Tag: venture capital

Joining Matchstick

Nicole Glaros7 Comments

I have some news.

After two years of soul-searching, experimentation, and saying no to everything, I’m finally saying yes. I’ve joined Natty Zola, Ryan Broshar, and Shannon Shroyer at Matchstick Ventures. Like a moth to the flame (pun!), I’m getting back into venture capital. 

That’s pretty much my news, short and sweet. However, I’ve had several people ask me how I’ve thought about this next chapter in my life (looking at you, Alex!) – so if you want to learn more about why Matchstick, and how I got here, keep reading.

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Exciting News for the Colorado Startup Ecosystem

Nicole Glaros9 Comments

Back in March, I wrote about the departure of Techstars Boulder, and on the back of the Foundry announcement, it became clear that we, as the Colorado startup community, needed to evolve and step up. For those of us who have been around a while, we remember what it was like in the early days – we knew how magical it was. People, whether representing themselves or representing different entities, got together to help the founders succeed. From mentors to law firms to CU to individuals to investors, we all participated.  We were small then and could fit into one room (hello Wolf Law!), everyone knew everyone else, and we often hung out socially and had a ton of fun together. But we all had one thing in common, we wanted to help startups succeed and believed that a rising tide raises all ships. 

But today isn’t like it was back then. Colorado is different. We are different. Those of us OGs are older now, there are awesome new people here, the startup ecosystem is bigger, and it needs to change and evolve. We, as a startup community, need to keep what made it magical but evolve to accommodate different times, markets, and talents.

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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!

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Go farther together

Nicole Glaros5 Comments

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

African Proverb

I’ve always loved this quote.

Last week, I kicked off a program for venture-backable early-stage founders in Colorado.  I have 14 CEOs participating in 2 groups that meet every other week for 3.5 hours for 6 months. This program was designed to help them go farther together and is an experiment I’m running to see whether or not the framework I’ve developed can help them move the needle on performance.

That’s 14 founders of startups who believed in what I’m trying to do, who signed up for an experiment that takes significant time and effort on their part, with no guaranteed outcome.  When I let myself think about it, it’s humbling, daunting even, and I feel so incredibly lucky and grateful to have pulled such a winning lotto ticket. 

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Venture Deals Course starts 2/22 – and it’s free

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Venture Deals book cover

If you’re an entrepreneur interested in raising venture capital, or maybe you’re an individual looking to get into venture capital, I cannot recommend this course enough. When I was learning venture, the book Venture Deals was my bible, and luckily I had the authors Jason & Brad to call as friends. Now it’s been turned into a free course thanks to the effort of the Kauffman Fellows and Techstars, and I was honored to be included as part of the team. 

The course starts on February 22nd, and it’s free – no strings attached.

Enroll here!

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Play to win, don’t play to not lose

Nicole Glaros6 Comments

I recently gave a talk to a room full of founder/CEOs about how to leverage your board of directors by shifting from a reporting board to a collaborative board.  It can be tricky, but for those who do it, the company and the founder can grow wings. Part of the shift involves trusting your board and bringing them into your confidence, being vulnerable with them, and asking for their help and input when things aren’t working.  This can be scary for most CEOs because the board usually has the power to remove him/her. However, if you have the right board members, and if you create the right dynamic at the board level, this usually won’t be the outcome.

One founder in the room raised his hand to challenge me. He said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “That’s a lot of ifs and usuallys. Why would I take that risk? If my board can fire me, why would I risk being fired and losing my company by admitting weakness and vulnerability?”

I love this founder for asking that question – it’s at the heart of why most CEO’s don’t go to their board with challenges.

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Navigating Your Startup Board of Directors: The Meeting – Part 4 of 4

Nicole Glaros1 Comment

This is the final part in a series on getting the most out of your startup board of directors. If you haven’t already, please read Part 1: The Framework, Part 2: The People, and Part 3: The Board Package.

Special shoutout to my friend Ari Newman, Managing Partner at Massive who served as an editor, contributor, and sounding board for this series.

You’ve come so far, my friend!  You’ve got yourself in the right headspace about how your board is your not-so-secret weapon, you have the right people on your board, you’ve established a highly functional, productive, and trusting relationship with them, plus you’ve created a killer board package.  Now it’s time for… dum dum dummmmm, the meeting. In all honesty, once you’ve done the above things well, the meeting is the easy part.

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Navigating Your Startup Board of Directors: The Documents – Part 3 of 4

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This is part 3 of a series around navigating your startup’s board of directors. It focuses on the board package, what documents and sections to include and how to organize it. If you haven’t yet done so, please read Part 1 – The Framework and Part 2 – The People.

Special shoutout to my friend Ari Newman, Managing Partner at Massive who served as an editor, contributor, and sounding board for this series.

How to put together a good board package is something I’m asked frequently, and I believe it doesn’t have to be hard if done right. If you’re thinking about your board like a reporting board, the documents will be harder and will be a significant effort and time lift for you and your executive team because you’ll be assembling them for the sheer purpose of the board meeting. But if you’re thinking about your board like a collaborative board, much of the docs can simply be an assembly of tools you’re already using across your company. 

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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!