"This business on Monday is going to continue," Brewster said, tapping his finger on the table for effect. Three colleagues sitting with him nodded in agreement.

They were mostly strangers Friday. By midday Sunday, they had created a new venture -- Scavenja.com -- and were almost ready to unveil it.

Scavenja aims to run a real-world scavenger hunt that requires participants to send in pictures of various objects and events in exchange for points and prizes.

It was one of four companies conceived and birthed over the weekend in a funky office on Glenwood South in downtown Raleigh.

About 50 Web developers, programmers, marketers and others from as far away as Washington paid $40 each to take part in RTP Startup Weekend. The event compressed the process of a creating a business into 54 hours.

Attendees arrived Friday evening and tossed out ideas for new companies. They voted on their favorites, broke into groups and got to work.

"I can't remember a weekend this fun in a long time," said Doug Williams, 23, of Chapel Hill who works as a software developer for IBM.

Williams worked on Dealcastr.com, a site that intends to match businesses that need to unload expiring inventory with consumers who want deals. A bakery, for instance, could use the site to sell day-old muffins at a discount. A sports team could use it to sell last-minute tickets.

"It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of late nights," said Williams, who did not go home Saturday night. "This isn't just an exercise. We want a business out of it."

The weekend event is one in a series taking place across the country. A national group picks the locations, and local organizers handle the details of getting people together.

The goal is to create companies that eventually generate revenue and profit. That, though, is not necessarily the biggest accomplishment.

Some of the businesses might not survive long beyond the weekend. But the connections forged among techies and the experience they gain will live on.

"It's been a lot of fun to actually take some passion and energy and put it behind something else," said Jeff Cohen of Durham.

Cohen worked with the team on a mobile application that will let consumers report instantly whether a restaurant's food is good or bad. The creators hope to aggregate data and sell it to fast- food restaurants and other dining establishments.

By Sunday afternoon, about 32 attendees were left tweaking code and fine-tuning ideas as the deadline for completion neared. In a high-stress environment, one might expect tension. There was none. Everyone seemed to get along.

Want a better bar?

In a large conference room, those working on Barsforus.com joked and laughed as they plugged in data on several Raleigh bars.

Their site intends to help consumers find locations with the drinks and amenities -- pool tables, cash machines and such -- that they like. Chris Doerfler, 29, of Raleigh got the idea while working as a bartender in Park City, Utah. People constantly asked for details on other bars, he said.

"I'm kind of an ideas guy," he said. And the weekend got him "fired up about online business."

The companies born during the weekend will get an extra boost later this week. A television crew from NBC filmed all weekend for a segment that is expected to air Friday on CNBC and perhaps later on other NBC channels.

For attendees, it means the pressure did not end Sunday.

"We're going to be thrown into the national spotlight," Williams said. "We've got to keep working."