The Program

TechStars Blog

16th May 2012

Breaking Down Pitches, an Interactive Video by FlixMaster

by Clare Tischer

Thank you so much to the rad team at FlixMaster, a company that came through the Boulder TechStars program last year. They put together a fun video of our pitch breakdowns in an interactive format. Budding entrepreneurs should check out the below video and choose your own adventure to learn more:

  • Next Big Sound pitch breakdown with David Cohen and Clare Tischer
  • SendGrid pitch breakdown with David Cohen
  • Kapost pitch breakdown with David Cohen and Brad Feld

If you’re really observant, you will find two linkable Easter eggs within this video.

You can create your own interactive projects at FlixMaster for free!  Also, be sure to visit them on Facebook where they offer insider tips for creating dynamic interactive videos that drive engagement and conversions. Create your own interactive video at FlixMaster.

11th May 2012

Job Openings at TechStars companies this week

by David Cohen

11th May 2012

Andy Sack: The Iron Man of Startups

by Clare Tischer

photo by Annie Laurie Malarkey

Below is a guest post by the wonderful Rebecca Lovell, mentor to TechStars. Author’s note: Rebecca Lovell is the Chief Business Officer of GeekWire, which acquired Seattle 2.0 and as such is now producing and presenting the beloved Startup Awards. Rebecca is a returning mentor to the Seattle TechStars program, and teaches a class on Venture Capital investing in the UW MBA program.

In a world where startups need every ounce of passion and insight they can muster, and where Andy Sack means so much to so many of them, on May 3rd the Seattle community added a new award to Andy’s list of accolades: “The Iron Man of Startups.”  In the fourth year of a grand tradition, GeekWire presented the Seattle 2.0 Startup Awards, where the community voted for such favorites as Startup of the Year and Hire of the Year, and new hits such as Next Tech Titan and Geekiest Coffee Shop.  But nothing brought down the packed house like the true “People’s Choice” award given to Andy.   We introduced a “Wild Card Award” this year, where techies and startuppers submitted their nominations in the form of ____ deserves an award for ____.  Believe me, we got some interesting submissions, but one name and theme emerged as the clear winner.  Last Thursday, we couldn’t have been more honored to present the Iron Man award to Andy, and we could have heard a pin drop at the EMP when 600+ adoring fans awaited his acceptance speech.

“Fuck.”

He also said: “Cancer is this amazing thing. I mean…I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. But there are a lot of positives to the experience and one of the positives is being weak enough that people step forward. I’m honored, humbled, and super happy to be alive. I love what I get to do each day, which is work hard to make the Seattle tech community better each year. And I’m seeing it, so I’m super excited. TechStars investors just re-upped for three years. Apply. It’s gonna be great.”

Jonathan Sposato, GeekWire’s Chairman and a fellow mentor for the TechStars program in Seattle put it best: “Andy is the King of Get Fucking Aggressive. The Emperor of DtoP (Drive to Profitability).  The Ayatalloh of BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). A man so tough he kicked cancer in the ass.”  From career advice to poker tips (not to mention working with him at TechStars), Andy has been an inspiration and a friend. In a town known for being passive aggressive, Andy is aggressive.  Aggressive in his advice- yes.  Aggressive in his support of startups- hell yes.  And aggressive in beating cancer.  Much love and gratitude to Andy, and we can’t wait to see what he and TechStars do next.

4th May 2012

Job Openings at TechStars companies this week

by David Cohen

20th April 2012

Job Openings at TechStars companies this week

by David Cohen

18th April 2012

TechStars strongly supports Twitter’s patent hack

by David Cohen

Yesterday, Twitter announced something very important called the Innovators Patent Agreement which Fred Wilson calls the “Patent Hack.” With this mechanism, Twitter has said that it will not use assigned or acquired patents offensively, nor will any company that acquires patents from Twitter be able to use them offensively without the innovators consent.

What does this mean? It means that Twitter has the balls to compete on the basis of the products it creates and the service it provides. It won’t rely on patents to “win” an offensive game. It will use them as an asset only if and when it is attacked. What a concept.

Reasonable people can argue about software patents, but in general we strongly believe that they simply slow down innovation and are the source of tremendous waste. Behavior recently has been downright ridiculous.

TechStars intends to insert these Patent Hack provisions into our standard formation documents and encourage all of our companies to adopt the patent hack. As always, the entrepreneurs will get to choose if they want to play by these rules or not since it’s their company. But they’ll know that TechStars encourages them to adopt the provisions and we’ll make it very easy for them to do so.

If you are a fan of software innovation, you should thank Twitter for their leadership. Thank you Twitter.

17th April 2012

Act 2 of The Microsoft Accelerator, powered by TechStars

by David Cohen

Last November, we helped Microsoft launch the Microsoft Accelerator, powered by TechStars. The first area of focus has been on Kinect and a few weeks ago I was in Seattle to help kick it off. Dave Malcolm is the Managing Director of the Microsoft Accelerator in Seattle, and with Andy Sack’s help he did a great job helping to select 11 companies to fund from over 500 companies that applied. You might naturally expect that these companies are focused on gaming, but the vast majority are not. You can get a preview of the companies here, in advance of their demo day which is happening in in late June. They’re an amazing group and it’s been interesting and fun to work on these companies as they explore new human computer interaction paradigms using motion sensing and/or voice control (Kinect is available both on XBOX and on Windows, so the possibilities are limitless).  The Microsoft Accelerator for Kinect is already underway and we couldn’t be more thrilled about how this first cycle has gone so far.

Apparently, neither could Microsoft! Today, Microsoft has announced a second cycle to the Microsoft Accelerator, powered by TechStars. Starting this fall, the Microsoft Accelerator will kick off a new program for companies using Windows Azure to build amazing cloud based applications. If you haven’t been paying attention, Windows Azure has come quite a long way as an open and flexible cloud platform for startups. It doesn’t hurt that Microsoft is tossing in $60,000 in platform credit either. Going forward, the Microsoft Accelerator will have both Kinect and Windows Azure focused cycles annually. You can see the full schedule and details on Microsoft’s web site.

Applications for the Microsoft Accelerator are open now for the Windows Azure cycle which starts in August. Funded companies will get a $20,000 investment from TechStars, and support from amazing mentors. What are you waiting for?  Go check it out!

Microsoft Accelerator on Facebook

16th April 2012

A Second Boston Program for 2012

by Clare Tischer

And now, a word from Katie Rae, managing director of TechStars in Boston…

We are happy to announce that we are running another TechStars Boston session this fall. If you have wanted to take part in TechStars in Boston, you don’t have to wait until next year: you can apply right now.

As our Boston program grows we have seen increasing demand from entrepreneurs and investors. There are so many applicants that we can accept only 1% of those who apply. Of the 12 companies in the 2011 class, 12 of 12 raised follow on financing and all are making great progress.

In light of this demand, the Boston investors who make this all possible have encouraged us to pick up the pace.

Our fourth class is graduating this May 3rd – Demo Day will be so much fun – and we have just opened applications for our next class, which will begin in September.

Please apply, or encourage companies you know to apply. If you are accepted you will receive $118,000 in funding and move to Boston for the intense 3-month session. Fall is a beautiful time of year in New England.

Boston has a diverse bench of mentor talent and TechStars wants to take advantage of this. Along with consumer web companies (Ubersense, Taplab, Pact) we have accepted health IT and medical device companies (Ginger.io, Strohl Medical), enterprise software (Evertrue, Placester, Simply Good, Sennex, docTrackr), infrastructure (Kinvey, MortarData), ecommerce (Shopsy, Murfie), and even transportation (Zagster).

We are hoping our next wave of applications will include robotics, bio informatics, health IT, digital manufacturing and ed tech companies.

Please spread the word and apply here.

Founders who apply before May 1st will be eligible for an invitation to this session’s Demo Day, which is not open to the public. This is a rare opportunity to see a select group of Boston entrepreneurs present
their companies to the world.