5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Techstars Started

TL;DR Joining Techstars Boulder was the single best decision I have ever made. If you are on the fence about applying, just do it. Feel free to reach out to me for application help, interview prep, or any random questions you have at todd@tryadhawk.com or www.tryadhawk.com

Wednesday is Demo Day, and the last day of Techstars Boulder. In the next couple months, companies will be starting their Techstars journey in the NYC, Metro (Detroit), and Cloud (San Antonio) programs.

Below are the 5 tidbits of advice for any company going into day 1 at Techstars.

1. Practice your elevator pitch: During the first month of Techstars, you meet with a ton of incredible mentors. Looking back, its comical the pitch we gave them about our business. If you come prepared to give a strong elevator pitch, you will get more out of these mentor meetings, and who knows.. they could be investors in the future. If you need some help with this, Nicole Glaros gives an awesome breakdown of an elevator pitch here.
2. Team culture is KING: Things may be going perfectly well before your start date, but during the Techstars grind, problems/disagreements will come up. It is important to know that no matter what decision you make after a problem arises, that your team will 100% stand behind it. I can’t stress this enough…… seriously build a team culture that feels like a family.
3. Ship your product & get feedback: You have the opportunity to get feedback on your product from the whole Techstars community and the companies in your batch. Don’t waste this opportunity. When will you have another opportunity to be surrounded by your customers?
4. Set stretch goals: Set stretch goals, hit them and then set further stretch goals. Don’t sell yourself short, you will be amazed how much you can do in such a short amount of time. Start preparing now for the goals you want to hit on Demo Day, and work backwards settings weekly goals.
5. Use the network & have fun: Techstars has some amazing tools to connect with mentors, investors and alumni. USE IT! You can get connected to literally anyone if you try hard enough.

In Techstars the days are long and the weeks are short. Don’t let the time slip by, 3 months goes by extremely fast. The relationships you make will last a lifetime.

Late night working with Chewbacca and Felipe, the CTO of Blazing.

Get traction early and often. Always be selling.

Get T-shirts and make sure they are comfortable. You might have your parents bump into Sumeet Shah, or other investors in the streets of NYC.

Start learning from day 1, hour 1 of Techstars.

Hit your stretch goals!!

Cheers and Good luck in Techstars!