While 10By10 was awarded top prize by the judges at Startup Weekend Fredericksburg 3, Lights By Paul garnered three honors.
The audience raved about the “cutest gingerbread men ever,” and the lighted-holiday decoration business received the most votes to earn “Crowd Favorite.”
The coaches of Startup Weekend gave Glancy and his team the “Kumbaya Award” for working happiest together.
Then, Glancy’s new business won second place in the competition.
Glancy, owner of Paul’s Bakery for 41 years until his “retirement” this year, is a self-proclaimed Christmas decoration fanatic. “I hang out on the Planet Christmas website a little too much,” he told the judges in the Q & A portion of his business pitch.
Paul Glancy presents Lights by Paul. Photo by Bob Martin.
“My greatest passion has been to create one of the largest home-made Christmas displays in the area,” Glancy said. He developed a “special way” of creating PVC gingerbread boys and girls and bringing them to life with lights. “Every Christmas my yard is full of gingerbread men who are bowling, sledding, jumping rope, and even flying a rocket ship.”
Glancy said his Christmas gingerbread kids are more sturdy and less expensive than those sold in big box stores. To prove the point, one of his team members tackled a gingerbread boy onstage. Both were unharmed. “That was a Startup Weekend first,” one of the judges said.
“I’ve been a business man all my life, and I’ve learned if you can do it better than anyone else, you will succeed,” Glancy said. He thanked Germanna Community College, which provided its facilities free to Startup Weekend Fredericksburg, for making it possible for a man in his 60s to return to college. “Thank you, Startup Weekend Fredericksburg, for making a small idea a reality in only 54 hours,” he said.
For more on Startup Weekend Fredericksburg, see:
10By10 Wins Startup Weekend Fredericksburg
Three Startup Weekend Awards for Downtown Farm
John Sechrest Brings Global Experience to Fredericksburg Startups
FredXchange: Building a Startup Community in the Fredericksburg Region
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