I spent the last month completely offline, not working. I hadn’t done that in the 8 years since i founded Techstars. Last year, we raised a new venture fund and I was on the road twice as much as normal. When we closed it in January, I promised myself and my family some time for …
At Techstars, my partners and I have been using the term “tricky pool shot” quite a bit lately. We’re seeing more and more startups that have to accomplish something difficult as an ante in order to get to the point where they’ll have the opportunity to do the thing they really want to do. The other type …
Alex King recently passed away after a two year battle with cancer. Alex was not one of my closest friends, but his passing hit me very hard. I was riding in a car from the airport yesterday when I got the news from his wife, and I just started crying. I got to know Alex because …
There is four times as much seed capital in the venture market this year as there was 1 year ago. Because of this, it’s easier to attract seed funding than it has been in the past. I’ve noticed a disturbing new trend and I think it’s related. Startups are “quitting” when the first year doesn’t go …
Today we announced that Techstars has acquired UP Global, which includes Startup Weekend and many other fantastic events and programs. Startup Weekend is my absolute favorite global event for entrepreneurship. If you’ve never been to one, you’re really missing out. At these events (there about 1,000 per year from Boulder to Mongolia to Chile to …
Yesterday, I didn’t leave my house. I was supposed to be in San Francisco for a board meeting but I was forced to cancel the trip suddenly. It left me with a rare day with only that one meeting (which I had to attend remotely) on my calendar. Otherwise, my calendar was wide open. I can’t …