Practical advice from some of today's top early stage investors and entrepreneurs TechStars is a mentorship-driven startup accelerator with operations in three U.S. cities. Once a year in each city, it funds about ten Internet startups with a small amount of capital and surrounds them with around fifty top Internet entrepreneurs and investors. Historically, about seventy-five percent of the companies that go through TechStars raise a meaningful amount of angel or venture capital. Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup is a collection of advice that comes from individuals who have passed through, or are part of, this proven program. Each vignette is an exploration of information often heard during the TechStars program and provides practical insights into early stage entrepreneurship. Contains seven sections, each focusing on a major theme within the TechStars program, including idea and vision, fundraising, legal and structure, and work/life balance Created by two highly regarded experts in the world of early stage investing Essays in each section come from the experienced author team as well as TechStar mentors, entrepreneurs, and founders of companies While you'll ultimately have to make your own decisions about what's right for your business, Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup can get your entrepreneurial endeavor headed in the right direction.

Practical advice from some of today's top early stage investorsand entrepreneursTechStars is a mentorship-driven startup accelerator withoperations in three U.S. cities. Once a year in each city, it fundsabout ten Internet startups with a small amount of capital andsurrounds them with around fifty top Internet entrepreneurs andinvestors. Historically, about seventy-five percent of thecompanies that go through TechStars raise a meaningful amount ofangel or venture capital. Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons toAccelerate Your Startup is a collection of advice that comesfrom individuals who have passed through, or are part of, thisproven program. Each vignette is an exploration of informationoften heard during the TechStars program and provides practicalinsights into early stage entrepreneurship.* Contains seven sections, each focusing on a major theme withinthe TechStars program, including idea and vision, fundraisinglegal and structure, and work/life balance* Created by two highly regarded experts in the world of earlystage investing* Essays in each section come from the experienced author team aswell as TechStar mentors, entrepreneurs, and founders ofcompaniesWhile you'll ultimately have to make your own decisions aboutwhat's right for your business, Do More Faster: TechStarsLessons to Accelerate Your Startup can get your entrepreneurialendeavor headed in the right direction.

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