September 2010

Daniel Roth is a Master of Fine Arts student in ASU’s Interdisciplinary Digital Media program. Roth’s program of study involves two schools, The School of Theatre and Film and Arts, Media + Engineering (AME). This unique program, as well as ASU’s current entrepreneurship opportunities, has allowed Roth to work with a diverse, transdiciplinary team as he builds a sustainable business focused on the arts and technology.

As a student entrepreneur I've have always been focused on creating new possibilities for my fellow artists. This has included writing and producing new works, as well as producing festivals such as the Phoenix Fringe Festival. As a student in my program I am able to dream big because of the wide variety of disciplines I am in contact with, thanks to AME and ASU. Both have inspired me and my great team to build something which is not just a product itself, but something which helps artists create their own new works. The arts need technology's help in finding ways to reach their fractured and distracted audience, and we believe that Mobia.tv is one such tool which will help artists regain the public interest.

 It's the fifty-fourth hour and after an entire weekend surrounded by passionate people, most of which you've never met before, you've created a startup. Somewhere between the caffeine wearing off and the conversations coming to a still, the realization hits you, that within a two-day stretch, you've collaborated, conversed, pitched and refined it, the idea that becomes reality, the business that comes to life.

It's happened in 89 cities in the past year, stretching across nearly 30 countries.

For the past three years, Startup Weekend, a nonprofit based out of Seattle, Washington, has hosted hundreds of events of the same name, bringing together community leaders in business, development, marketing and technology and more, providing a forum to discuss the next great venture and then make it happen.