

TechStars Boston Applications Open for 2011 - champion
http://www.techstars.org/2010/11/08/boston-2011-applications-now-open/

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Goladus
I love Boston, but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone describe time
there as "luscious," and if I was wanted to start a company why would I care
about the trees blooming along the Charles? And why are there three
exclamation points in the title?

I don't understand. Who is the target audience of this post? I have read some
good things about TechStars, why the used-car-salesman approach to marketing?

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danielsju6
Can't recommend this program enough! New England isn't as hot a scene as other
parts of the country, but the Cambridge location places you right in between
MIT and Harvard. Broderick is a hoopy frood who really knows were his towel
is, too.

Work shoulder to shoulder with the other companies in the TS Office, interact
with awesome mentors, and have access to an amazing network for the rest of
your days as an entrepreneur. Wicked good stuff, if you ask me.

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snprbob86
TechStars Seattle founder here!

Just had our dress rehearsal for demo day. Thursday is the big event. Stoked!

I highly recommend TechStars, the program has been amazing. The mentorship is
worth every share and we've all been having a blast. Even if your company
spontaneously combusts, the experience is amazing. If you are interested,
don't hesitated to apply to any city.

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edw519
I just read their new book, "Do More Faster". To get a little better feel for
what TechStars is like, I strongly recommend it. (Read it anyway, whether
you're interested in TechStars or not.) My comments last week about their
book:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1864922>

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marcusestes
How much equity are start-ups asked to sell for 6-18k?

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monk_the_dog
They provide $6000 per founder for up to 3 founders. They get 6% equity stake
in return (I'm not clear if they still get 6% if there's only one founder).

See this page: <http://www.techstars.org/details/>

(BTW, I'm doing a startup in Boston. I'm sure they'll get lots of
applications, but this isn't for me.)

Edit: I saw someone recommend their book. Let me plug another one. I'm
_loving_ Steven Blank's Four Steps To the Epiphany
([http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-
Blank/dp/09...](http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-
Blank/dp/0976470705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289243860&sr=1-1))

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davidw
In the past, someone here criticized that book - at least I think it was that
one - as appearing to be a collection of notes rather than a fully formed
book. Digging...

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1519291>

Hrm... can't find it. Am I remembering correctly?

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monk_the_dog
I think that's too harsh. The book has more "micro" errors than I'd like to
see. By "micro" errors I mean some poorly drawn diagrams and some grammar
errors that break my flow. I noticed that no editor is credited, and the book
would be improved with an editor. Too many micro errors can hurt a books
credibility (if they didn't take the time to polish the book can I really
trust the content?).

On the other hand, I think the advice in this book is fantastic. Two examples
of things discussed:

1) Deciding what type of market you are entering (existing, re-segmented, new)
and the consequences of each market type.

2) Confirming your hypothesis before you try to scale.

Get past the micro errors. The content really is quite good. Or I _think_ it's
good. What the hell do I know. There's a scene in Moonstruck where one of the
characters seeks advice until she gets the answer she wanted to hear in the
first place ('maybe they're afraid of dying?'). There may be some of that
going on with me and this book.

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davidw
My recollection was that the person was saying they liked the content, just
that it lacked some polish.

Like I said though, that was just a vague notion I had. I haven't read the
book, but do enjoy reading the stuff he posts to his site a lot.

