JohnHarthorne

5 ms·

1.
by JohnHarthorne 15y ago
I have only posted comments under one account - using my full name and prefaced with a clear indication of my role as the founder of MassChallenge. I have not influenced or attempted to influence any other comments on this thread offline, a
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by JohnHarthorne 15y ago
Paul, you are right. I should not have used such a strong analogy. My intention was to draw a clear distinction. I wanted to be playfully controversial to highlight the point, but the implication was inappropriate and contributed to a degra
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
This isn't about me. I don't do this. MassChallenge is a community supported by literally thousands of volunteers foregoing value capture to support value creation. After year 1, we asked our finalists this survey question: How likely are y
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
FTR, you can continue to collect diamond endorsements until May 20. All discounts (except the early bird discount) are applied via reimbursements. So, no need to rush it. Lock in the early bird by paying today before noon -- then you have p
5.
by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
We are not relying on the expertise of the people making public ratings. The ratings account for a very small percentage of the judging scores. 80% of the scores are driven by ratings from expert judges. 10% by public ratings and 10% by end
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
Even technical/niche startups should be able to find 5 friends who will visit and vote for them. Last year we had finalists working on airborne wind turbines (altaeros energies) and on desalination systems powered entirely by renewable ener
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
The people on our endorsement lis are all collaborative and are interested in meeting and helping startups -- so it's definitely OK to cold email. (be polite, obviously, and provide them with context). We try to get endorsers around the cou
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
But if we offer a free alternative with equivalent benefits, then 6% is way overpriced. And that's what we do. Paul omits a discussion of opportunity cost. Sure, buying a coke for 50 cents is great ... but getting it for free is much better
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
It should be easier. Agreed. We have not yet mastered the operations side of MassChallenge (and I lose significant sleep over it). But it really isn't that hard, and there is explicit logic in every step. If you are even remotely serious as
10.
by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
No worries. I was intentionally a bit snarky and deserved the downvote. I have essentially poured my entire heart and soul into launching and running MassChallenge and I believe deeply in our mission and philosophy, so I took a little umbra
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
The accelerator is ~3 months. It runs from June 27 through Oct 1. Final judging takes place in the first two weeks of October, and the final ceremony is on Oct 20. Founders do not need to be present for that whole period, but we do strongly
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
Is it as creepy as taking 6% equity from a company that is still young and strategically weak? To me that is molestation.
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by JohnHarthorne 16y ago
Mentors and speakers last year included the founders of billion dollar companies (Desh Deshpande - Sycamore/Cascade/A123, Josh Boger - Vertex Pharmaceuticals), billion pageview websites (Alexis Ohanian - Reddit), and successful entrepreneur