DISQUS

Congrats!

Dear CU:

Andrew is a huge part of the Boulder startup community. He organizes many local events and puts his heart and soul into each one. Startup Weekend, his creation, has become a worldwide phenomenon. His work at TechStars has been strong - he's helped make us more accessible to the world by being out IN the world. If anyone understands the spirit of entrepreneurship, it's Andrew.

Take a chance on Andrew. It's a small chance. It will pay off.

@Basil - great book topic. I'd be willing to give it a read too if helpful. reach me at david at techstars dot org

It's important to understand that TechStars doesn't specifically "target" early exits. However, I do think some early exits are the sign of a healthy portfolio. In the VC model in general, you'd expect about 20% early exits and the other winners to become more mature before exiting. That's what we're seeing. But again, we're not targeting that exclusively or even primarily as a strategy. We are simply hoping to fund and further companies that can have a real impact and create real value and this is a natural result of that effort.

my comments in the video this time, as i reacted.

Needs. More. Personality. You're hilarious, but that doesn't come through. It seems like you're trying to teach me a "lesson" (in this case creativity) which is great, but i think you need to mix in more of "you". We're watching because we know you are smart and funny. You're both at the same time, so you gotta own it! Minor stuff - kitchen/door on the right is distracting. use the photo of you when you were little as a constant prop - call it "mini me (ha)" - yes - you need to pretend like you're talking to people. hundreds. after all, you are! but the biggest thing i'd say is amp up a litlte bit - let us see the personality.

On your single founder statement - let's not rule it out. It could happen, it just hasn't really happened yet.

You've almost exactly described how i use twitter. i can't imagine following tons of people that i don't know just for marketing purposes. good call. i think you'll be happier with it.

Looking forward to seeing your application!

By "learn to love email" did you mean that you would figure out a system so that you respond to all of them? maybe inbox zero? i can tell you're not quite there. ;-)

At TechStars, on day one, we go around the room and each say what we suck at. It's a little surprising for the new founders (who are very pumped up), but it works very well. it gets them thinking about fixing their weaknesses. first step - identification.

happy to connect any time - email david at techstars dot org and let's set something up. thanks for the thoughtful post. good stuff.

I'll be at SXSW and would love to participate in this discussion. Obviously, it's near and dear for me. Hopefully we can meet up.

Rich has some good advice. But then I think you embellish it a bit with some possibly incorrect thinking.

I'm not exactly sure about YC's terms, but at TechStars, the 5% equity we take is in common stock, with no control provisions. That is, we literally look like a founder. No board seats, no first rights to invest, etc. Literally - just like the founders. So there is no "loss of control" by going to TechStars, and no "investors to report to." If you can bootstrap, we highly encourage it. That's what J-Squared Media and App-X did - both successfully to profitability without raising a dime. It's also how I built my first company. We're huge fans of bootstrapping - for the right sorts of companies.

The good advice is to build something out before seeking venture capital. It's the only way, of course, unless you're got a long track record. That's where TechStars can help - we help show potential investors a 3 month track record in a very hands on way.

Further, I think the focus on the 100% of the pie and how much you're giving up by seeking help can be thought of another way. It's not how much of the worthless pie you "give away", it's how much bigger you can make the pie by participating in something like like TechStars or YC.

I'd encourage you to speak to any of the founders who have been through TechStars. You can reach them by checking out techstars.org/companies. They'll all tell you that the pie got orders of magnitude bigger when they attended TechStars.

Take care, and good luck!

Someone should build a meta-plugin. In other words, a single plug in that any company can build a web-based adapter for.

Fantastic post Micah. I didn't know I did that last one, but it makes total sense. Don't over-advise, and always remember your advice is your opinion, not some "ultimate truth."

Dave, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope you enjoyed the DNC!

Doesn't surprise me so much. it's about the same rate that we're seeing at TechStars, but of course we don't have as much data. We have one VC funded company out of 10 from last year, and one early M&A. Then 6 of the remaining 8 are angel/seed funded at this point. 15-20% of these companies ultimately attracting venture capital over time seems like a pretty strong outcome given that these are almost exclusively first time entrepreneurs we're talking about. Too early to tell with this years group, but I'd predict a similar ratio. But I would think the percentage would grow some over time - as some of the companies that are initially angel funded could work into position to attract VC money.

i feel the need to drink. perfect timing guys. genius. pure genius.

what's the ticker, LDZN?

Often, startups see the same market opportunity and work on it in parallel. they're not copying one another - they're just innovating at the same time. combine this with the markets tendency to stick similar stuff in the same exact bucket (e.g. friendfeed and socialthing, which are similar but coming at things very differently), and it's not that surprising.

dude, they already KNOW i'm cool. and i don't eat sushi. so i have a built in excuse. but i will come watch and heckle. i don't like to touch anyway.

If Micah hadn't slipped up and put the wrong fake email address in the application, he would have noticed that his fake app actually drew an email.

Duh. Intense Debate.

Fraser - it was great to meet you as well - i've been reading your blog for some time now. glad you enjoyed boulder - please let me know if you make it back again. would love to hang out more.