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If I were an Angel or VC, I'd check this list against my upcoming meetings and cancel meetings with any founders who would or could focus time on being the "ent

If I were an Angel or VC, I'd check this list against my upcoming meetings and cancel meetings with any founders who would or could focus time on being the "entourage" of the valley. IMHO it shows a propensity for focusing on the notoriety as opposed to the process. I believe Ashton said it best when he spoke about shutting off as soon as founders were affected by thoughts of "the effect" as opposed to being focused on the problem they are trying to solve.

dpapathanasiou 15y ago
And yet Techstars NYC forced all its startups to be part of a similar show on Bloomberg.
- danielamitay 15y ago
  The founders featured in the Bloomberg series agreed to the coverage. There were other TechStars NYC companies that did not agree.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - JulianMiller520 15y ago
    exactly and then there was that whole "we were taken advantage of/ it was fake" blog post which I think just made them look worse. I was always told when I was younger to remember "when you dance with the devil, it's ALWAYS to his tune." Best to focus on shipping your product and marketing. If you are doing it right, the right kind of press should come your way. Skip the theatrics.
  - dpapathanasiou 15y ago
    Not exactly. Bloomberg chose not to feature everyone, but all startups had to agree to be on the show or leave the Techstars program: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3133198 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3133198
fapi1974 15y ago
So there are two separate issues here - one is the "30 Days of Startups" which is basically the Kickstarter fundraising period. Those stories are true - but will simply be a little blurb about the Founder's experience - no more than 5 minutes worth of work for some exposure. If the story is popular though, that's when we would work it into the series. Since the series is fictional, the story would only form the basis for something we'd develop - it would be up to the startup if they would like the "Fictional" exposure. But to be clear - even in the fictional series, I'm going to focus on credible ideas and work with some serious entrepreneurs!

dpapathanasiou 15y ago

And yet Techstars NYC forced all its startups to be part of a similar show on Bloomberg.

danielamitay 15y ago
The founders featured in the Bloomberg series agreed to the coverage. There were other TechStars NYC companies that did not agree.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- JulianMiller520 15y ago
  exactly and then there was that whole "we were taken advantage of/ it was fake" blog post which I think just made them look worse. I was always told when I was younger to remember "when you dance with the devil, it's ALWAYS to his tune." Best to focus on shipping your product and marketing. If you are doing it right, the right kind of press should come your way. Skip the theatrics.
- dpapathanasiou 15y ago
  Not exactly. Bloomberg chose not to feature everyone, but all startups had to agree to be on the show or leave the Techstars program: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3133198 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3133198

fapi1974 15y ago

So there are two separate issues here - one is the "30 Days of Startups" which is basically the Kickstarter fundraising period. Those stories are true - but will simply be a little blurb about the Founder's experience - no more than 5 minutes worth of work for some exposure. If the story is popular though, that's when we would work it into the series. Since the series is fictional, the story would only form the basis for something we'd develop - it would be up to the startup if they would like the "Fictional" exposure. But to be clear - even in the fictional series, I'm going to focus on credible ideas and work with some serious entrepreneurs!