Tag: boulder

Techstars Boulder & welcoming Shay

Nicole GlarosLeave a comment

I’m sitting in Avanti, adjacent to the Boulder Theater, hiding in a back corner because I can’t seem to get a quiet, undisturbed spot to write this post. Downtown Boulder is filled with Techstars people here for Foundercon: alumni, executives, staff, mentors, and previous managing directors. I can’t walk 5 feet without seeing someone I haven’t seen in years. On Monday, over 30 ex-Managing Directors, unofficially called Techstars Mafia but officially called the Techstars MD Emeritus, gathered to share tips and help each other grow our funds (most of us run funds now, with a few operators and 2 bankers). It feels like déjà vu. With David Cohen back as CEO, hopeful, cautious optimism is the shared sentiment, with a sprinkling of other complex emotions for this org that we all loved. Love. 

At the center of the optimism for me is the relaunch of the Techstars program in Boulder I’m thrilled to share that we’ve found that leader: Shay Har-Noy is joining as Managing Partner of Techstars Boulder.

Shay (pronounced shy, but he’s definitely not shy) has raised capital, built teams from scratch, scaled products to millions of users, and experienced both the highs and lows of startup life. As Managing Partner of Techstars Boulder, he’s focused on helping founders navigate those same challenges — from finding product–market fit to building resilient teams to scaling without losing their edge. He brings both deep operating experience and strong ties across the startup ecosystem, here in Colorado and globally.

Most importantly, Shay is deeply aligned with our mission to keep Techstars rooted in this community while evolving it for what founders need today. He believes, as we do, that when incentives are aligned locally, we can spin the flywheel of growth and opportunity for the next generation of Colorado startups.

You will see a lot of Shay in the coming weeks, months, and years. Please help me welcome him to the role. Wrap your arms around him. Ask him “how can I help” and support him as he works to build an accelerator and community that reflects the best of Colorado’s startup spirit.  

This is just the beginning, and we’ll have more to share soon. In the meantime, if you’re interested in getting involved as a mentor, investor, sponsor, or member of our future space, sign up here.

Next week is Boulder Startup Week!

Nicole GlarosLeave a comment

May 13th kicks off the 15th annual Boulder Startup Week 2024 – a volunteer-organized weeklong celebration and conference for startups in Colorado. It’s a free event (thanks to all the generous sponsors), with over a hundred sessions for every topic important to startups, and is designed to include anyone who wants to participate, while engaging the entire entrepreneurial stack.

Almost everyone I know in Boulder will be participating in some fashion, whether it’s presenting, attending, hosting, or sponsoring. The energy around town is palpable! There is a ton of great content, something for everyone so make sure you look through the whole schedule, and if you don’t see something that suits you, just come hang out. Serendipity is a powerful force when you put yourself in it’s flow.

I’m hosting 2 events and on 2 panels, so come find me:

Monday 5/13 @ 11am – Fundraising: Tailoring the Ask (a panel)
Monday 5/13 @ 1pm – Time Mastery for Founders & CEOs – a workshop I’m hosting
Friday 5/17 @ 10am – Startup Boards – How to form and get the most out of them (a panel)
Friday 5/17 @ 4pm – Welcome To Boulder Happy Hour – for people new to Boulder or to the tech scene – it’s our monthly happy hour just for Boulder Startup Week.

And on the unofficial schedule (and shameless plug), on Friday after the happy hour, we’ll head over to the St. Julien at 6pm for a free concert by Peak2Peak – my husband’s band who does mostly Grateful Dead covers. Hula hoops and tie-dyes welcome, live music for the win!

A reinvention of Techstars

Nicole Glaros2 Comments

For the past 48 hours, I’ve been fielding texts, calls, emails, and mentions, non-stop, due to the post from Techstars about Techstars 2.0, the closing of the Boulder accelerator program and others in key cities, and the shifting of the HQ to NYC from Boulder.

Techstars has been slowly changing and adapting over the years, and yes of course some of that makes me sad. Many of the best moments of my career and life were in the magical early years there. Techstars has been such a gift, not just to me, but to all the early communities.  

We all bonded not just over the mission of the company, but over its values.  We lived, ate, and breathed the values of the company – and what made Techstars so remarkable was we believed we could not only create shareholder value, but instill VALUES alongside it.  Everyone close to the company, alumni and employees alike, they still carry those values and work to uphold them personally. And it’s why I believe the reaction to the news has been so strong!

But Techstars needs to evolve, it needs to iterate, it needs to reinvent itself because what works on a local community level is very difficult, dare I say impossible, to pull off on a global scale.  The values haven’t changed, but how they execute them has to.

I say this as I think about my daughter who is turning 14 shortly, and is one of the reasons I left Techstars back in 2022; I wanted to spend more time with her before she leaves for college. When she leaves, I will be indescribably sad, unbelievably nostalgic, but also incredibly proud of her as I watch her reinvent herself, as I watch her evolve and grow. She’s going to leave ‘home’ in search of her next chapter, but her roots will always remain here in Boulder, here with me.  And when she leaves, it’s then time for me and my husband to reinvent ourselves too.  For everything, there is a season.

So go Techstars, go reinvent yourself, go create the 2.0 version that kicks the 1.0 version’s ass.  Thank you for all you’ve given us, for showing us what’s possible, and for paving the way.  Please keep spreading those values far and wide, and remember always where you came from.

And for all the communities that feel vacant now – it’s a chance for us to reinvent ourselves too. We can reignite that entrepreneurial spirit that’s true to our communities and not in service of anything else.  We’re already working on it in Boulder.  

Free Event Series at Techstars: 8 weeks of awesome events for Techstars Boulder

Nicole Glaros3 Comments

Applications for Techstars in Boulder are open, and to celebrate, we’re hosting a cadre of events that are valuable and full of tactics for your startup. We love helping entrepreneurs, so it’s free and open to the public. Last year, we called it 7 Weeks of Awesome, and we got such a positive response, we decided to do it again, but more awesome! This year, it’s 8 Weeks of Awesome, every Tuesday for 8 weeks @ Techstars in Boulder. Please RSVP below.

Here is the 8 Weeks of Awesome Schedule:

Tuesday 1/20 @ 4:30 – The Art of Selling with Howard Diamond

Tuesday 1/27 @ 4:30 – 20 Ways to Screw Up Your Company with Jason Mendelson 

Tuesday 2/3 @ 4:30 – Finding Funding with David Cohen

Tuesday 2/10 @ 4:30 – Techstars Open House!!!!!

Tuesday 2/17 @ 4:30 – Building Company Culture with Dr. Natalie Baumgartner

Tuesday 2/24 @ 4:30 – CoFounder Dating with Techstars and CoFounders Lab

Tuesday 3/3 @ 4:30 – The Keys to VCs with Mark Solon

Tuesday 3/10 @ 4:30 – How to Pitch, with Nicole Glaros   (also a CU New Venture Challenge workshop)

Applications for Techstars Boulder open January 5th and final deadline is March 15th!  Why should you apply early?  If you haven’t done so already, apply today for Techstars!

How to get into TechStars…

Nicole GlarosLeave a comment

techstarsbadgeSo I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve accepted the role of GM for TechStars Boulder this summer! I’ve been at it for 3 weeks now and I’m having a blast. The one question I keep getting is ‘How do we beat all the competition and get into TechStars?’. While I’m truly new to the program, I think I can share a little insight about what gets everyone excited.

1. The Team: If there are 2-4 of you, and you’re all rockstars, we get excited. Rockstars know how to execute. They’re bright, driven, creative, and have accomplish tons in a short period of time on this and/or past projects.

2. Hunger: Your team has to really want this – and communicate that with us. Walk the line of annoying. Just saying you want it doesn’t count, you have to show us by working your ass off to hit your milestones.

3. Idea: You’ve come up with something innovative, new, & exciting. While a good team will always trump a good idea, the combo is thrilling.

4. You listen: TechStars is a mentor-driven program. We try to surround you by the best and brightest to help accelerate your company. You have to know how to listen to input (sometimes negative), sort through the noise, and execute quickly on the best advice.

5. You Execute: I’ve said this in almost all of the above points too, but thought it imperative to call it out on its own. Millions of people have hundreds of good ideas. It’s not the good idea – it’s the ability to execute on a good idea that makes all the difference. Hell you can execute on a bad idea and that’s better than not executing at all. Learn how to get stuff done quickly, cheaply, and effectively and you’ll not only go far at TechStars, but whatever you do in life.

If you haven’t applied yet, you better hurry! Deadline is March 21st!