You have Product Market Fit (PMF) if 40+% of your users would be 'very disappointed' if your service shut down tomorrow. Sean Ellis, who led growth at companies like Dropbox and LogMeIn, arrived at this insight after years of trying to define what Product Market fit looked like. You can read more about Sean's 'Product … Continue reading Look for ‘Despite Moments’ as you search for ‘Product Market Fit’
Startups
Discovering Art
Discovering the art of Programming, Presenting, Product and Investing
Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 4
Time is flying, mentor office hours is wrapped up and we ran a successful experiment by introducing a Retreat for all our companies and program staff on the outskirts of Berlin. (You can read more about Week 3 here) Monday - Mentors and Founder Story 100 Mentor Meetings today from 9 to 12.30 Christina Fonseca … Continue reading Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 4
Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 3
Following on from last week, we had 3 more days of mentor meetings and 2 great founder stories this week. Exhaustion is beginning to set in and people are all beginning to share their favourite meditation tips and apps. Monday - Mentors and CEO Meeting 100 Mentor Meetings today from 9 to 12.30 CEO Meeting … Continue reading Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 3
Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 2 – Mentor Meetings
Following on from Week 1 Orientation, this is where we start to introduce the companies to our mentor network. This year we have scheduled 800+ face-to-face mentor meetings over three weeks. Mentoring is so critical to Techstars that our whole accelerator model is ‘mentor-driven’. (I will write more about our Mentor process in a future … Continue reading Behind the scenes at Techstars – Week 2 – Mentor Meetings
How OKR’s help you succeed
Great companies and organisations are mission led. For example, at Techstars our mission is to help Entrepreneurs succeed. We use a performance management framework called ‘Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)’ to help us ensure we are all aligned to this mission. Whether it is OKR’s or another framework, most people in an organisation have some … Continue reading How OKR’s help you succeed
How to think about your network when it comes to startup success
Founders sometimes underestimate how a great network can help them succeed. In some cases, and in particular with deeply technical Founders with limited business experience, networking might seem like something that ’sales people’ did to gather business cards, travel around the world and enjoy long lunches at the companies expense. Not only is this wrong, but … Continue reading How to think about your network when it comes to startup success
Corporate Accelerators, this seasons must have accessory
It seems that EVERY corporate is now exploring, starting or investing in their own startup accelerator. For the last few months I’ve had too many ‘groundhog day’ conversations with corporates who ‘are thinking of opening a coworking space / startup accelerator’ and wondering ‘have you any advice?’ I politely smile and say "Yes - but … Continue reading Corporate Accelerators, this seasons must have accessory
It’s a small old world – Sacca, Suster and Conway
Some of my favourite stories end with the phrase 'its a small world'. Growing up in Ireland, you kind of take it for granted that everyone knows everyone. As you travel and work internationally you realise how wrong that is. However, sometimes you stumble across a story or two that makes you think... Here are some of my favourite 'small world' stories … Continue reading It’s a small old world – Sacca, Suster and Conway
Stop Delaying Your Most Important Job as Founder
First time founders are often guilty of outsourcing their sales responsibilities, but all too often, they are even more guilty of delaying selling in any capacity until it is too late. This delay often comes down to fear and that is why I’m constantly asking founders to test their sales hypothesis as soon as possible. … Continue reading Stop Delaying Your Most Important Job as Founder
Connor Murphy 