Shows
Give FirstMentorship, Ecosystems, and Feedback Loops with Ian HathawayIn this episode of the Give First podcast, Brad Feld sits down with Ian Hathaway, co-author of The Startup Community Way, host of Outsider Inc., and Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Far Out VC, to unpack what makes entrepreneurial ecosystems actually work.They revisit the early days of their collaboration, from Ian’s initial cold email and time in Boulder, to writing the book that reframed how founders, cities, and networks build momentum. They dive into the theory of complex adaptive systems, the power of feedback loops, and why startup success is anything but linear. Along th...
2025-06-3033 min
Give FirstPart 2 - Founders at the Center | The Story of the Startup Community Movement with Lesa MitchellIn this special episode of the Give First podcast, David Cohen and Brad Feld go deep with Lesa Mitchell on the 35-year evolution of the startup community movement. Recorded live at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, they reflect on the early days of entrepreneurship support—from the founding of EO and early angel networks to the ripple effects of the Kauffman Foundation.Together, they explore the rise of startup ecosystems, the shift from gatekeepers to networks, and how placing founders at the center reshaped everything. Brad shares pivotal moments from Boston to Boulder, Lisa brings insider context fr...
2025-06-2335 min
Give FirstPart 1 - Founders at the Center | The Story of the Startup Community Movement with Lesa MitchellIn this special episode of the Give First podcast, David Cohen and Brad Feld go deep with Lesa Mitchell on the 35-year evolution of the startup community movement. Recorded live at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, they reflect on the early days of entrepreneurship support—from the founding of EO and early angel networks to the ripple effects of the Kauffman Foundation.Together, they explore the rise of startup ecosystems, the shift from gatekeepers to networks, and how placing founders at the center reshaped everything. Brad shares pivotal moments from Boston to Boulder, Lisa brings insider context fr...
2025-06-2326 min
Give FirstBuilding the Future of Aviation with Kevin Noertker of AmpaireIn this episode of the Give First podcast, hosts David Cohen is joined by Kevin Noertker, CEO and co-founder of Ampaire. Kevin shares his journey from aspiring astronaut and NASA engineer to leading a revolutionary Techstars-backed company.Ampaire is advancing hybrid electric aviation, aiming to cut aircraft fuel usage by 50-70%, addressing both environmental and economic issues in the aviation sector. Kevin discusses the concept of 'invariant milestones' for setting and achieving ambitious goals, the challenges of blending the automotive and aviation industries, and the importance of resilient, mission-driven leadership. The episode also co...
2024-06-2629 min
Give FirstSliding into Diem: Emma Bates talks raising $3.7M to build the front door of girl internetEmma Bates, co-founder of Diem, is reshaping the way women search the internet. Diem is a social search engine designed to provide women with trustworthy, community-driven results. In this episode of Give First, Emma talks about her journey building Diem, starting with her experience in the Techstars accelerator and the inspiration behind her women-centric approach to search.Emma dives into the challenges of fundraising as a female founder, sharing hard-earned insights on overcoming bias in venture capital. “Fundraising is a game,” Bates explains in her strategies for navigating investor interactions and the importance of staying focused amid...
2024-04-2324 min
Give FirstThe Sky’s The LimitKirill Bigai, Preply CEO and co-founder, launched the company’s first set of values back in 2015, while participating in the Techstars Berlin program. But as the team has changed, so have the values.“It’s an evolution,” said Bigai, who involves his 650+ staff members in their development and incorporates the values into hiring, performance reviews, and operations. David Cohen agrees that fine tuning and articulating values is smart for business and for company culture. In this edition of Cohen’s Give First Podcast, he and Bigai dig into values, hiring practices, stubbornness and how, when the company...
2024-02-1328 min
Give FirstBottoms Up: A Conversation with Bevi CEO Sean GrundySean Grundy, co-founder and CEO of Bevi, wouldn’t budge despite calls from, ironically, David Cohen, the GiveFirst podcast host. Cohen wanted Bevi smart water coolers in more places than just Boston. Grundy wanted to prioritize quality control and customer retention. “We wanted our mechanical engineers and electrical engineers close by so they could personally put their eyes on any errors, see what was going wrong and fix it,” said Grundy. That was back in 2014 just after participating in Techstars Boston. Grundy’s phased approach ethos worked then and still works today. In fact, Bevi...
2023-05-3034 min
Give FirstMeatoDoor Founders on Startups With Family— But Not A Family BusinessThough many might shy away from working with their spouse, MeatoDoor Founders Ambreen Khan and Rashid Ahmed wouldn’t have it any other way. “We don't see that as a challenge in terms of running the company. We are both totally different individuals; we bring different skills to the table,” says Ambreen, who is also CEO of MeatoDoor. “In fact, we both complement each other so much that almost 60% of the skillset that is crucial for an early-stage company to have growth, we actually satisfy the needs.”Listen as Ambreen and Rashid describe how they blend their...
2023-01-3122 min
Give FirstArweave Co-Founder on Building an Archive of History Using BlockchainDo you have a digital storage problem? As almost everything begins to be stored digitally, customers are often looking for sustainable but secure and permanent storage for their assets.What was once considered science fiction has been created by Arweave. One of the company’s goals is to create a permanent archive of all of humanity’s knowledge through its cryptographically verifiable method.“The simple way of explaining what Arweave is to people that have read 1984 is, well, you know the memory hole? Well, we make the memory hole impossible,” says Sam Williams, Arweave co-founder and CEO...
2022-12-2027 min
Give FirstTechstars Director of ESG on Being a Responsible Founder and InvestorWhen a thoughtful founder or investor is thinking about creating or sustaining long-term value and a company that adapts for the future, they are already inherently thinking about environmental, social, and governance issues (ESG).ESG is for ALL companies - not just the ones focused on the environment.Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, Director of ESG at Techstars, breaks down the creation of ESG, starting from when companies began to think about their corporate social responsibility (CSR), to the sustainability movement across corporates, and now tracking how companies were addressing ESG issues.“ESG evolved out of...
2022-10-1824 min
Give FirstQuickHire Co-Founder & CEO on Raising Capital as a Person of ColorWhen we talk about a startup successfully raising money after being part of a Techstars accelerator, that’s not an unusual story. But did you know that only 0.3% of all venture capital funding goes to black women?For Deborah Gladney, co-founder and CEO of QuickHire, this was a reality every day as she and her sister built their company with not many connections, low-balled valuations, and many more roadblocks.“After we were able to successfully raise, what was so apparent was how rare it was because we didn't realize that we were actually the first blac...
2022-10-0420 min
Give FirstEndel CEO and Co-Founder on the Future of SoundImagine always having a soundscape that adapts to what you're doing and what you need to get done without the need to manually select a playlist. This is the future with Endel, an app that utilizes circadian rhythms and the neuroscience study of how sound influences the cognitive state. “It's an ever-present sound that follows you everywhere during the day across all channels and platforms Endel is available on. And it just proactively shifts between different modes, depending on what you're doing right now,” says Oleg Stavisky, CEO and co-founder of Endel. “The end game for...
2022-09-2720 min
Give FirstDavid Cohen and Brad Feld Talk Mental Health for EntrepreneursIt took decades for Brad Feld to understand his depression and mental health struggles. “There was a period of time, pretty deep into this depressive episode. … Work was fine. Business was fine, but I would describe it looking backward as the complete absence of joy. There was no joy in anything that I was doing in any way I was doing it.”All the while, Brad was the founder of his own company while in his mid-20s, but he felt ashamed as the CEO because “the mantra that got thrown around for a while is that y...
2022-09-0729 min
Give FirstESG Takeover: B Lab Community Engagement Manager and Project Canary COO on What It Means to be a B CorpIn this final ESG takeover episode, Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, who helps lead ESG at Techstars, talks with B Lab Senior Manager of Community Engagement and Network Strategy Becca Quirk and Project Canary Co-founder & COO Will Foiles about what it really means when a business gets its B Corp certification and how it creates impactful changes.“Inherently, becoming a B corporation forces a founder to look not just at what we are accomplishing today, but what we are working to accomplish,” says Becca Quirk.Listen as Becca and Will describe the benefits of this certification for star...
2022-07-2722 min
Give FirstESG Takeover: Soona CEO and UN PRI Head of Private Equity on How to Engage with InvestorsIn this second ESG takeover episode, Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, who helps lead ESG at Techstars, talks with Soona CEO and Co-Founder Liz Giorgi and UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment Head of Private Equity Peter Dunbar about different aspects of engaging with investors, including investor diligence, transparent conversations, and discussing ESG practices.First, Liz Giorgi explains the development of the candor clause, and how it benefits startup founders regardless of their identity. The candor clause helps facilitate open, honest conversations about investors' practices, and ultimately allows founders to make informed decisions about who they are taking money from.
2022-07-2026 min
Give FirstIntegrated Capital Strategies Founder Sharon Schneider on Value Integration and Social EntrepreneurshipWe all have a set of principles for how we live our lives. How well are those principles aligned across every facet, though? You might be environmentally conscious but it’s important to ask yourself: Where do you do your banking? Who holds your mortgage? This is the driving point for author Sharon Schneider’s book, Handbook for an Integrated Life: A Practical Guide to Aligning Your Everyday Choices with Your Internal Compass.“If you're just floating along on mainstream American culture, my friend, … you're getting a very me-first, maximize-benefit-for-yourself all-the-time approach. This idea of taking yo...
2022-07-1922 min
Give FirstESG Takeover: Sustaio Founder and SVT Group CEO on Benefits of ESG Measurement for Your CompanyIn this first ESG takeover episode, Dr. Mairi-Jane Fox, who helps lead ESG at Techstars, talks with Sustaio founder and CEO Olivia Pedersen and SVT Group CEO Sara Olsen about the benefits and the how-to of measuring ESG impact for early-stage start-ups. “It's a responsible business practice to manage your carbon effectively and make sure that you're taking responsibility for the impact and the externalized cost that your company is creating,” said Olivia Pedersen.Listen as Olivia and Sara give tangible, actionable advice to startup founders on how they can measure their company's impact. Also, don’t...
2022-07-1321 min
Give FirstTechstars Berlin Managing Director Martin Schilling on Guiding Global Tech Startup BuildersMartin Schilling said he would never work in finance. However, after two years of scaling N26 Group, a large European fintech company, he left with a wealth of knowledge that he needed to share. So he wrote “The Builder’s Guide to the Tech Galaxy” with several leading tech builders.“It is, in essence, a give-first book because together with my co-founders, we are deep advocates of scaling up the European tech ecosystem. Why? Because as startup builders, we are the pioneers of our times. We are the inventors of the 21st century to a certain degree, and we w...
2022-07-0529 min
Give FirstHILOS Founder Elias Stahl on Creating A New Supply ChainSupply chains are a big nut to crack, and Elias Stahl ran straight for them. He was empowered to start a whole new supply chain and have his company HILOS be at the forefront of creating a different way to manufacture shoes, where it is ground zero for inefficiency and waste.“We saw that opportunity to leverage new technologies like 3D printing and gender design tools to rethink how we make things so that we're no longer building based on volume and cost, but on efficiency and a far more sustainable way for creators to take th...
2022-05-1025 min
Give FirstTwelve Labs CEO Jae Lee on Video Search Innovation and Accelerating with TechstarsInnovation is just innovation if no one uses it. This is a lesson Jae Lee, co-founder and CEO of Twelve Labs, learned while building multimodal neural networks and video search AI. Through the Techstars Seattle Accelerator, mentors, and community, the company began to grow its customer base, transforming from a video search prototype to raising $5 million in a seed funding round.Listen as Jae Lee describes how video search is a very intuitive concept but we haven’t seen much of this technology out in the wild, as well as credibility and experience in AI.
2022-04-2624 min
Give FirstStream Founder Thierry Schellenbach on Listening to Customers and Following the MetricsStream might be a small startup company, but by listening to its customers and their needs, the company decided to launch a second product that helped it scale. “Focusing only on a single product, it was hard to go for larger channels that are not well-targeted, so we needed to have a broader product offering to really scale up,” said founder and CEO Thierry Schellenbach. “I think that’s the one thing in terms of advice for founders, I think you need to look at those metrics and we could have probably raised like an A and B rou...
2022-02-0122 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastNiraj Swami / The Intersection of AI, Healthcare, and ClimateThey might seem like two different worlds, but the reality is, there is a close relationship between health and climate. Once we peel back some of the layers, the similarities are ever-present.In this episode, Cody chats with Adaptrack CEO Niraj Swami, who is also part of the Nature Conservancy with Conservation Technology Strategy & Enablement, about the intersection of health and climate, and how they have parallel models with a common customer — humans.“What excited me about climate data was that the planet doesn't lie. You ask somebody how they feel, they’ll tell y...
2022-01-2627 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastBrett Brohl, Managing Director of Techstars Farm to Fork AcceleratorEverybody’s got to eat. That’s the mantra of the Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator and the Bread and Butter Ventures. Managing Director Brett Brohl is passionate about food: cooking it, eating it, and investing in the next group of startups in this area, which has only gained popularity in the past two years despite being a huge market and full of opportunities. “What are the natural spaces to go to when you talk about impact and sustainability? Well, it’s food, because the food system has such an impact on the planet.”In this episode, C...
2022-01-1231 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastAndrew Chang and Marilyn Waite / Recognizing China as the Real Battlefront Against Climate ChangeChina will reach peak carbon emissions in 2030, and expects to be carbon-neutral by 2060. One-quarter of the world’s emissions are from China, but without China, there is no solving climate change.In 2020 alone, China outperformed the U.S. in wind and solar, including high-emitting and hard-to-abate sectors. By leveraging AI, carbon capture, big data and more, climate tech startups in China are giving the world hope for significant decarbonization. Opportunities for investment are plentiful, gateways to access funding are open, and pilot projects are in development like never before.Listen to Marilyn and An...
2021-12-2036 min
Give FirstSketchfab Co-Founder on Building Relationships as the Key to Business ImmortalityStarted in France, Alban Denoyel knew that the key to his product, Sketchfab, was its influence in the United States. Now a leading platform for 3D and AR models, Sketchfab got a boost while Alban was part of the Techstars Accelerator program. “I think having gone through Techstars really helped us get the credibility we needed to raise money with VCs as first-time entrepreneurs.”Years later, the key takeaways from Alban’s time in the program still bring success to Sketchfab. Investors won’t just throw money at an idea; it’s about having a rapport, as Alban m...
2021-12-1421 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastStacy Kauk / Democratizing Sustainability to Build Accessibility for Carbon Removal TechnologiesAbout two years ago, Shopify was looking to go the extra mile on its environmental footprint by purchasing carbon credits or offsets. Through discovery, the company realized how limited the market was for this type of sustainability method and how it needed growth.In this episode, Cody chats with Stacy Kauk, Shopify’s director of Sustainability Fund, which makes an annual commitment of $5 million toward entrepreneurial breakthrough technologies and companies to advance sustainability. Stacy shares how the fund tries to identify and support those solutions that all of humanity is going to need in the long ru...
2021-12-0839 min
Give FirstZipline co-founder on how robotics and automation have changed him and the worldWhen Keller Rinaudo started Remotive in 2011 while in a Techstars Accelerator program, he didn’t really know what entrepreneurship was until he read Tony Hsieh's book “Delivering Happiness.” At the time, he was at Harvard University working with DNA and the inner workings of humans, not robots. That all shifted. Keller and his team knew that the world of robotics and automation would change within the next decade, and they wanted to be a part of that transformation. Now, his company Zipline is focusing on building a new type of logistics system that would not just serve t...
2021-11-3018 min
Your Startup CommunityConversation with Chris, Brad and IanIt's been 1 full year since the release of their book, The Startup Community Way.We’ve been through and continue to struggle with the pandemic and how it is shifting the entrepreneur landscape.Chris has left Techstars and his Ecosystem Development role and is consulting, Ian is focusing more on research and angel investing and Brad has released 2 more books and writing a few new ones.Join Brad, Ian and Chris as we have a wide ranging discussions of the state of startup communities, what we have learned so far in...
2021-09-2924 min
Give FirstFraudmarc’s Keith Coleman on the Value of Give First as a FounderIf you’ve ever wondered just where Give First came from, or how it became such a central philosophy at Techstars, this episode is for you. Or if you’ve ever wanted to push back and say: does Give First really work? What’s in it for me? This is also the episode for you. A few months ago, Keith Coleman, Founder of Fraudmarc (Techstars Atlanta 2017) emailed David and Brad with the subject “give first, finish last.” In it, he explained his reservations with Give First. Basically, he asked: Is Give First right for new founders who are sup...
2021-09-2138 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastSustainability and economic opportunity with David Cohen and Cody SimmsPeople want their capital to be used for good, and whether it’s clean energy or sustainable agriculture, there is ample economic opportunity in efforts to decarbonize the planet. In this special podcast crossover episode, Techstars’ own David Cohen and Cody Simms discuss how the entrepreneurial ecosystem is rallying around climate change. Also, stay tuned for Season 2 of Techstars Climate Tech podcast, coming this fall! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2021-09-0928 min
Give FirstSustainability and economic opportunity with Cody Simms of Techstars Climate Tech PodcastPeople want their capital to be used for good, and whether it’s clean energy or sustainable agriculture, there is ample economic opportunity in efforts to decarbonize the planet. In this special podcast crossover episode, Techstars’ own David Cohen and Cody Simms discuss how the entrepreneurial ecosystem is rallying around climate change. If you haven't yet checked out the Techstars Climate Tech podcast, you can find it on all major podcast platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2021-09-0928 min
Give FirstDavid Cohen and Brad Feld reflect on over 40 episodes of the Give First PodcastToward the beginning of this conversation between David Cohen and Brad Feld — cofounders of Techstars and celebrated early-stage investors — Brad says, “I believe it takes a hundred episodes before you can really call yourself a podcast.” If that’s the standard, the Give First podcast isn’t a real podcast yet, since we’re only at about 45. But we’re quite proud that Give First has stuck around so long and found such a welcoming audience. Turns out that people want to hear about the warm, relationship-based, virtuous cycle side of entrepreneurship and tech that Give First elevates an...
2021-08-1716 min
Give FirstDigital Ocean’s Carly Brantz on leading marketing at three Techstars unicorns“We get a tremendous amount of traffic to our website every month from people who are just searching for different ways to do things, learning different ways to code. It might not even be on our infrastructure, but we provide that content,” says Carly Brantz, Chief Marketing Officer at Digital Ocean. This is just one of many ways that Digital Ocean, which helps developers easily build, test, manage, and scale applications of any size on a complete cloud platform, Gives First to its customers, and even to people who aren’t its customers (but might one day be...
2021-08-1019 min
Give FirstFast Forward’s Kevin Barenblat on running an accelerator for tech nonprofits“Techstars for nonprofits” is a pretty good description for Fast Forward, an accelerator for tech nonprofits. The similarities are many — like Techstars, Fast Forward provides mentorship, network, and resources to tech founders, designed to help them succeed. The key difference is that Fast Forward focuses on the specific needs of nonprofit companies.“Our entrepreneurs have all the challenges of tech startups, and all the challenges of nonprofits,” says Kevin Barenblat, Cofounder and President of Fast Forward.Listen as David and Kevin talk about the amazing results Fast Forward has achieved — the 60 nonprofits that have complet...
2021-08-0320 min
Give FirstChainalysis’s Jonathan Levin on building a blockchain business, values and the futureJonathan Levin has had a remarkable career. A London native with an economics degree from Oxford, Levin cofounded Chainalysis in 2014, focusing on bitcoin on the blockchain. The company, a graduate of Techstars’ Barclays accelerator in New York with a valuation in the billions, now does blockchain analysis on a variety of cryptocurrencies. Listen in as Jonathan tells David about what it was like to secure funding in the crypto space in the early days, the importance of living your company values, why he believes “give first” truly is so powerful and get his takes on the must-reads for eve...
2021-07-2720 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastEnvironmental Justice and Climate Change, with Tenzin SeldonToday, about 1% of the world’s land mass is an “extremely inhospitable zone,” like the Sahara desert. Over the next 50 years, with climate change, that could expand to 20% of our planet’s surface, with far-reaching effects, including mass migration. Tenzin Seldon, Cofounder and Chief Executive at The Plant, estimates that hundreds of millions of people — even up to a billion people — will become climate refugees over the next 40 to 50 years. Listen for Tenzin’s take on why climate change is a civil rights issue, the human cost of climate change, and how entrepreneurs and startups can...
2021-07-0726 min
Give FirstBruno Morency on the evolution of the Montréal startup ecosystemBruno Morency graduated from college in 2001 and started a company right out of school. It was a tough time for tech startups, but Bruno persisted, and he’s been part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Montréal ever since. Hear Bruno tell Brad about how his adventures in entrepreneurship paralleled the growth of the startup scene in Montréal over the last 20 years, culminating in Bruno’s current role as Managing Director of the Techstars Montréal AI Accelerator, as interest in entrepreneurship in Montréal and throughout Canada continues to expand. Brad and Bruno’...
2021-06-0821 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastHow To Start and Grow a Renewable Energy Company, with Steph Speirs and Yoav LurieRenewable energy startups — and the entrepreneurs who found them — are crucial to the fight against climate change. These founders are smart, driven, and agile enough to see the opportunities in energy right now, and dive in. This is a fascinating time in energy, as renewable sources become cheaper and easier to democratize, reaching a more racially and economically diverse set of users, and big utility companies are also starting to see the need to get on board with sustainable initiatives. It wasn’t long ago that climate tech was unpopular. We’re grateful to see that changing...
2021-06-0124 min
Give FirstRob La Gesse on being the opposite of risk averseRob La Gesse has had an interesting career. After high school, he joined the Navy and worked both as a combat medic and a neonatal respiratory therapist. He was a mayor in Hawaii. He taught himself programming and went into tech, just in time to help develop Wi-Fi. On this episode of the Give First podcast, David Cohen talks with Rob about how helping people has guided him at every turn. Rob tells the story of hiring a bartender at his tech company. Why this bartender? Because he was so helpful, and Rob sa...
2021-05-1220 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastWhat does it mean to Electrify Everything? With Andrew BeebeFrom food and the agricultural supply chain to shipping and transport, fossil fuels are embedded in our economy. But that’s changing, as we shift toward being more and more powered by renewable energy sources. How will industries change as we move to #ElectrifyEverything? Andrew Beebe, Managing Director at Obvious Ventures, explains how market trends are driving renewables and electrification adoption right now. The name “Obvious Ventures” refers to technologies that we’re going to look back on in the future and think, ‘wow, that’s obvious.’ And Andrew believes that electrification is in that category. Listen...
2021-05-1027 min
The Lead UpSymplifi: Rethinking the world of remittancesOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Maurice and Gregoire, cofounders of SympliFi, a one of a kind fintech solution that enables migrants to help their families and loved ones back home access credit without having to send money and pay high fees.With a wealth of financial knowledge and a very ambitious vision, the team explains how they have positioned themselves in a highly competitive industry, the process of securing partnerships with organizations like the United Nations, and using those endorsements to establish trust in the communities they serve with their...
2021-05-0727 min
The Lead UpSourcery: Giving developers magic powersOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Brendan, Tim, and Nick, cofounders of Sourcery. They empower developers to write beautiful, clear code, all the time, through real time refactoring.As a team with decades of combined experience in software development and scaling, they share their thought process behind pursuing a bottom-up go-to-market model, deciding against going open source, launching on Product Hunt, and how negative feedback helped improve their team dynamic and vision. Techstars personnel and/or guests who speak in...
2021-05-0724 min
The Lead UpLightning: Enabling financial support in a flashOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Ren and her team behind Lightning Social Ventures, a fintech startup that enables charities and public sector organisations to quickly verify and process financial support applications for millions of people in financial hardship.Founded in the midst of the pandemic, the team explains their human-centric approach to building a product for a distressed audience, common misconceptions about selling to charities, and how to build a successful pool of advisors. Techstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this...
2021-05-0625 min
The Lead UpBippit: Financial coaching as the employee perk of the futureOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Sam, Erich, and Grace, cofounders of Bippit, a platform helping businesses provide free financial coaching to their teams.Having experienced the lack of accessible financial coaching themselves, this incredibly mission-driven team tells us about their user research process within the sensitive topic of personal finances, the relationship between money and mental health, and ways of fostering product-lead growth within their B2B2C approach.Techstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions...
2021-05-0623 min
The Lead UpEnzyme: Enabling the creator economyOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Teddy, founder of Enzyme, a software that turns words into websites in seconds, by using GPT-3 technology. A programmer turned serial entrepreneur, Teddy shares his thoughts on the process of finding the right audience for your product, the challenges of describing a product that seems too good to be true, his data-driven approach to building a company, and the importance of building the right team around a solo-founder.Techstars personnel and/or guests who...
2021-05-0521 min
The Lead UpYoona.AI: A tech makeover for the fashion industryOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Anna, the founder of Yoona.ai, a company using AI to help apparel makers and fashion companies like Puma and Vaude to shorten their design processes. Inspired by the intersection of technology and design, Anna explains her approach to building an innovative product for an incumbent industry full of traditions, how she’s earned the trust of some of the biggest players in fashion, and the process of putting together a strong support system for herself as a solo founder — from a solid team to a...
2021-05-0519 min
The Lead UpMockmate: Democratizing recruitmentOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Waina and Meg, cofounders of Mockmate, a tool helping job seekers practice interviews, while also helping companies screen candidates faster using natural language processing.Motivated by their own frustration with traditional recruitment — its lack of diversity and transparency, just to name a few elements — the founders shed light on their strategy of shifting from a B2C to B2B focus, how it’s never too early to start building your company culture, and how they’re positioning themselves as a challenger brand.
2021-05-0427 min
The Lead UpFaredirect: The new era of travel in the post-pandemic worldOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Niels, Aleks, and Nev, co founders of Faredirect, a software company helping airlines maximize the revenue they make from the sale of ancillary products, like seat selection and luggage.Oozing with passion and experience in the aviation industry, the team talks to us about the challenges of selling to modern enterprises like airlines that still rely on established, old-school infrastructure, finding champions within these companies as part of the sales process, adapting your positioning, and how they’ve adjusted their pricing model to de-risk their co...
2021-05-0419 min
The Lead UpLabbox: Educating the creators of the futureOn this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Arta, Fiona, and Glenn, cofounders of Labbox, an ed-tech startup delivering electronic kits to inspire kids (ages 8+) for engineering. Based in Kosovo, the founders discuss with us the difficulties of building a hardware startup in a small market and its effect on expansion, using early adopters to your advantage for building quality products, and how proactively avoiding premature scaling might be the best way to actually scale a business. Techstars personnel and/or guests who speak in...
2021-05-0323 min
The Lead UpCreatext: Think cold outreach can’t be personal? Think again.On this episode of The Lead Up, we catch up with Lukas and Jerome, co founders of Creatext, a B2B software helping sales teams personalize cold outreach and increase reply rates. Both Natural Language Processing specialists and life long friends, they walk us through the challenges of pivoting during an accelerator program, finding product market fit, and mixing business with friendship.Techstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, and not the opinion of either Techstars or...
2021-04-3022 min
Give FirstKatie Rae on breakthrough tech that can change the worldIn this episode of the Give First podcast, Brad Feld talks with his old friend Katie Rae, who was once the Managing Director of Techstars Boston. These days, Katie is the CEO and Managing Partner at The Engine.Launched by MIT, The Engine supports big ideas and breakthrough technologies — “the long shots, the unimaginable, the unbelievable,” as their website says — that have really big potential to make a big impact and benefit society. While others refer to this as deep tech or frontier tech, Katie prefers tough tech, and she thinks of it as the “convergence of breakth...
2021-04-2719 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastCreating Demand for Breakthrough Climate Tech, with Nan Ransohoff and Shawn DrostNew and breakthrough technologies are essential to solving our planet’s climate crisis. We need tech that replaces high CO2-emitting processes, tech that removes carbon from our atmospheres, tech that connects it all — and more. That’s why Hannah Davis, Program Director of the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, is talking with Nan Ransohoff, Head of Climate at Stripe, and Shawn Drost, CEO at Diversified Hydrogen.Listen for a dive into the importance of creating demand for new climate-friendly technologies, plus a clear explanation of why hydrogen is such an important elemen...
2021-04-1419 min
Talking Through ItCrossover: Talking Through It + Give First! Talking through unicorns, NFTs, and giving first with David CohenIn this special episode, Give First host David Cohen and Talking Through It host Neal Sáles-Griffin take turns interviewing each other: it’s two Techstars podcasts in one. David discusses with Neal on how giving first grew the Chicago startup ecosystem, and then Neal talks through today’s hot issues with David. Today’s Topics:Finding UnicornsCrypto, NFTs, What’s Next? Dream Dinner Guest This Week’s Startup to Watch:https://hey.com/. Plus, listen to Neal’s conv...
2021-04-0525 min
Give FirstCrossover: Give First + Talking Through It! Neal Sáles-Griffin on giving first to grow Chicago’s startup ecosystemIn this special episode, Give First host David Cohen and Talking Through It host Neal Sáles-Griffin take turns interviewing each other: it’s two Techstars podcasts in one. David discusses with Neal on how giving first grew the Chicago startup ecosystem, and then Neal talks through today’s hot issues with David, including unicorn startups and cryptocurrency. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the National Geographic documentary series City So Real, a portrait of contemporary Chicago, including Neal’s candidacy in the 2019 mayoral election. Also, check out Techstars Chicago's recent Dem...
2021-04-0525 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastBreakthrough Climate Technologies with Clay DumasFrom carbon capture to hydrogen to climate intervention/geo-engineering to synthetic biology and more, exciting new tech, and new uses of established tech, are transforming how we work to slow and reverse climate change. Clay Dumas, Partner at Lowercarbon Capital, is watching the growth in climate tech companies carefully, and investing in them: his investment thesis, described on the Lowercarbon Capital website, is to “support the firm’s preposterously ambitious companies working to undo global warming while making real money in the process.”To him, this is why they founded the Lowercarbon Capital, as well...
2021-03-2432 min
Give FirstMaëlle Gavet on helping entrepreneurs around the world create a better worldIn this episode of the Give First podcast, two of the original Techstars founders, David Cohen and Brad Feld, talk with the new Techstars CEO, Maëlle Gavet. If you love Techstars, this one is a must listen, a passing of the torch from the first generation of Techstars leadership to the next. If you want to learn about Techstars, listen for insight into what the company stands for, values, and does. Techstars helps entrepreneurs succeed — through accelerators, mentorship, and a worldwide network. And we do this because we believe entrepreneurs around...
2021-03-1726 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastAn Academic and an Entrepreneur Talk Climate Change, with Dr. Chip Fletcher and Sierra PetersonIn order to survive the climate change crisis, we’re going to need solutions from all over. That’s why Hannah Davis, Program Director of the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, invited Dr. Chip Fletcher, Professor at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and Sierra Peterson, entrepreneur and climate tech investor, to talk about climate change and the solutions they see coming from research and from business — and how entrepreneurs can get involved. To quote Sierra: “For anybody who is thinking about starting a company in this space and devoting your time an...
2021-03-1018 min
Give FirstSean Paul Shanor on the joy of running Startup WeekendsIn this episode of the Give First podcast, Techstars cofounder and Chairman of the Board David Cohen talks with Synergy Space Founder and Techstars Startup Weekend Facilitator Sean Paul Shanor about what he finds so compelling about Startup Weekend.Sean Paul has helped run over a dozen Startup Weekends in eight countries, and in addition has become a startup coach, using the expertise gained from all those Startup Weekends to help entrepreneurs keep going when they get stuck. Listen for the story of how he transitioned from running golf tournaments in Dubai to he...
2021-03-0927 min
Talking Through ItTalking through virtual accelerators, mentors, and Techstars Chicago theme song with Whitney Gregory & William BirdsongIn this week’s special founder edition episode of Talking Through It, Neal Sáles-Griffin talks with alumni from his recent Techstars Chicago class: Whitney Gregory, CEO of Eemerg Roadside Assistance, and William Birdsong, CEO of Documentor.Today’s Topics:Natural Disasters in TexasThe Virtual Accelerator ExperienceMentor MadnessApplication Tips for FoundersThe Techstars Chicago Demo Day Song, City So RealThis Week’s Startups To Watch:Eemerg Roadside AssistanceDocumentorCity So Real song by William Birdsong and Tyni BirdsongTechstars personnel and/or guests...
2021-03-0124 min
Techstars Climate Tech PodcastWhat Exactly Is Going On With Our Planet? with Dr. Kamal KapadiaWe’re all trying to wrap our minds around climate change, its enormous consequences if left unchecked, and how people and organizations can fight it. In this first episode of the Techstars Climate Tech podcast, host Cody Simms, SVP for Climate & Sustainability at Techstars, talks with Dr. Kamal Kapadia, Cofounder of Terra.do, about the big questions, like what exactly is going on with our planet, and what our lives may look like in 20 or 50 years, before diving into the ways that technology can help. Listen for answers to these key questions:What...
2021-02-2331 min
Give FirstBaden U'Ren on growing entrepreneurship education in AustraliaIn this episode of the Give First podcast, Techstars cofounder and Chairman of the Board David Cohen talks with Baden U'Ren about his efforts to grow the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Australia. Baden U’Ren is a nationally recognized entrepreneurship educator who has led Bond University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation disciplines for over a decade, and he is also deeply involved in many other efforts to grow and strengthen entrepreneurship in Australia, through Techstars Startup Weekends and more. Listen for more about particularly Australian challenges to growing startup communities, the “tall poppy syndrome,” and how Give First has...
2021-02-2326 min
Talking Through ItTalking through pandemic productivity, Clubhouse, and making work a happier place with Claire LewIn this week’s episode of Talking Through It, Neal Sáles-Griffin talks with Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team. Today’s Topics:Hitting a pandemic wallRobinhoodClubhouseAddressing toxicityPositive workplacesThis Week’s Startups To Watch:FrankRosecrans VenturesTechstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, and not the opinion of either Techstars or any company discussed in this podcast. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax adv...
2021-02-1034 min
Give FirstJames Oliver on empowering Black parentpreneursIn this episode of the Give First podcast, Techstars cofounder and Chairman of the Board David Cohen talks with James Oliver about why he started the ParentPreneur Foundation.The foundation “empower[s] Black ParentPreneurs, so they can leave a legacy for their children,” and provides grants, community, and resources for Black parents who are also doing the hard work of starting a company. Listen for more about why Oliver chose Black parent entrepreneurs as the group who most needed his help right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, plus insights on how he got the f...
2021-02-0826 min
Talking Through ItTalking Through the Start of 2021, Cryptocurrency, and the Power of Relationships with Mike McGee and Jimmy OdomIn this week’s episode of Talking Through It, Neal Sáles-Griffin catches up with Mike McGee, Director of Special Projects at AnitaB.org, and Jimmy Odom, Partner at Bit Capital Group. Today’s Topics:Impeachment & InsurrectionCryptocurrencyNetworksWhat’s GoodThis Week’s Startups To Watch:Strike21e8Ethel’s ClubFollow Mike on TwitterFollow Jimmy on TwitterTechstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, and not the opinion of...
2021-01-1949 min
Give FirstAndy Sack on Give First and Creating a Startup Ecosystem from ScratchAndy Sack has been a technology entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist for 25 years — and is one of the godfathers of the Seattle startup community. He was managing director for Techstars Seattle, founder and executive chairman for Lighter Capital, and cofounder of seed stage fund Founder's Co-op. He participated in the first Techstars Boston Startup Weekend and was so moved by the experience that he decided to run a Techstars Startup Weekend in Seattle. As Andy says, “(I gave) a talk to the Techstars Boston class and it was supposed to be one hour. Three hours later...
2021-01-0725 min
Give FirstDenise and Jim Franklin on how a scrappy startup grows into a thriving ecosystemDenise Franklin, angel investor and startup veteran, and husband Jim Franklin, former CEO of SendGrid and University of Colorado Boulder MBA Instructor for VC, unpack the mystery of the Give First ethos, from benefiting from the kindness of others early on in their careers,to using their good fortune to help fellow entrepreneurs. They were instrumental in the very first Techstars Startup Week Denver, and give practical advice on how to build a thriving startup ecosystem. “If you’re a Series B or later founder or executive, you can pay it forward in a very important way, es...
2020-12-1731 min
Talking Through ItTalking Through the Positives of 2020 and Predictions for Next Year with Jason FriedAs we wrap up 2020, Neal Sáles-Griffin talks with Jason Fried, Cofounder and CEO of Basecamp, on this episode of Talking Through It.Today’s 5 Topics:The good of 2020Tech and disinformationFrom Silicon Valley to… Austin?The perfect pitchPredictionsFollow Jason on Twitter @jasonfriedFollow Neal on Twitter @nealsalesTechstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, and not the opinion of either Techstars or any company discussed in this podcast. This podca...
2020-12-1638 min
Talking Through ItTalking Through Virtual Holidays, Vaccines, and Demo Days with Taylor McLemore and Clement CazalotIt’s time to give thanks. On this episode of Talking Through It, Neal Sáles-Griffin talks with Taylor McLemore, Managing Director of the Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator, and Clement Cazalot, Managing Director of Techstars Boston.Today’s 5 Topics:Virtual holidaysBiden economyVenture capital and long-term successVaccines and 2021Virtual Demo DaysFollow Taylor on Twitter @taylormclemoreFollow Clem on Twitter @clementcTechstars personnel and/or guests who speak in this podcast express their own opinions, and not the opinion of eithe...
2020-12-0333 min
Talking Through ItTalking Through Tech, Democracy, and Personal Values with Mert IseriToday’s 5 Topics:The U.S. electionTech and democracyThe power of personal valuesChoosing great companiesGiving thanksThis Week’s Founders To Watch:Neal picks Havoc Shield, 2020 graduate of Techstars Chicago, which just raised $1.45 million.Mert picks Documentor, another 2020 Techstars Chicago grad, which he mentors.Meet Mert Iseri:Mert Hilmi Iseri has the best job in the world as the CEO of SwipeSense, aiming to eliminate preventable medical errors in hospitals. His journey started off in Istanbul, Turkey and changed courses completely once he arrived at Nort...
2020-11-2432 min
Talking Through ItIntroducing Talking Through ItThe world of entrepreneurship moves fast. And nowhere does it move faster than inside a Techstars accelerator. With startups and mentors and investors all coming together, move fast or get left behind -- and that usually starts with candid conversations. Each week Neal Sales-Griffin, Managing Director of Techstars Chicago’s accelerator program, brings together a rotating cast of high-powered and provocative guests to talk through the most pressing topics of the moment, in a free-form and unscripted conversation. If you’re a founder, mentor or investor, or hope to be one day...
2020-11-1301 min
Give FirstJanine Davis on Executive Coaching in the Time of COVIDJanine Davis began in engineering as a software developer. After 20 years in tech recruitment, she is now an executive coach and is a staunch supporter of the #GiveFirst concept, providing pro bono coaching for founders in the Techstars LA and Techstars Anywhere accelerator programs. As a board member for the Women Founders Network, she supports female entrepreneurs. She talks about why coaching is important for startups early on.As Janine explains, “The more you can follow (executive coaching) with leadership development and building your culture intentionally early, the less headaches and clean-up you're going to have to...
2020-10-3026 min
Give FirstSusan Standiford on the five traits of leadershipSusan Standiford’s impressive career has progressed from “nerdom central” to helping startup companies “create a technology, ethos, and identity” for future growth. Her journey as a technologist has taken her from organizations like Disney Interactive, Travelocity, Oracle, Retek, Rue La La and Zeal, to her most recent position as CTO at IKEA in London. In this episode, she talks about her personal and professional growth with David Cohen, and of the value she has gotten back from being a five-year Techstars mentor.Standiford discusses the “Five Traits of Leadership”—to be smart, able to get things done, abl...
2020-10-0225 min
Give FirstJoy Taylor on taking the concept of Give First to the nth degreeJoy Taylor is a force of nature. Coming from a 20-year career in the banking industry (business development, coaching, and training), she now focuses on ecosystem building in her hometown of Toowoomba, Australia — and around the world. In this episode, Taylor shares her journey with David Cohen and talks about how giving first to her community led her to exciting worldwide experiences.At Canvas Coworking, Taylor runs programs and events for entrepreneurs. This includes the WiRE (Women in Rural, Regional and Remote Enterprise) startup bootcamp, Flare Incubator for female-led companies trying to expand internationally, and Zero to...
2020-09-1832 min
Give FirstMisti Cain on how to connect during COVID-19Misti Cain speaks with David Cohen about her journey from a digital marketing strategist to Techstars Anywhere Accelerator mentor, founder of mentorship platform Whyzze, and host of “Werrrk!,” a business reality show. She explains her best tactics for building important relationships in our challenging COVID-19 virtual environment, including having a visual component for a strong human connection, a shared raison d’etre, and clear communication. Listen for Misti’s memorable Whyzze business success stories, her early motivation, her definition of the true meaning of success — and why she believes everyone can Give First. Hosted on Acast. Se...
2020-08-1326 min
Give FirstBrad Feld and the mentor who changed his lifeIn this episode, Brad Feld is joined by Techstars’ Chief Revenue Officer Frank Alfano and past Chief Innovation Officer Jenny Lawton to talk with their mentor – Len Fassler. They each share their unique experiences meeting Len some thirty years ago, the ups and downs of working together and the tremendous impact he’s had on their lives. Listen to hear how Len got his start in the entrepreneurial world, how he evaluates whether or not to buy a company, and the valuable lessons Brad, Frank and Jenny learned from him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...
2020-07-2440 min
Give FirstPhilip McKernan on the importance of reinventing yourselfPhilip McKernan talks with David Cohen about how to find your purpose in life and his work with entrepreneurs. Through his coaching, he encourages people to take the risk they would only take if they were dying tomorrow. Listen as Philip and David discuss the importance of reinventing yourself, finding a business that fulfills you on a personal level, and how the idea of “holding space” can transform an entrepreneur’s home life. You can find the resources mentioned by Philip here. ...
2020-02-0631 min
Give FirstDavid & Brad on what they’ve learned from 20 episodes of the Give First podcastBack in June 2019, David Cohen and Brad Feld looked back at their first six episodes of the Give First podcast, and decided that while they were pretty pleased, they’d probably need to do about 20-30 to really hit their stride. Seven months later, they’ve passed number 20, so they’re taking another moment to check in. Listen for reflections from these persistent podcast hosts, plus reminiscences on highlights from recent episodes with Josh Hix, Rajat Bhargava, Elizabeth Kraus...
2020-01-2119 min
Give FirstLive from CES: SparkCharge Founder/CEO Joshua Aviv on the unique challenges (and opportunities) of student entrepreneurshipTechstars VP of Network John Hill sat down with SparkCharge Founder and CEO Joshua Aviv live from the floor of Eureka Park.Josh talks about how he started SparkCharge at Syracuse University, the life-changing impact of the Blackstone Launchpad program, and the unique challenges and opportunities of being a student entrepreneur. Josh also shares insights and advice for other student entrepreneurs in an honest and wide-ranging conversation. All captured live at CES 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2020-01-0924 min
Give FirstLive from CES: Damon Motorcycles Co-founder and CTO Dominique Kwong on the power of business and engineering partnerships and the emotional journey behind building a companyDamon Motorcycles Co-founder and CTO (and Techstars Mobility alum) Dominique Kwong talks with Techstars VP of Network John Hill about the unstoppable power of business and engineering partnerships, launching at CES, and the emotions behind building a company. In this wide-ranging and emotional conversation, Dom does a deep dive on his training as an engineer, how he met (and forms a deep connection with his co-founder), the importance of founder communication and all the “blood, sweat and tears” that goes into building a company. Finally, he describes the ex...
2020-01-0922 min
Give FirstLive from CES: Event Hub CEO and Co-founder Michael Bleau on the power of live eventsEureka Park at CES is one of the most influential startup events in the world. Techstars VP of Network John Hill sat down with Event Hub CEO and Co-founder Michael Bleau live from the floor of Eureka Park.They dug in to Michael’s founder journey, his Techstars Anywhere experience, his take on CES (and the power of live events) as well insights and advice for other founders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2020-01-0824 min
Give FirstLive Episode: Josh Hix on the introverted CEOPlated Co-founder Josh Hix knows about leading a growing team. He remembers taking the company through Techstars New York City in 2013, coming into the program with about seven people, and leaving with closer to 37. The company was up to 1300 employees by the time it sold to Albertsons for a reported $200 million in 2017. Leadership was a skill Josh had to learn. “I have always been an introverted engineer,” he says. He was comfortable with the management aspects of leading the company, but he came to realize that this wasn’t enough...
2019-12-1226 min
Give FirstRajat Bhargava on Giving First for a B2B companyRajat Bhargava, CEO of JumpCloud, has started a lot of companies—the first, NetGenesis, while he was still a student at MIT. And his friendship with Give First co-host Brad Feld goes right back to that initial foray into entrepreneurship. Rajat just keeps starting companies, and Giving First—including through his current B2B company, JumpCloud. How does a B2B company Give First? Rajat believe that every B2B can ask itself this question, and come up with practical ways to help anyone, especially entrepreneurs.Ho...
2019-11-0531 min
Give FirstElizabeth Kraus on funding women-led companiesMergeLane, a VC fund that invests in startups and venture funds with at least one female leader, has an unusual aspiration, written in bold on its website: “We want to make MergeLane obsolete.”As co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of MergeLane, Elizabeth Kraus looks forward to a future when MergeLane will no longer be needed, because we will have achieved gender parity. She’s seen progress in the right direction over her career. When Elizabeth first started out as an angel investor, David Cohen—...
2019-10-2325 min
Give FirstJason Mendelson on demystifying venture dealsJason Mendelson, co-founder of Foundry Group, can explain what matters in negotiations between entrepreneurs and VCs in just two words: Control and Economics. It takes enormous expertise to make something complicated really simple, and these bare two words speak to Jason’s profound understanding of venture deals and how they work, for the entrepreneur, the investor, and the lawyers. In addition to being a VC and a company founder himself, Jason has also been a lawyer, a software engineer, and a professional drummer. Control and ec...
2019-10-0922 min
Give FirstJanet Bannister on human-centered investingToday, Janet Bannister is a Partner at Real Ventures, but when Founding Partners John Stokes and Jean-Sebastien Cournoyer first approached her about joining to give the firm a presence in Toronto, Janet was nonplussed. “Why would I go into Venture Capital?” she asked. “Isn’t Venture Capital all about grinding the entrepreneurs down?” But she listened, and she learned about what VC could be, when it was done better, seeing “entrepreneurs as the heroes, and as people who can be supported and helped” with a mission that involves “helping the next generat...
2019-09-2430 min
Give FirstHeidi Roizen on meaningful work & relationshipsHeidi Roizen has called herself a recovering entrepreneur. Wendy Lea has called Heidi “the epitome of Give First.” Both of these are true, and go a long way toward describing the deeply humane perspective on the role of venture capital that Heidi brings to her current role as a partner at Threshold Ventures. Heidi was an entrepreneur herself for 14 years before exploring other career options (VP of Worldwide Developer Relations at Apple, for example) and eventually settling in as a venture capitalist—or “mentor c...
2019-09-1231 min
Give FirstMarc Nager & Dave Mayer on building rural startup communitiesToo many people believe that you have to be in Silicon Valley—or some similarly hyped tech-obsessed locale—to be an entrepreneur. Techstars knows this isn’t true: successful entrepreneurship can happen anywhere. Marc Nager and Dave Mayer are living proof. Marc is the Co-founder of Startup Weekend, the former CEO of UP Global before it was acquired by Techstars, and Techstars Chief Community Officer after the acquisition. He is on a mission to bring entrepreneurship to rural America. Dave is the Founder and CEO at Technical Integrity and Massive Impact and the Founder...
2019-09-0332 min
Give FirstBonus Episode Alert: Do More Faster, 2nd editionBack in 2010, David Cohen and Brad Feld distilled their knowledge about how to #domorefaster into a book, fleshed out with many, many stories from startup founders, investors, and other players in the startup ecosystem. They called it Do More Faster, and over the past nine years the book has been used at a number of business schools and regularly shows up on lists of top startup books. Nine years is a long time in the startup world, so David and Brad have updated their book with a second edition...
2019-08-2009 min
Give FirstHarry Stebbings on committing to building a network & giving firstStride.VC founder Harry Stebbings is probably best known for his podcast, The Twenty Minute VC, the world's largest media asset in venture, with over 5 million downloads per month. He’s talked with amazing Venture Capitalists and entrepreneurs and made over 2,800 shows.When he was 13, Harry watched “The Social Network,” the movie about Facebook’s growth, and it inspired him to become an entrepreneur and investor. At 18, he set up the Twenty Minute VC podcast.Harry has also learned about gi...
2019-08-1332 min
Give FirstJohn China on whether you can give too muchIn over 23 years at Silicon Valley Bank, John China has made it his mission to make connections between entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and more. Many, many entrepreneurs at Techstars and beyond have benefitted from his Give First perspective on working with startups: that you “give, give, give” and you have to “be willing to do that for a long time.”David Cohen asked John, “At what point do you need to see some payback from that giving?” You should really listen to hear his whole, fascinating answer, but the short version is: You keep giving. ...
2019-07-3123 min
Give FirstSherri Hammons on staying humble and staying strongToday, Sherri Hammons is CTO of The Nature Conservancy, but as she admits, “I took the nontraditional path to CTO land.” This path included eight years as a professional singer before she went back to college and got a degree in software engineering—and went on to work for companies big and small, as well as being CTO for the state of Colorado. She’s done for-profit, non-profit, and government—and brought technology, strategy, and humane leadership to each role. Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane, described Sherri as a “humble badass”—a phrase that host Brad F...
2019-07-2322 min
Give FirstRebecca Lovell on career ‘nudges,’ karaoke, & how to be an allyRebecca Lovell plays, as Brad Feld says, “a very important role in the center of gravity for the Seattle startup community.” Currently Director at Create33, a resource center for tech entrepreneurs, Rebecca teaches entrepreneurship at the University of Washington and has held a number of roles in Seattle city government, from Startup Advocate to Acting Director of the Office of Economic Development. Listen for more of her interesting career trajectory, which has gone through unexpected turns because of “nudges” given by mentors and others, resulting in Rebecca’s strong belief in the power...
2019-07-1625 min
Give FirstDavid & Brad reflect on the first six episodes of the Give First podcastWith six full episodes of the Give First podcast under their belts, David Cohen and Brad Feld reflect on their recent interviews and duty as podcast hosts. They also have nothing but praise for guests so far: Wendy Lea, Paul Berberian, Troy Henikoff, Mary Grove, T.A. McCann, and Kesha Cash. In this episode, David and Brad talk to each other about what they learned from each guest, their fa...
2019-06-2629 min
Give FirstKesha Cash on impact investing—and how mentorship got her thereKesha Cash founded Impact America Fund in 2013 with a goal of investing in software and tech enabled companies that have a positive benefit on underserved communities in America. In 2018, she was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. She went to Columbia Business School knowing that she wanted to start a fund that invested in diverse entrepreneurs who were committed to tackling socioeconomic issues, and it was there that she met Josh Mailman, founder of Serious Change, who became her mentor.
2019-06-1827 min
Give FirstT.A. McCann on how sailing in the America’s Cup is like running a startupDavid Cohen was super excited when he realized that T.A. McCann—founder and CEO of Senosis (acquired by Google), Gist (acquired by Blackberry) and Rival IQ, a leader in marketing analytics, as well as Managing Director of Pioneer Square Labs—was the same guy he was reading about in The Proving Ground: The Inside Story of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race.T.A. tells tales of his sailing adventures—including one harrowing anecdote involving Rupert Murdoch’s finger—and applies the knowledge he gained competing in two America’s Cups to runn...
2019-06-1126 min
Give FirstMary Grove on the origins of Google for Startups & Startup WeekendMary Grove is passionate about community-driven change, and this theme has guided her entire career. She joined Google when it had only 2,000 employees, and by the time she left it was up to around 75,000. Over 14 years, she went from working on the IPO deal team to starting Google for Startups. Google for Startups very first partner was Startup Weekend, which Mary helped to spread from a few dozen to 140 countries, vastly broadening its impact. Today, she’s a partner at Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the co-founder of Silicon North Stars, and on...
2019-06-0428 min
Give FirstTroy Henikoff on how #GiveFirst grew the Chicago startup ecosystemHow does a startup ecosystem grow? #GiveFirst is one essential element. Troy Henikoff, Managing Director of MATH Ventures and Co-founder of Excelerate Labs, which became Techstars Chicago, remembers the early days of Chicago’s startup ecosystem, and how #GiveFirst helped it grow. One of the difficult things about describing the impact of #GiveFirst is that, over time, there are so many effects. Troy spends time in this episode telling stories about how giving and mentoring have changed his life and the lives of lots of founders, in Ch...
2019-05-2827 min
Give FirstPaul Berberian on the “addictive” nature of mentoringHave you ever been mobbed in Times Square, like a rock star? Paul Berberian, CEO of Sphero, the company that makes BB8, at one time the number one toy in the world, has. Paul talks about how mentoring and Give First were essential to Sphero getting the BB8 gig.He loves mentoring as well, and describes the experience of being a mentor and having a positive experience on someone’s life as “addictive.”Listen for more on the transformative nature of mentorship—from both sides—pl...
2019-05-2119 min
Give FirstWendy Lea talks about the risks of saying noWendy Lea is a longtime entrepreneur and investor, as well as a board member and mentor at Techstars. With David and Brad, she digs into some of her own first mentoring experiences and reflects on a time when a mentor changed her life. Wendy was early in her career, and had just been offered a promotion that would cause a lot of change in her life, and she was hesitating. Her mentor told her: the risk of saying no is very high. “If you say no, you’re playing small. You have a lot o...
2019-05-1416 min
Give FirstWhat is Give First?What exactly is Give First? David Cohen and Brad Feld explore what this philosophy of living means to them. In the startup world, Give First means simply trying to help anyone, especially entrepreneurs, without any expectation of getting anything back. When a network of people—such as a global community of entrepreneurs—live in a Give First way, each is helpful whenever they can be. This builds a powerful network of caring people, all flourishing because they are all giving to each other. That sounds great in theory, but how does it work in practice? How does mentorship help...
2019-05-0303 min