I take these decisions very seriously – and for those that were not selected for this next class – know that I love what you’re doing, I think you have what it takes.   I deeply and sincerely thank you for your time and energy.  And my best outcome for you (other than landing in another TechStars program!) is that you kick total ass and prove my decision wrong.

While this should be a joyous day for me… looking forward to what the future holds… today I’m going to just be sad and disappointed for a while.

We have a rule around TechStars, that when meeting candidates, the meetings would get better and better.  And with Eugene, he just continued to impress with each additional meeting.  His passion for the space is undeniable.  His insight into the market is envious.  His energy and enthusiasm are inexhaustible.  I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to work with him and learn from him.

I’ll still remain in NYC for this next program, working alongside Eugene as he gets up to speed on the TechStars way.  So those joining us for this next program will have TWO managing directors (plus David Cohen will be there for a month, and Brad Feld is spending a whole week with us as well).

But watch out NYC, he’s a hugger! (I’m from Boulder, we hug trees.  Eugene hugs founders.  It’s great)

Welcome Eugene!

If you’re an established company, consider joining and supporting this good cause.  If you’re an individual developer, membership is free.  Join us!

If you want to watch a video of me talking with the good folks over there about accelerators like TechStars – go here.

Don’t worry!  If you didn’t get an invite, it’s not a cut.  It was simply a reflection of how much time and mentors we had at the event – I wanted to make sure we connected with each team there.

Anyhoo – we’re down to the last week for applications, and if you’re looking to get into TechStars, (or any program really), we’ve put together a SkillShare class.

For those in the NYC area, come in person!  It’s this Tuesday, Jan 15th at 530pm. For those that can’t be there in person, we’re attempting to livestream it (and there will be a recording of it on SkillShare).  It’s $5 to attend, but we don’t keep any of it.  100% goes to HackNY.

Click here to learn more and to enroll.

Early application deadline for TechStars NYC is tonight at 11:59:59 ET.  I’ve complied an awesome list of reasons why you should apply TODAY and not wait until the final deadline.

TechStars for a Day Opportunity!
Applying by tonight makes you eligible for a TechStars for a Day invite.  TS4AD is a 3 hour min-camp, featuring a handful of awesome speakers, alumni, and mentors.  It lets you get a small glimpse of what TechStars is really like, hopefully you’ll walk away with great feedback on what you’re doing, new ideas on how to think about things, and maybe even a contact or two.  This year’s TS4AD features some amazing people including Ben Lerer, Joel Spolsky, Patrick Keane, David Cohen, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Jay Levy, David Tisch, Ben Siscovick, me, and more.  It’s a power-packed few hours, designed to add value to your startup and let us get to know you better.

I need time to get to know you
The earlier you apply, the more time I can spend on your application, watching your videos, perusing your website, playing with the demo, etc.  25% of our applications come in the last day – and if you do the math, there’s no way humanly possible I can get through them all with any sort of quality.  I end up skimming and skipping – and that’s just not how you want me interacting with your application.

You need time to prove what you’re capable of
If you’re paying attention, you know that an awesome team is our #1 criteria.  One of the critical aspects of the team is selecting a team that knows how to execute like mad.  Execute Execute Execute!  If you apply early, you can prove to us how quickly you can execute.  I remember working with the founders at Orbotix, before they had even conceptualized Sphero.  Every day, they’d show me a new device they built to show off their talents.  So go thee and execute – get your alpha launched, get users, improve your design – show me that you can build this thing you say you can build.  Pro:tip – A little used feature of the application is the ‘update’ capability.  Simply by sending an email to appupdates at notes.accelerato.rs from the email that was used to create the application, you can update it with any progress you’ve made.  I go in frequently and look for which applications have been updated with great stuff.

So stop reading this blog post and get your damn application in already!  http://apply.techstars.com

This week’s application tip comes near and dear to my heart.  The Team.

We put a heavy emphasis on team.  In fact, we like to say that we look for 5 things in an application:

1. Team
2. Team
3. Team
4. Market
5. Idea

So, spend some time crafting an AMAZING team section.  I’m looking for telltale signs that you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you and your co-founders are capable of weathering storms together, and you have a demonstrable ability to execute.  (either on this idea, or on past projects).  I’m also looking for roles in the company, so I can see who does what and where the holes are.

Here is a checklist of stuff you can include to highlight how awesome your bad-ass self is:

• Your full name, role in the company, and links to linked-in, twitter, and github.  If you’re a coder and you’re not on Github, WTF?
• Highlight why you’re working on this company.  What was the inspiration?  Keep it short!
• How you met your cofounders.  Keep it short!
• Highlight any accomplishments in the past.  Successful exit?  Say so!  Won the chess championship in high school?  Awesome!  Tell me!  Big failure?  Awesome, tell me (huge learning here).  Started coding when you were 6?  Cool!  This can be in bulletpoint format (read, I prefer bulletpoints!).  I’m just trying to get a sense of who you are and what you’re capable of doing.  Totally cool if you have a lot of bulletpoints.  If you don’t have a lot of bulletpoints, then I can’t really get to know you and might even erroneously make the assumption that you haven’t done anything with your life yet.

“But Nicole!”, you might ask.  ”What if I’m a single founder?”  Single founders are a very rare breed in the TechStars eco-system.  We have funded single founders in the past, but it’s really tough on them in the program.  The program moves 1000MPH and its often too much for even 2 people to manage, much less 1.  BUT, we have funded single founders in the past that an execute like a madman (or madwoman).  So just talk to me about your history, show me you can build stuff, fast, and I’m interested.

Also – use the team video!  Keep it short, like to < 1 minute.  Just sit yourselves down in front of your webcam or smartphone, and shoot.  No need for production quality.  But please, show me some personality.  Sing, dance, beatbox, be creative… Just standing there and telling me what you’ve done in the past isn’t the most fun way to pass the time (especially when I’m on application #782).

For those astute readers, you’ll notice how many times I’ve alluded to brevity.  Efficiency of words and video goes a long way for me.  The shorter it is, the more likely I am to read the whole thing instead of just scanning it.

Early application deadline (to qualify for TechStars for a Day in NYC) is Jan 4th, that’s in just 2 days!  Don’t procrastinate and apply now.

This year, I get to do that in spades.  I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been invited and have accepted a board role at the Entrepreneur’s Foundation of Colorado.

The premise behind EFCO is simple – donate 1% of your startup’s equity to EFCO.   If your company is ultimately successful, that 1% can go to support the charity of your choice.  It’s a great way to make a commitment of support to the very community in which you live and work.  There’s no cash component today – only if you’re successful tomorrow.  And it instills a culture of giving within your company.  The only way we’re going to make our communities better is by standing up and doing something about it, not by waiting for handouts or for things to improve.

If you have questions about EFCO or are interested in joining these awesome startups in contributing, reach out.  I’ll help you get set up.

So here are some tips to make sure creating a video is time well spent.

1.  Do it in < 1 minute.
Last year, I read over 1200 applications in about 10 weeks, most of those coming in the last day or two.  Most of those applications had videos, many of them had two videos (the team video and the business video).  So do the math with me.  Let’s say there was a total of 1500 videos in total that I had to watch (I’m probably not off by a ton).  And each video averaged 2.5 minutes (some were 15 minutes or longer! very few were less than 2 minutes).  That’s 3,750 minutes of videos, more than 60 HOURS of videos… and that’s just watching the video, it’s not reading the app.  If you’re video is longer than 1 min, I probably won’t watch the whole thing.  I’ll skip around trying to find the good part.  Or if its longer than about 2.5 min, I probably won’t watch ANY of it.  It’s just takes too long to load and it will be impossible for me to find the good part.

How long do TV commercials last?  30 seconds.  They get only 30 seconds to convince you to buy the product.  Treat your video(s) like a commercial. 

2.  Demo your product!  There’s no better way to communicate the value of what you do better than a demo.  And 1 minute is perfectly long enough for a good demo.  Use the biz video to demo.  Don’t worry about login/password… just dive right into the good stuff.  I see lots of people use Presi and similar type applications to highlight what their idea is.  And that’s okay if you don’t have a product yet.  But if you do have something to show, DEMO IT.

3.  Be creative.  Use humor, or at least show some personality.  Be bacon, not white bread.  I watch a lot of videos.  Entertain me.  It helps when I’m on my 900th video and my eyes are crossing.  You don’t need humor to have a good video, but it’s amazing how much more I like a candidate when they make me laugh or show me some personality.  I’m a sucker for creativity.  Plus, it shows me you can think creatively, which is critical for entrepreneurs.

4.  Keep it simple.  Know what a really well produced video tells me?  That you’re a FinalCut Pro ninja, NOT that you have a great startup.  Don’t worry about all the fancy production quality stuff – in fact, it’s the wrong place to spend your time.  Just stand in front of your webcam or use your smartphone.  I’d rather see you spend your time executing, getting traction, and proving out the value.  Keep your video simple and easy and save the hard stuff for executing on your startup.

5.  Include the password!  I can’t tell you how many times I get a video that’s password protected, but the applicant didn’t include the password.  I’m probably not going to email you for it either, I’m just going to skip it (see tip #1 above at how many videos I have to watch).

‘Till next week when we’ll cover The Team section…

Built by students, for students.  Great job to the CSUAC and AECU!

*********************************************

Dear Founders and Friends,

As students at CU Boulder, we have noticed that there are many startups that would love hire more interns and full time employees from the university, and lots of students would love to work at a startup. However, there seems to be a disconnect between the two.

We would like to fix this issue. We have created a simple form to get a better idea of the positions available for students at startups that we would greatly appreciate if you could fill out:

I’d like to hire some CU Students!

The data from this form will be used for two things:

1) To help start an online startup jobs and internships board for students that we are currently building. 

I thought I’d spend a little brain cycles here talking about my thoughts on this.  My disclaimer is that I’m talking about gross generalizations based mostly on my empirical experience working with and investing in both men and women, and also pulling from my own experience as a female, with 2 small children (11 months and 2.5 years!).  There are exceptions to every generalization.

First of all, a great study called Women at the Wheel came out showing that having women in C level roles or on your Board of Directors make for more profitable companies and better returns for investors.  I love this study, because if anything is going to move the needle for women, it’s this.  Show the industry how ANYTHING positively impacts the bottom line, and needles will be moved.  The results of this study aren’t surprising to me.  There are many reasons I think women make great executives and entrepreneurs.  They include:

• Women tent to be less risk tolerant than men.  They’ll hedge their bets, create Plans B and C, thus will generally be more prepared when things go wrong.  They’ll step cautiously before making a risky decision and weigh all the options, instead of just charging head-long into it.  So having a mix of men and women making decisions is a great idea – it allows for a more robust plan of attack.
• As a Part B to “women are less risk tolerant” – that means they’re more conservative.  More conservative with their financial projections, more conservative with performance projections.  This leads to many more pleasant surprises when things are going well, and fewer disappointments when they aren’t.
• Women tend to be less afraid to ask for help and openly discuss their limitations.  I love this approach because if things are going wrong, or you suck at something, and I don’t know about it, I can’t help you fix it.  Asking for help and being openly honest about your limitations means stronger companies.
• Women tend to be monster executors and are often more capable of multi-tasking.  I think this is critical to a CEO skill set.  I’d argue that women who have kids are particularly well suited for this role.  If you have kids, you know how to keep multiple balls in the air simultaneously with a watchful eye on all of them, know how to get stuff done quickly and efficiently, and know how to put out fires and remain calm when the shit hits the fan.  As a mom, it happens daily, no – hourly.
• Because they are generally less ego driven, they’re more about boosting the morale of their team and giving credit to them for things.  I hear “we” much more often than I hear “I”.  They tend to care deeply about their teams and work really hard to ensure their happiness.
• Interestingly, they tend to undervalue their contributions and work.  This is good news/bad news.  Good news for the investor b/c they won’t have the same salary demands, won’t ask for as high of company valuations, and won’t negotiate as hard.  Investors can get more of the company for less money which means higher returns.  This is clearly bad though for the woman, a weakness we all have to work on.

Some of the negatives about women CEOs

• Women have babies and are chemically/hormonally oriented around this.  My husband stays at home with our 2 kids.  And when our kids were born, my mom basically lived with us to help care for the infants while I worked.  I figured I wouldn’t ever worry about them because I pretty much had it as good as it gets.  But that wasn’t true.  Women are chemically tied to their children.  When they’re sick or sad, I’m STILL the first one to call the doctor and sit by their side and fret about medicines and dosage and temperatures and everything else.  My husband doesn’t worry about it – he says “yep, they’re sick!” While I’m going through every disease and symptom and possibility in my head and calling the doctor 15 times.  I’ll put everything, EVERYTHING on hold when my kids aren’t well, physically or emotionally.  But flexible workplaces with teams to compensate for family needs don’t just benefit women with kids, they benefit the men too and make for stronger families at home.  And the benefits of having a women CEO far outweigh this one challenge.  This is what it is.  Companies need to just embrace it.
• Because women are generally more conservative, they tend to think smaller.  I know lots of men that dreamed of being a superhero and saving the world (or destroying it) when they were children.  Most girls don’t think that way.  But having an amazing Board of Directors in place can counteract this.
• I think women have a harder time letting a bad apple in the company go.  They’ll work really hard to make things right for that person at the expense of the company.  Sometimes, you just need to fire the bad apple and move on.
• I think generally women aren’t great negotiators.  We think that the world is a just and fair place, that we get what we deserve.  We won’t fight hard for salaries because we think we’re being paid what we deserve.  I heard a great analogy to this – that women are compensated for their performance and men are compensated for their potential.  If this is true, I don’t fault men for this – its women’s fault b/c we don’t fight for it.
• We tend to be more apologetic, more self-conscious, and less risky than our male counterparts.

Alrighty then, now that I’ve convinced you to put more women in executive and board seats of your company, the key becomes HOW.

1. First of all, support sport programs for young girls.  Did you know that 80% of all women CEOs in Fortune 500 companies were athletes?  I LOVE this statistic.  I don’t know if its because they have more confidence or are more competitive or are used to performance/working hard/kicking ass…  but who cares.  Let’s help create a pipeline of strong young girls who grow up to be capable, strong women.  Added bonus is that they’re probably less susceptible to violence at home, early pregnancies, and all the other things that can create a vicious cycle.
2. Secondly, support STEM and specifically girls in STEM programs.  Along these lines – support NCWIT.  It’s a great national program based out of Boulder that works across the country to increase girls involvement in STEM type activities.
3. Give a woman a chance, but be supportive of her there.  Hire her as CEO even if she doesn’t have CEO experience.  Put her on the Board even if she doesn’t have board experience.  Put resources around her to ensure her success.
4. Give a ton of visibility to those women who are in the executive roles in your organization.  They make great role models for other women and will be a great example for other companies that don’t have a lot of women represented.  Highlight them in blog posts and newspaper/magazine articles and TV shows, invite them to be keynote speakers. Most women I know aren’t great self-promoters, so they won’t do this naturally on their own.
5. Create a culture of flexibility in the workplace to ensure women that are also moms are comfortable taking executive rolls.  A woman shouldn’t have to decide between a title and her kids.
6. Hire women that have been out of the workforce for a while b/c they’ve been raising kids.  Train them.  Put resources into them and support them.  It isn’t a negative that their last “job” was 10 years ago.  I’ve hired 4 women in my life that had been out of the workforce for between 5-10 years.  They were, hands down, some of the best hires I ever made.  They were monster executors, humble, eager to learn and prove themselves, amazing multi-taskers, could handle crisis with ease, didn’t have ego….  They were all rising stars.  And I’d be willing to bet that raising kids is much harder than whatever job you’re hiring them for.
7. Be a mentor to an awesome woman.  Women need encouragement and support, from both men AND women.  So support  your local badass lady and help get her to the top.