Anybody else seeing the technology startup business creeping ever-closer to emulating an American Idol mentality? The "startup" seems to be getting smaller and smaller. These are more like paid internships than "funding."<p>What is really going on here is some people with access to money and zero new ideas throwing micro stuff at the wall to see what sticks. The best advice I ever received was "don't take on investment if you don't need it." This message consistently from a wide variety of successful people then running anything from Angel-funded companies to post-IPO NASDAQ listings.
TechStars really seems to be going for breadth, but I guess each location only has a class of about 12 startups per cycle.<p>One thing that irks me about TS is that there are different managing directors for each location...I mean there has to be given the number of locations TS is now at, but it makes me question whether or not there is even a 'TechStars' culture that exists throughout the programs or if each city operates individually and do things differently from others.<p>I promise I'm not trying to criticize TS, it's just a thought that came to my mind when I saw that they had opened another location.
I did TechStars as a 'HackStar' in NYC in 2011. It was a great experience where I ended up joining one of the portfolio companies full-time for the next 2 years. Originally I had applied as a solo-founder and was rejected on the basis that solo-founders can't handle the emotional roller-coaster of doing a startup.<p>Fast forward 3 years and I'm now a successful solo-founder and am launching an incubator for individuals this Summer in NYC check out: <a href="http://microha.us" rel="nofollow">http://microha.us</a>.
Went to check out the application page, was greeted with a Sign Up modal (what the hell is f6s?) that would absolutely not go away unless I signed in with Facebook or LinkedIn (not going to dig into console hijinks for this). I just wanted to look at the application. You can technically read it behind the modal, but still. Getting really tired of these aggressive in-your-face Sign Up tactics.<p>edit: Ok, the console fix is really easy, but I feel like I shouldn't have to resort to that.
Late to the thread, sorry.<p>Jason Seats here, I'm running the Austin program and ran the last 2 TS Cloud programs. Also co-founded slicehost and helped build Rackspace Cloud.<p>Happy to answer any questions here. Will also hit some of the existing questions in thread.
I don't know, I think PG's quote about TechStars here:<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lcp0uZsY7k" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lcp0uZsY7k</a> @ 9:00<p>probably tells you everything you need to know.
A lot of tech is moving into Austin. I was just there for 2 months after being in NYC for 2 years. Anyone going down from SF or NYC will be disappointed with the public transportation.