Startup advice from David Brown, Techstars founder

Great interview with David Brown  @dbrown  Founder and Managing Partner of Techstars @techstars.  A global ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to market wherever they choose to build their business.

How was the last 12 months for techstars?

Lots of good steady growth. We’ve added a number of new accelerator programs and recently added Startup Weekend, Startup Week, Startup Next and Startup Digest to the Techstars family through our acquisition of UP Global.

What are you most happy about?

I’m happy about a lot of things, but I love my job because I get to work with really smart entrepreneurs who are changing the world.

Anything you would do differently if you could?

It’s just not in my nature to look back. I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes, we all have. I just view life as moving forward and figuring out how to change the future, not the past.

Where do you hope to be in next 1 – 3 years with Techstars?

Continuing to serve even more entrepreneurs all around the world.

I’ve watched a season of the techstars TV show, it’s great. Enjoyed it, is this an ongoing activity, or does it get in the way of good startup development?

That show was from a few years ago. I think it was great because it gave people a flavor of what happens inside of Techstars, but it’s a lot of work and a bit of a distraction and not something we necessarily plan on doing on a regular basis.

In June we interviewed Jon Bradford, from UK Techstars, great guy, hyper connected – how do the UK & USA versions work / collaborate or not at all?

We have 18 programs, 14 in the US and 4 in Europe and collaboration between all of them is very high. We get together a number of times a year to make sure that we stay connected and learn from each other. Those connections are what make the Techstars network so powerful.

What tips would you give to people trying to get onto Techstars?

Be yourself. There is no magic formula to get into Techstars, but we invest primarily in people. So, if you are awesome, you should apply.

And then once accepted, what tips to make a success of their time with you?

Go with the flow. It’s a lot of work and it’s easy to get distracted or worried about what you aren’t doing. If you show up and are willing to put in some hours, you’ll get a lot out of it.

Do you come over to the Dublin Web Summit, if so how did you find it / if not, any plans to do so?

Lot’s of folks from Techstars have attended, but I have not made it over. I hope to soon, though.

What tech do you wish was already invented and available to make your life easier?

As someone who travels all the time, teleportation is the safe answer. It would be great to visit more entrepreneurs all around the world.

Life / work, online / offline, what are your strategies for managing it?

I work hard all day, but spend evenings and weekends with my family. I unplug as much as I can – for instance I just took a 3 week vacation completely offline. It was great!