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Spoke with a friend who helped Brad Feld start Techstars. Although I still see YC as the best of all these a seed funds, he said TS has three differences: 1) N
by ALee 19y ago
Spoke with a friend who helped Brad Feld start Techstars. Although I still see YC as the best of all these a seed funds, he said TS has three differences:
1) Not PG rigid. He characterized PG as treating investors like the devil in the early stage. They think otherwise, bringing more mentors from the investment arena.
2) laid back location- Although silicon valley is a great place, they value creative environment over competitive atmosphere. Boulder is the place for that according to TS.
3) Hands-on mentors- YC brings them in and they talk, but TS brings them in and then you still have access later on. He asked, how many times have YC founders talked to Joe Kraus after he came and talked.
Both PG and Brad Feld (Techstars creator) have their own blogs and their college groupies (and then some), but I think it depends on the experience you want.
- rms 19y ago>He characterized PG as treating investors like the devil in the early stage. They think otherwise, bringing more mentors from the investment arena. PG has said on this forum that it is big negative that TS is so intimately connected to venture capitalists. TS, of course, sees it as exactly the opposite.
- pg 19y agoI wouldn't want to accuse Feld of having knowingly said anything as false as (1) and (3) unless I was sure he actually did, but they are in fact way off. We're very closely connected to follow-on investors. As anyone who's been funded by YC can tell you, I'm thinking from the beginning about how to pitch them to later stage investors. Often this starts in the interview. There is a stream of investors coming through here. We just don't advertise it, because we don't need to. As for (3), he picked a really bad example. I hesitate to drag Joe Kraus into this by name, because the help he gives the startups is something he does voluntarily. But the fact is that he is extremely generous with his time. He is meeting with 2 YC startups this week. This is the rule with the speakers, not the exception. This isn't the first time I've noticed TS trying to portray YC as just us, while TS is some magical stone soup of mentors. It's complete crap, as anyone who has been funded by YC can attest. They should stick to (2). In the being-in-Boulder department they do actually have us beat.
- ALee 19y agoWow. Thanks PG, it's good to hear your response on this matter. I'll send this response off to my friend and tell him to stop telling ppl this and/or tell Brad Feld to as well.