Applications are due by June 1, 2010. Apply here
I received this pleasant email today:
Hello:
I got a report from other tenants in the building that there was a BBQ in the parking lot with alcohol being consumed today. Alcohol or not, this is an office building and both of these activities are inappropriate for a professional setting. Other tenants have clients coming to the building and this is not something that should be going on. If people need to be involved in an activity like that there are parks nearby that can be used. The report that I got was that it was your office that was doing this. If this is true please contact the people on site and make sure this does not happen again.
Thanks,
Rich
There are a number of responses to this email that I can think of....but I'm not sure yet what the best one is yet. Any thoughts of how I should respond?
Since the publishing of the video about Founder's Co-op, whiskey and entrepreneurs on TechFlash, there's been an ongoing conversation about each company's symbolic drink. You can think of these as corporate cocktails. You know - a drink that you start each corporate meeting with (if you were drinking during the day) Here's what we've come up with so far:
(Please note that I didn't get ALL Founder's Co-op companies drinks by date of publication....those that are outside of Seattle were omitted. Sorry guys -- the need to publish dominated making this list comprehensive. If you send me a drink I'll post it)
Next week at the TechStars for a Day event, I'll be revealing TechStars in Seattle choice of symbolic drink. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm open to suggestions.
Please note -- these corporate cocktails do NOT have to be alcoholic. It's probably not a coincidence that the above list is mostly alcoholic.
I'm totally having fun with the community -- trying to let everyone know that applications are open and due June 1, 2010. And, I'm happy to report that folks in the community are helping me get the word out and I'm deeply appreciative. Marcelo and Jennifer of Seattle 2.0 have been helping me. The TechStars mentors have been helping out. The venture capital community has been getting into the spirit. Here's a photo that I received from Erik Benson of Voyager Capital yesterday - the photo if you can't see it is a picture of the TechStars brochure at Voyagers reception desk.
And now you can help too! Please help me get the word out by forwarding the following email to folks you know in your company and in the community that you think would be appropriate:
Re: Want mentorship and investment for your startup? TechStars is a mentorship-driven seed stage investment program. It is now accepting applications for the inaugural 2010 Seattle class. Applications are due by June 1, 2010 and the program kicks-off on August 16, 2010. The Seattle program is funded by every major venture capital firm in Seattle. We are reaching out to every organization in Seattle that works with entrepreneurs to help spread the word about the program. There is more information about TechStars online, www.techstars.org. Any help you can provide in promoting the program or encouraging exciting young companies and engineers to apply is greatly appreciated.
I got this email from David Cohen the other day-- the founder and grand-poobah of TechStars....
Andy,
Boulder rocks , I <3 Boston, Seattle _________?
David
He suggested "Seattle is Super" -- I told him that was stupid. He agreed.
"Seattle's sunny" -- oddly inappropriate.
So....Seattle's brewin'. Expect to see that tagline around.
And this logo. 
If you want to learn more about TechStars in Seattle you should attend Open Coffee on Tuesday 4/6 at 8:30AM at Louisa's Cafe on 2379 Eastlake Ave E in Seattle. Brad Feld will be attending and the two of us will be answering questions in an informal way about the program. If you come, there will be good free coffee provided by TechStars. Sorry, you'll have to pay for your blueberry scones. Please help spread the word.
TechStars is not about me, it's not about Founder's Co-op, it's not about the list of investors. TechStars is about making Seattle an awesome and supportive place to build very successful technology companies.
TechStars is about creating community and supporting technology entrepreneurship in Seattle. We hope you will join the effort in whatever way you can. Please blog, email, retweet and generally help spread the word that TechStars Seattle applications are open.
Below is the somewhat long story behind TechStars Seattle. I
usually don't write long blog posts but I'm super excited about TechStars and
applications for the Seattle program open today. A number of people have asked
me the story behind TechStars coming to Seattle -- so here it is in its full
detail. You can apply for
TechStars Seattle here and theschedule of important dates for the program are
here. I first contacted David Cohen in January 2008. At the time,
I had just started working on Founder’s Co-op and wanted to speak with David
about his experience with TechStars. I thought that TechStars was onto
something and I wanted to learn from what David was doing and consider doing
something similar in Seattle. Chris DeVore, my partner at Founder's Co-op and I decided we
didn't want to mimic a 3 month incubator in Seattle – in our opinion, TechStars
and Y-combinator were both occupying that market space pretty well. I opted to start Founder’s Co-op, a
mentor driven seed fund. When I
spoke to David on the phone, he was kind enough to share some legal documents
with me. Shortly after that call, I became a mentor of TechStars Boulder. In January 2009, I learned that TechStars was expanding to
Boston. I emailed David Cohen and Brad Feld and said that if they ever
considered expanding to Seattle I would be interested in working with
them. David and Brad both
encouraged me to spend more time in the summer at TechStars to get to know the
program. They said that they were interested in exploring the possibility of
working together. In May 2009, I went to my 20th college reunion at Brown
University in Providence RI. While I was back east, I stopped by at the Boston
TechStars 2009 orientation. Turns out that Shawn Broderick, an old friend of
mine from the 1990’s Boston technology scene, was the executive director. Shawn asked me to speak to the incoming
class of TechStar companies. I did
– and I’m not sure exactly what I said – but as I spoke I choked with
emotion. The weekend had already
been a trip down memory lane for me – walking the campus at Brown already
pre-disposed me to feeling nostalgic. But I wasn’t prepared for the raw energy
emanating from the founders of the 10 Boston TechStars companies. I spoke to
the founders of the 10 companies. I told them what it was like for me to start
abuzz in 1996. I shed a few tears. I got into my car and called Brad Feld and
Jerry Colonna – the venture capitalists who invest and bet on me in, abuzz
technologies, my first company. I
decided then – that Seattle needed a program like this and that I wanted to run
TechStars Seattle. Now, I just needed David Cohen to be willing to open
TechStars in Seattle. In the summer of 2009, I made another two trips to Boulder
in an effort to get to know the TechStars program and David Cohen better. After
the second trip, David said that he was very interested in opening TechStars
Seattle but didn’t want to make a decision until October 2009. He also wanted to get to know the
early stage technology scene in Seattle better. He went about meeting entrepreneurs and investors in Seattle
and even came to a Founder's Co-op LP meeting. By September 2009, David told me that he had pretty much
decided to expand to Seattle but he wanted the community of entrepreneurs to
drive the expansion of the program. In early November 2009, there were a series of dinners in
Seattle between Matt McIlwain, Greg Gottesman, Brad Feld, David Cohen, and
myself. The next thing I knew -- in a 24 hour period Greg Gottesman and David Cohen both
called and asked me if I’d be willing to run TechStars in Seattle alongside
Founder’s Co-op, the seed stage fund I run with Chris DeVore… and I
agreed. With the help of Greg Gottesman, I then approached the
entrepreneur and venture capital community in Seattle and asked them to
collaborate with us in supporting the launch of TechStars Seattle in August
2010. What happened was amazing! We received huge support from an amazing list
of experienced entrepreneurs willing to act as mentors. In addition, nearly all
the venture capitalists in the city elected to materially support Techstars
Seattle ! The list of investors includes:
Turns out, the Seattle startup scene has totally embraced
TechStars….and I think that Seattle entrepreneur community is the big
winner. That’s how TechStars came to Seattle. Applications open for TechStars Seattle today : March 23, 2010 and the program starts
in Aug 2010. If you’re an early stage entrepreneur, you should consider
applying here.
Just wanted to remind everyone that Techstars Seattle applications officially open today. if you're interested in applying to the program, I'd encourage you to do so here.
I think this is going to be a blast -- if you've got a hot new idea for a technology business -- and you want to have the biggest success possible, applying to TechStars is likely for you!
Watch this video
Some important TechStars Seattle dates for you all to keep in mind:
Hi, I'm Andy Sack!
This is my bag o' thoughts about entrepreneur-ship, venture capital, parenthood, and the world in general.
Co-Founder, Managing Partner
Executive Director, Seattle
Chairman