The best mentors present their opinions simply as data and not as direction.
Ultimately, even if you follow the advice of a mentor or board member, it's still your fault if they were wrong!
The two big startup killers are when there's just no market for what you are doing, and team problems.
TechStars is mentorship-driven.
Strong community and mentorship are the lifeblood of any successful entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it's exciting the Boulder is showing the world just what sort of impact these things can actually have.
I think motivation and drive, coupled with raw talent, help make founders successful.
If I had a do over, I'd indubitably start investing in startups earlier in life!
There is no doubt that Boulder was a supportive and open-door community well before TechStars ever existed. But one of the things that I'm most proud of is that TechStars has provided a real focal point for this sort of activity and has brought attention to just how impactful one community can be when it works together.
I had to quit a 'real job' to start my first company.
Quality and a great product matters, in startups, and in accelerators.
In the rare cases where I've had to cut a company loose, I just tell them why and wish them luck and hope they learn something from it. I don't spend more mental energy on it than I have to, and I try very hard not to hold a grudge or try to negatively affect them either. It's just done for me.
Ultimately, we measure ourselves on the success of our investments.
The hot deal is often the one that does not work.
I was lucky to have amazing mentors like Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson.
We think of the Techstars product as not really the accelerator but the network. That's what entrepreneurs should be valuing here. I think it's the most undervalued thing that many entrepreneurs don't get.
