| How much funding do TechStars companies receive? | You get $5,000 per founder, up to 3 founders. So at most, you'll get $15,000 for the summer. We think that this is plenty of money to survive for the summer and to crank out a substantial prototype so you can get to the next level. You also get a free server, hosting, legal services, and more. Finally, there is immeasurable value in the connections and advice that you'll receive when you start your company with TechStars, and also in the opportunity to pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists at the end of the summer.
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| Who's behind the program and why are you doing this? | We are a group of successful Colorado entrepreneurs and investors who truly enjoy helping startups and think that Colorado is a great place to be. |
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| TechStars takes 5% of the initial equity in my company. Why? | Like you, we're entrepreneurs. We think that the value of the learning, networking, and coaching provided by the program is of tremendous value. The TechStars program will provide you with the healthiest possible start and greatly improve your chances for success and sustainability. Once we invest we're motivated to help you succeed by introducing you to people who can help, assisting you with strategy, finding more investors, and generally helping you to succeed. That's a good deal for both of us. |
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| TechStars almost sounds too good to be true. What's the catch? | There's no catch. You can do this! |
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| Do I have to stay in Boulder for the entire summer? | No. It's your company so you can come and go as you see fit. But we do require that you be primarily based here during the summer. This benefits you because you can take advantage of the "brown bag" learning opportunities, networking and coaching that will be provided. |
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| What else does TechStars provide? Office space, Internet, legal, hosting, etc? | We will provide meeting and casual office space with Internet access. This space will be available on a first come, first served basis. We will have space available for the founders to meet, work, and play. We'll fill the space with couches, tables, and some dodgeball equipment. Spaces will not be reserved by particular companies. You are not required to work from our space. There are many great coffee shops and many new companies choose to work out of their living spaces for convenience. Cooley Godward Kronish is providing free legal services to the selected companies, and ViaWest is providing free servers, hosting, and bandwidth. |
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| How can we get funded after the summer? | We provide the seed funding to get you going, but you may well need more funding to really make it. Near the end of the summer, we'll organize an investor day where angel investors and venture capitalists will check out your technology and listen to your pitch. We'll coach you so you're as effective as possible, and do everything we can do help get you follow on funding. We may also fund your company further ourselves in some situations. |
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| Can you tell me more about the networking and educational opportunities? | About three times per week, we will organize an informal dinner and invite our mentors to speak on a relevant topic. These will be presented as appropriate by highly successful entrepreneurs, angel investors, legal experts, venture capitalists, investment bankers, etc. Sometimes, we'll just organize a brief talk with Q&A by a CEO or CTO of a well known Colorado startup. We'll even venture out to some of these companies offices and do the session there. We will provide plenty of advance notice and these opportunities. Generally speaking, they'll be very informal and will be in the early evening. All of these sessions will be very informal and give you plenty of time to interact with the mentors personally.
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| What if my company doesn't ultimately succeed? | Well, at least you tried. Because not just anyone is accepted into the TechStars program, you'll have an impressive resume item for your next gig that will look way better than almost anything else you could have spent your time doing. And you will have met a tremendous number of smart and well connected people in the process. |
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| What sort of control am I giving up by taking seed funding in exchange for equity? | We obtain five percent equity in the company. This is a non-controlling interest and comes with no voting rights. We won't ask for a board seat or for any uncommon investor rights. You will still run the show. There is no reason for you to give up a large portion of your company at this stage. |
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| Will you help me get additional funding if needed? | Absolutely! That's part of what we provide. We'll coach you on this, and organize an investor day where you can make your pitch. |
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| Will my idea turn into a real company? | Yes. If you're not already incorporated, we will handle the incorporation details for you so you can get right to work. We want to get your off on the right foot because we hope to help you build a sustainable and successful company. |
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| Where will we live while we're in Boulder? | That's up to you - we don't provide a place to live. Once you're accepted into the TechStars program, you can contact us and we'll try to help. |
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| How do you choose which companies to accept into the program and to fund? | We will choose great founders who are proposing products that solve real problems. |
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| Do I need to send in a business plan? | Nope. Just fill out the informal online application - that's all you need for us. |
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| When is the deadline to apply and what's the overall timeline? | The application deadline for Summer 2007 is March 31, 2007. We'll select and notify the finalists a few days later, and select the final TechStars companies by April 5th. The Summer 2007 program starts on May 21 and ends on August 17. A detailed timeline is here. |
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| Where will the TechStars office be? | We'll have space near the Pearl Street mall in downtown Boulder for the TechStars companies to use during the summer. Of course, it's your company so you set your own schedule, office hours, etc. |
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| What will a typical day be like for a TechStars founder? | It's your company, so you'll be hard at work on your product. You can choose to work out of the TechStars office if you'd like, or you can work anywhere else that you might prefer. Three nights a week, we'll organize informal educational sessions with our mentors. We also expect many of the mentors to drop in to the TechStars office at various times throughout the summer. In general though, you'll be working on your product each day, just like all of the other founders in the program. We don't tell you what to do or when, but we create an environment that is conducive to helping your startup every day. |
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| Can I apply if I'm not from the United States? | Yes. As long as you and your team can be in Boulder, Colorado legally for the summer, please do. |
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