Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xiii
About TechStars xv
Theme 1: Idea and Vision 1
Trust Me, Your Idea Is Worthless 3
Start With Your Passion 7
Look for the Pain 11
Get Feedback Early 15
Usage Is Like Oxygen for Ideas 19
Forget the Kitchen Sink 23
Find That One Thing They Love 27
Don’t Plan. Prototype! 29
You Never Need Another Original Idea 35
Get It Out There 37
Avoid Tunnel Vision 41
Focus 45
Iterate Again 49
Fail Fast 53
Pull the Plug When You KnowIt’s Time 57
Theme 2: People 61
Don’t Go It Alone 63
Avoid Co-Founder Conflict 67
Hire People Better than You 71
Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly 75
If You Can Quit, You Should 79
Build a Balanced Team 83
Startups Seek Friends 87
Engage Great Mentors 91
Define Your Culture 95
Two Strikes and You Are Out 101
Karma Matters 105
Be Open to Randomness 109
Theme 3: Execution 113
Do More Faster 115
Assume that You’re Wrong 119
Make Decisions Quickly 123
It’s Just Data 127
Use Your Head, then Trust Your Gut 129
Progress Equals Validated Learning 133
The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Data 137
Don’t Suck at E-Mail 141
Use What’s Free 145
Be Tiny Until You Shouldn’t Be 147
Don’t Celebrate the Wrong Things 151
Be Specific 157
Learn from Your Failures 159
Quality over Quantity 161
Have a Bias Toward Action 165
Do or Do Not, There Is No Try 169
Theme 4: Product 171
Don’t Wait Until You Are Proud of Your Product 173
Find Your Whitespace 177
Focus on What Matters 181
Obsess over Metrics 183
Avoid Distractions 185
Know Your Customer 189
Beware the Big Companies 193
Throw Things Away 197
Pivot 201
Theme 5: Fundraising 203
You Don’t Have to Raise Money 205
There’s More than One Way to Raise Money 209
Don’t Forget about Bootstrapping 213
Beware of Angel Investors Who Aren’t 215
Seed Investors Care about Three Things 219
Practice Like You Play 223
If You Want Money, Ask for Advice 227
Show, Don’t Tell 231
Turn the Knife after You Stick It in 233
Don’t Overoptimize on Valuations 235
Get Help with Your Term Sheet 237
Focus on the First One-Third 241
Theme 6: Legal and Structure 243
Form the Company Early 245
Choose the Right Company Structure 249
Default to Delaware 253
Lawyers Don’t Have to Be Expensive 257
Vesting Is Good for You 261
Your Brother-in-Law Is Probably Not the Right
Corporate Lawyer 265
To 83(b) or Not to 83(b), There Is No Question 269
Theme 7: Work–Life Balance 273
Discover Work–Life Balance 275
Practice Your Passion 279
Follow Your Heart 283
Turn Work into Play 287
Get Out from behind Your Computer 291
Stay Healthy 295
Get Away from It All 299
The Evolution of TechStars 303
What Motivated Me to Start TechStars? 305
Why TechStars Started in Boulder 309
How TechStars Came to Boston 313
How TechStars Came to Seattle 317
So You Want to Start TechStars in Your City? 321
Appendix: The TechStars Companies 323
About the Authors 329
Acknowledgments 331
Index 333
