Building Techstars | Brad Feld & David Cohen | Talks at Google

TL;DR

Techstars founders Brad Feld and David Cohen discuss the evolution of accelerators, the importance of diversity and inclusion, and the keys to building successful startup communities.

Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] MARY GROVE: Hi, everyone. How are you today? Doing well? So my name is Mary Grove, and I'm the director of Google for Entrepreneurs, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to today's talk. Before we get started, just a quick administrative note. We are live streaming and recording this, so if I could ask you to please silence your phon... Read More

Key Insights

• 🌐 Success for Techstars is about helping entrepreneurs succeed by expanding their global network and supporting them throughout their entrepreneurial journey.
• 🍗 The founders emphasize the importance of diversity and inclusion in startup communities and advocate for being an ally rather than trying to solve the problem.
• 💁 Practical tips for aspiring mentors include engaging in activities with other entrepreneurs and gaining firsthand experience in entrepreneurship.
• 🫵 Building successful startup communities requires the involvement of entrepreneurs as leaders, a long-term view, inclusivity, and a variety of entrepreneurial activities and events.

Questions & Answers

Q: How has Techstars evolved since its founding and what is its current impact?

Techstars has grown from a single accelerator in Boulder to operating 40 accelerators in 11 countries. It has become a worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, with 1 in 20 of the series A investments in the US starting with Techstars.

Q: What are the key ingredients for successful startup communities to thrive?

The leaders of startup communities should be entrepreneurs, communities should have a long-term view, be inclusive of everyone, and have a saturation of entrepreneurial activities and events.

Q: How does Techstars approach diversity and inclusion and what advice do they give entrepreneurs?

Techstars has a foundation focused on diversity and inclusion in tech. They fund scalable organizations and startups that can have a long-term impact. They advise entrepreneurs to think about diversity and inclusion from the beginning and to be an advocate or ally in promoting diversity.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Techstars started as a mentorship-driven accelerator with a focus on building a strong network for entrepreneurs.

• The founders believe that successful startup communities are built by entrepreneurs, have a long-term view, are inclusive, and have a variety of entrepreneurial activities and events.

• They emphasize the importance of diversity and inclusion in tech and advocate for being an ally rather than trying to solve the problem.