Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
We believe that startups can be built anywhere.
I had to quit a 'real job' to start my first company.
Focusing on the right priorities can help you do more faster.
In innovation, you're trying to create something from nothing.
Ultimately, we measure ourselves on the success of our investments.
Quality and a great product matters, in startups, and in accelerators.
I was lucky to have amazing mentors like Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson.
I've just always been interested in moving past the keyboard and mouse.
I think entrepreneurs should demand transparency for startup accelerators.
I'm most proud of helping so many others achieve their dreams as founders.
The best mentors present their opinions simply as data and not as direction.
There will always be a capital shortage from the perspective of entrepreneurs.
If I had a do over, I'd indubitably start investing in startups earlier in life!
Going public is one step in the life cycle of a company; it's not the last step.
I'm an investor in a lot of things that have to do with human-computer interaction.
If you're not working on something you're passionate about, it's a long, hard road.
I think entrepreneurs really appreciate directness and honesty, coupled with empathy.
I think motivation and drive, coupled with raw talent, help make founders successful.
People are starting companies at young ages. They fail fast, learn a lot, and keep going.
I had done six or eight traditional angel investments and basically just thought it sucked.
I think just calling up a VC and saying 'I want to pitch you' is an enormous waste of time.
Clearly, there is a gender imbalance when it comes to venture capital and entrepreneurship.
For most people, their home is their most valuable asset. Yet most of us don't take care of it.
The future is going to happen in Toronto or Berlin or Bengaluru and not necessarily in the Valley.
I wish I had had more mentorship and more access, not only for capital, but the critical thinking.
I've done a bunch of consulting; I've actually spent time in Singapore, England, Denmark, all over.
The two big startup killers are when there's just no market for what you are doing, and team problems.
When we talk about Techstars, we think of it as this worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed.
My attitude is there are at least hundreds of interesting startups that are going to get going in every year.
Every year, it seems to be there are more people right out of college who are willing to jump into a start-up.
Ultimately, even if you follow the advice of a mentor or board member, it's still your fault if they were wrong!
We're pretty broad as investors. Our thesis is work with great entrepreneurs that believe they can change the world.
San Francisco is a great startup community that you shouldn't even try to model yourself after because it's just special.
To have a diverse set of perspectives and backgrounds enables you to understand the market at large much more effectively.
The Internet is full of choices, and nobody is going to make the choice to use a product that is hard to use or unattractive.
Rules designed to ensure competition ensure that innovators with new ideas can challenge incumbents on a level playing field.
The rise of digital technologies has eroded boundaries: Anyone can participate, start a business, and reach a global audience.
Deciding whether or not to bring in an outside CEO is one of the most gut-wrenching decisions that a founder will ever need to make.
I'm often asked what it takes to be 'Series A ready' in terms of metrics, progress, and traction. Unfortunately, there's no easy answer.
What Techstars is fundamentally a global ecosystem in which entrepreneurs are enabled and empowered to bring new technologies to the market.
Twilio is a great example of a company executing tremendously well on its vision and delivering a beautiful set of products that solves real problems.
If you're in a squeeze for capital and you have a solid, mutually beneficial relationship with a VC, your chances of raising will increase dramatically.
Techstars has done a great job accelerating and providing venture capital to the most promising companies to make the biggest long-term economic impact.
Our goal is simply to make entrepreneurship more accessible to everyone around the world throughout the entrepreneurial journey, from inspiration to IPO.
Because one of the main jobs of a CEO is to set the vision and strategy for the company, I'm a big believer in making one of the founders the default CEO.
When fundraising, your network is critical. Leveraging it early and often is the key. Don't make the mistake of waiting until you need money to engage sources of capital.
There's no law that says you have to do what your mentor suggests. And the sooner you learn how to say 'no' confidently, the easier it will be to manage these key relationships.
Twitter needs to become more of a platform on the web. If Twitter went away today, people would just turn to Facebook. If Facebook went away, people would start screaming - it's so universal.
If I'm an entrepreneur and I have an idea, and I don't have the development talent around me but I need to find a developer, I would do my selection just like I would with hiring an employee.
Company naming is a key part of the branding process, but it's subject to contrasting tastes and an illiquid domain name market that results in startups wasting their time during the branding process.