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Techstars Boston Week 10 - Acquisition
Customer acquisition is usually the foremost topic on a founder's mind. This week was full of workshops, focused on various aspects of this topic. We also heard one of the most powerful Founder Stories of the program.
Techstars Boston Week 11 - Last Workshop
This week was the last "normal" week in Techstars, before the pitch practice madness begins. The final week was full of workshops, with the last workshop on Friday, and the topics varied from selling techniques, to common VC (venture capital) pitch mistakes, to PR (public relations) strategy.
Techstars NYC Week 5 - Outlining Your Buying Process
This week was what I consider the hangover week – everyone was a little bit tired, and a little bit off. Big Rocks were tough, and some got there, but certainly not the majority.
Techstars Boston Week 1 - The Beginning
Four key lessons from my first week as an Associate at Techstars Boston—insights on startup culture, mentor relationships, and the intensity of accelerator programs.
Techstars Boston Week 5 - Madness Over!
Lessons from Week 5 of Techstars Boston, where we learned about the power of the Techstars network, and learned all about customer interviewing.
Techstars NYC Week 4 - Conference Tips
I spent most of Week 4 in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, attending the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers conference which happens once every year. In theory, these are exactly the people we want to be talking to, learning from, and eventually helping, so it was a great opportunity.
Techstars NYC Week 3 - Mentor Madness & Customer Acquisition
Mentor Madness is an interesting time – you repeatedly get questioned, given opinions, and you usually end the week feeling as if you have no idea what you’re doing.
Techstars NYC Week 6 - Persistence & Early Customers
If Week 5 was the hangover, Week 6 was the reboot. Most companies started to really hit their stride, and see the results of all the hard work in the first half of the program.
Techstars Boston Week 6 - Hangover
Lessons from Week 6 at Techstars Boston, with some great Founder Stories, learning about behavioural interviewing and exploring cofounder conflict.
Techstars Boston Week 9 - Product
After dipping briefly following Mentor Madness (at least in feel), the pace here has started to noticeably increase again. That mostly means founders and teams have less time for distractions, and are putting in even longer hours than usual. New product is being shipped, and more time is being dedicated to fundraising and sales, in preparation for Demo Day. As such, the focus this week was mostly on product development, and putting more pressure on growth.
Techstars NYC Week 7 - Elevator Pitches
Week 7 kicked off the final stretch of the program, during which we would normally be preparing for Demo Day. There have been a few posts written recently (Ty Danco, Ross Baird) about why we should be changing Demo Days, and Techstars NYC has been experimenting with a different format.
Techstars Boston Week 7 - Fundraising
Lessons from Week 7 of Techstars Boston focusing on fundraising strategy, cap table structure, and how to approach early-stage investors with confidence.
Techstars Boston Week 8 - Enterprise
For whatever reason, this week the workshops focused largely on enterprise-oriented companies, and the Founder Stories happened to come from two people involved with an enterprise-focused company. From a general standpoint, this week has been about growth. Companies are spending a lot of time working out their strategy for the next 6-12 months, and which direction they will head after Techstars.
Techstars NYC Week 1 - Preparation
My plan was/is to write a post every week during my time here in Techstars NYC – we’re currently starting Week 6, but I plan to catch up.
Techstars NYC Week 8 - Investor Pitches
The alternate format to Demo Day continued this week, and in preparation for Investor Preview in Week 9, we were preparing to record investor pitches. I was reminded how difficult and time-consuming it is to prepare a great company pitch, and how difficult it is to pitch in front of a camera.