There will always be a capital shortage from the perspective of entrepreneurs.
— David Cohen
The hot deal is often the one that does not work.
I think entrepreneurs really appreciate directness and honesty, coupled with empathy.
If I had a do over, I'd indubitably start investing in startups earlier in life!
Strong community and mentorship are the lifeblood of any successful entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it's exciting the Boulder is showing the world just what sort of impact these things can actually have.
TechStars is mentorship-driven.
Ultimately, even if you follow the advice of a mentor or board member, it's still your fault if they were wrong!
There's no law that says you have to do what your mentor suggests. And the sooner you learn how to say 'no' confidently, the easier it will be to manage these key relationships.
The Internet is full of choices, and nobody is going to make the choice to use a product that is hard to use or unattractive.
Twitter needs to become more of a platform on the web. If Twitter went away today, people would just turn to Facebook. If Facebook went away, people would start screaming - it's so universal.
I think entrepreneurs should demand transparency for startup accelerators.
I had done six or eight traditional angel investments and basically just thought it sucked.
You may have a small network, but growing that network has become easier with the use of social tools. LinkedIn, Conspire, even Facebook and Twitter allow you to grab branches that may have previously seemed out of reach.
I'm often asked what it takes to be 'Series A ready' in terms of metrics, progress, and traction. Unfortunately, there's no easy answer.
I think there are ways that perhaps organic partnerships can occur in local geographies with groups that are extremely focused on their communities. That's really how Techstars began, as a grassroots movement in Boulder, Colo., that happened to catch fire and expand around the world.
Company naming is a key part of the branding process, but it's subject to contrasting tastes and an illiquid domain name market that results in startups wasting their time during the branding process.
If you're not working on something you're passionate about, it's a long, hard road.
We think of the Techstars product as not really the accelerator but the network. That's what entrepreneurs should be valuing here. I think it's the most undervalued thing that many entrepreneurs don't get.
Ultimately, we measure ourselves on the success of our investments.
Quality and a great product matters, in startups, and in accelerators.
I'm most proud of helping so many others achieve their dreams as founders.
There is no doubt that Boulder was a supportive and open-door community well before TechStars ever existed. But one of the things that I'm most proud of is that TechStars has provided a real focal point for this sort of activity and has brought attention to just how impactful one community can be when it works together.
Aspiring entrepreneurs are often advised to work at a startup for a couple of years first, to understand what's involved. But often, each company's approach to success is very narrow. So my advice is, 'Just do it.'
The best mentors present their opinions simply as data and not as direction.
Because one of the main jobs of a CEO is to set the vision and strategy for the company, I'm a big believer in making one of the founders the default CEO.
Consumers have zero time for products that are not simple, intuitive, and attractive to use. This is especially true with Internet products, where clean and useful design is a prerequisite to keeping anyone on your site for more than 30 seconds.
San Francisco is a great startup community that you shouldn't even try to model yourself after because it's just special.
I wish I had had more mentorship and more access, not only for capital, but the critical thinking.
We're pretty broad as investors. Our thesis is work with great entrepreneurs that believe they can change the world. But there are specific areas that we get excited about - areas like hard tech, deep tech, companies that deal with really difficult technology, etc.
If you're in a squeeze for capital and you have a solid, mutually beneficial relationship with a VC, your chances of raising will increase dramatically.
Techstars is truly global; you'll see us continue to expand all our programs worldwide, including accelerators, our venture capital, as well as the UP Global programs including Startup Weekend, Startup Next, Startup Digest, etc.
Techstars has done a great job accelerating and providing venture capital to the most promising companies to make the biggest long-term economic impact.
Every year, it seems to be there are more people right out of college who are willing to jump into a start-up.
We believe that startups can be built anywhere.
I was lucky to have amazing mentors like Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson.
In the rare cases where I've had to cut a company loose, I just tell them why and wish them luck and hope they learn something from it. I don't spend more mental energy on it than I have to, and I try very hard not to hold a grudge or try to negatively affect them either. It's just done for me.
I had to quit a 'real job' to start my first company.
I think motivation and drive, coupled with raw talent, help make founders successful.
In Boulder entrepreneurship circles, there is a genuine desire to see others succeed and a general belief that karma matters. There's a sense that together we're building something here, and that we're all a meaningful part of it.
The two big startup killers are when there's just no market for what you are doing, and team problems.
At TechStars, I have the privilege of working with hundreds of the best and brightest start-up mentors on the planet. We coach our mentors to take a Socratic approach and to provide data rather than decisions.
Deciding whether or not to bring in an outside CEO is one of the most gut-wrenching decisions that a founder will ever need to make.
If you're pitching to investors for the first time and expecting them to be so blown away by how thoroughly amazing your pitch is that they write a check on the spot - well, prepare to be disappointed.
We've been publishing the TechStars data fully since the beginning on TechStars.com. For every single company, you can see if it's a failure, success, how much they raised. Entrepreneurs deserve that sort of transparency from accelerators, and it's not hard to do.
I think just calling up a VC and saying 'I want to pitch you' is an enormous waste of time.
When we talk about Techstars, we think of it as this worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed.
When fundraising, your network is critical. Leveraging it early and often is the key. Don't make the mistake of waiting until you need money to engage sources of capital.
Our goal is simply to make entrepreneurship more accessible to everyone around the world throughout the entrepreneurial journey, from inspiration to IPO.
Because Techstars is an intensely productive three-month program in which product development and iteration are primary goals, we're constantly looking to streamline our program to help entrepreneurs avoid recurring obstacles.
For most people, their home is their most valuable asset. Yet most of us don't take care of it.
