Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in Startup Weekend NYC, a three-day event during which hackers, designers, and visionaries rally around new ideas on Friday and race to turn them into viable products and companies by Sunday to be judged by a panel of VC experts.  I highly recommend that anyone with a smidgeon of entrepreneurial spirit try out these weekend startup events. You’ll have a chance to sample, in a controlled setting, the compressed fury that accompanies the transformation of ideas into reality. You’ll start with a whirlwind …