If you look at the history of innovation, the innovations coming through the defence department have been some of the most important innovations ever. Little things like drones, sensors, and the Internet of Things are defence-type initiatives, but the big one is the Internet itself.
— David Cohen
The more you're real with people, and the more you let people help you, the more they get to understand how you operate as an entrepreneur. The stronger that relationship is, then the more likely there's a future together in that relationship.
The future is going to happen in Toronto or Berlin or Bengaluru and not necessarily in the Valley.
Part of the thing that's magic about TechStars is it's about a community that wants to make itself better.
There are not enough female VCs in an industry so traditionally dominated by males. There are not enough female mentors who are actively engaged with female founders. We need women VCs and entrepreneurs to stand up, get loud, and help guide their peers.
Meetings with no goal, also known as 'coffee shop' meetings, can be huge time wasters if you're not efficient with them. 'Always know why you're meeting, and make sure it's important - try to keep them to 30 minutes, max.
People look up to Techstars because they get funded by Techstars; they go through the accelerator. What we do impacts what they do. What we care about we hope has a meta impact on those entrepreneurs and how they think about the world.
The rise of digital technologies has eroded boundaries: Anyone can participate, start a business, and reach a global audience.
I think the best developers can learn any language; if they are a good developer, they can learn whatever. But the raw talent, the ability to learn it and do it and demonstrate the ability is helpful.
I've just always been interested in moving past the keyboard and mouse.
Entrepreneurship transparency, I think, is important because there are so many problems that you just have to be real about them. There are so many ways for a startup to die, so the transparency attitude is key.
People are starting companies at young ages. They fail fast, learn a lot, and keep going.
I've done a bunch of consulting; I've actually spent time in Singapore, England, Denmark, all over.
Clearly, there is a gender imbalance when it comes to venture capital and entrepreneurship.
Focusing on the right priorities can help you do more faster.
In innovation, you're trying to create something from nothing.
Twilio is a great example of a company executing tremendously well on its vision and delivering a beautiful set of products that solves real problems.
I'm an investor in a lot of things that have to do with human-computer interaction.
What Techstars is fundamentally a global ecosystem in which entrepreneurs are enabled and empowered to bring new technologies to the market.
We're pretty broad as investors. Our thesis is work with great entrepreneurs that believe they can change the world.
My attitude is there are at least hundreds of interesting startups that are going to get going in every year.
Going public is one step in the life cycle of a company; it's not the last step.
To have a diverse set of perspectives and backgrounds enables you to understand the market at large much more effectively.
Rules designed to ensure competition ensure that innovators with new ideas can challenge incumbents on a level playing field.
If I'm an entrepreneur and I have an idea, and I don't have the development talent around me but I need to find a developer, I would do my selection just like I would with hiring an employee.
