In 2009, coming out of Techstars, SendGrid set out to raise a seed round. The original target was $300,000. They ended up raising $750,000 in that round. Eight years later, they went public at around a $1B valuation. Shortly thereafter, Twilio acquired SendGrid for $2B. Great success stories have humble beginnings. This was true for …
Last week, I did a talk as part of YPO Innovation Week on “managing distributed innovation.” Effectively, this was about strategies and tactics for innovating using globally distributed teams. We have approximately 300 employees at Techstars and those people live and work in about 60 different cities around the world. The YPO group was very …
Let me explain why you should never ask anyone to be your lead investor. First, if you’re talking to a venture capital firm that writes large checks (>50% of the round size you’re seeking), just ask them to commit to investing. Let them know they’re wanted. If they want to invest, they’re going to want …
Last week, I was in New York and decided to stop by the Air Force Pitch Day. What a great experience. It’s so nice to see when government organizations figure out how to effective engage with startups, and then scale it! At Air Force Pitch Day, the US Air Force awarded 51 contracts, each in …
A few years ago while sitting on a barstool in Boulder, I was chatting with my friend Eliot Peper. Eliot is a terrific author, and has written many great books circling around entrepreneurship with some of it set in Boulder. That day, I was sharing a thought about a story I had in my head. I …
Recently, Techstars held an AMA (ask me anything) with Brad Feld (Foundry Group), Chris Heivly (VP of Innovation at Techstars), and Eric Reich (43 North in Buffalo) called How to Build a Successful Startup Ecosystem in your City. Over 800 people watch live and asked and voted for questions. Some of the highlights for me were when …