Why You Should Apply to TechStars Cloud | Hacker News Reader

Why You Should Apply to TechStars Cloud

techstars.com

52 pointsseats13 comments

I had an amazing time doing TechStars Cloud this year. Definitely apply if you're considering it (or even if you're not). Happy to answer any questions about it if people have them.

This looks really, really interesting. What kind of stage of companies are you aiming for? Is relocation a must?

Everything from 2 people working on an idea who haven't yet quit their day job all the way up to say ~1 million in revenue or ~1 million in funding.

That upper end is a bit of an outlier, but it happens enough that it's not entirely rare. The median company probably has some type of prototype and is pre-revenue.

Relocation is not a must. The program does take place in Texas and in order to get maximum value, it's worth trying to figure out how to be here for the full 3 months, but there is no firm requirement and we have had success with a 'commuter' team that would come for a few weeks at a time alternating. Best case scenario, you move here for 13 weeks. One of our prior founder's wife back home called us 'internet camp'. I like to think of it more as a monastic retreat for startups ;)

Great, thanks a lot, following up via email.

Also, true story re internet camp: http://i.imgur.com/bjKtu.jpg

Hey, that's my desk! And my wife's handwriting :)

Hahaha. What did the friends get?

Asking my wife what I do is still a source of amusement.

Care package of candy. This was just after the first month and very much appreciated. :)

It was an incredible experience - all of the founders became really close friends over the course of the program. It's probably because the class was so technical that we bonded as closely as we did.

TechStars definitely helped moved our company forward, and I my network of friends, mentors and confidants grew probably 10x. It's definitely worth it.

I had the good fortune of sharing a night out with TechStars Cloud earlier this year. Even though I just came to hang out with my friends that were in the batch, they welcomed me into their Basketball box, included me in their weekly highlights/lowlights session and I generally had a great time with everyone.

I got the impression that things were much more close and intimate there than at some other incubators that I've seen. After the game and weekly debriefing, Jason came out with the entire group and we hit up some nice spots in San Antonio. I think it was somebody's birthday as well. The entire class works out of a shared office and there's a strong sense of camaraderie and friendship.

If I had an applicable project right now, I wouldn't hesitate to apply.

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TechStars is definitely a great resource, and they do a great job of selecting the right companies as well. The last group was full of awesome. I've been kicking around submitting a project I'm working on for next year's group as well.

Jason is a great guy, and very much devoted to the incuabtor. It showed through and created a lot of enthusiasm in the group, from my perspective, and I was glad to be able to interact with them this past year.

As another founder of a TechStars Cloud company, I can tell you that Jason is the real deal, and he and the other folks that run it really care about the companies in the program. If you want to participate in an accelerator, and you've got the kind of company or team that he's talking about (techie/cloudy), I think you should really consider applying.

I've mentored at TechStars Cloud and I've worked with a number of their affiliate program members as well, the program is worth it if you can get in and they do a great job of lighting up local ecosystems for startups.

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