointly presented by Figma — a web-based design and prototyping tool — and AWS Amplify Studio, you’ll learn how to serve your front and back-end development needs. You can build an app backend, create custom user interface (UI) components, enable designers to customize components in Figma, which can be imported into Studio, and connect a UI to an app backend with minimal coding. Developing a full-stack app on AWS just got easier, and this session shows you how. Sign in / sign up to RSVP.

Please allot approximately 2.5 hours for the full workshop.

We look forward to seeing you at an AWS Startup Loft event soon!