Do More Faster India - Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup

Do you dream of taking your Indian startup to new heights? Turn that dream into a reality!David Cohen, cofounder and Managing Partner of Techstars, and Brad Feld, cofounder of Techstars and Managing Partner of Foundry Group, team up to focus on the rapidly expanding Indian marketplace, bringing their years of shared experience to entrepreneurs, investors, and community ecosystem developers.Do More Faster India educates readers on all the major areas of creating, developing, and supercharging a young startup with a focus on the nuances of the Indian market and how Techstars is fostering new business opportunities in India.Each chapter is written by a different mentor or founder involved with the Techstars program and provides a unique perspective on the seven themes at the core of the Techstars mission:* Ideas and Vision* People* Working Effectively* Product* Fundraising* Legal and Structure* Work and Life HarmonyWith a renewed focus on one of the most influential emerging markets in the world, Do More Faster India includes chapters written by Indian entrepreneurs and dedicated to India-specific topics and culture, as well as how Techstars fits into and serves the increasingly powerful Indian audience.

List of contents

Foreword xiiiPreface xvAbout Techstars xixForeword to Do More Faster India xxiiiDo More Faster India xxviiWhy Entrepreneurs in India Need Techstars xxixMentor-Backed Entrepreneurship in India xxxiiiLegal Tips for Indian Startups xxxviiIntroduction 1Chapter 1 Do More Faster 3David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 2 Do or Do Not; There is No Try 7Brad Feld, Foundry GroupTheme One: Idea and Vision 9Chapter 3 Trust Me, Your Idea is Worthless 13Tim Ferriss, 4-Hour WorkweekChapter 4 Start with Your Passion 17Kevin Mann, Graphic.lyChapter 5 Look for the Pain 21Isaac Saldana, SendGridChapter 6 Get Feedback Early 25Nate Abbott and Natty Zola, EverlaterChapter 7 Usage is Like Oxygen for Ideas 29Matt Mullenweg, WordPressChapter 8 Forget the Kitchen Sink 33David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 9 Find That One Thing They Love 37Darren Crystal, PhotobucketChapter 10 Don't Plan. Prototype! 39Greg Reinacker, NewsgatorChapter 11 You Never Need Another Original Idea 43Niel Robertson, TradaChapter 12 Get It Out There 45Sean Corbett, HaveMyShiftChapter 13 Avoid Tunnel Vision 49Bijan Sabet, Spark CapitalChapter 14 Focus 51Jared Polis, State of ColoradoChapter 15 Iterate Again 55Colin Angle, iRobotChapter 16 Fail Fast 59Alex White, Next Big SoundChapter 17 Pull the Plug When You Know It's Time 63Paul Berberian, Zenie BottleChapter 18 Love Doesn't Scale, or Does it? 67Nicole Glaros, TechstarsChapter 19 Reconciling Vision and Focus 71David Cohen, TechstarsTheme Two: People 73Chapter 20 Be Open to Randomness 75David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 21 Entrepreneurship is a Group Sport 79Mark O'Sullivan, VanillaChapter 22 Avoid Cofounder Conflict 83Dharmesh Shah, HubSpotChapter 23 Hire People Better than You 87Will HermanChapter 24 How to Find and Engage Mentors 91David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 25 Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly 99Matt Blumberg, Return PathChapter 26 If You Can Quit, You Should 103Laura Fitton, OnefortyChapter 27 Build a Balanced Team 107Alex White, Next Big SoundChapter 28 Startups Seek Friends 111Micah Baldwin, Graphic.lyChapter 29 Engage Great Mentors 115Emily Olson, FoodzieChapter 30 The Mentor Manifesto 119David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 31 Define Your Culture 123Greg Gottesman, Pioneer Square LabsChapter 32 Two Strikes and You Are Out 129Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 33 Karma Matters 133Warren Katz, MAK TechnologiesTheme Three: Working Effectively 137Chapter 34 Assume That You're Wrong 139Howard Diamond, Performance One MediaChapter 35 Make Decisions Quickly 143Ari Newman, FiltrboxChapter 36 It's Just Data 145Bill Warner, Avid TechnologiesChapter 37 Use Your Head, then Trust Your Gut 149Ryan McIntyre, Excite.comChapter 38 Progress Equals Validated Learning 153Eric Ries, Lean Startup MethodologyChapter 39 The Plural of Anecdote is Not Data 157Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 40 Don't Suck at Email 161David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 41 Use What's Free 165Jason Seats, TechstarsChapter 42 Be Tiny Until You Shouldn't Be 169Jeffrey Powers, OccipitalChapter 43 Don't Celebrate the Wrong Things 173Rob Johnson, EventVueChapter 44 Be Specific 179Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 45 Learn from Your Failures 181Fred Wilson, Union Square VenturesChapter 46 Quality over Quantity 183Andy Smith, DailyBurnChapter 47 Have a Bias Toward Action 187Ben Casnocha, Village GlobalTheme Four: Product 191Chapter 48 Don't Wait Until You Are Proud of Your Product 193Ajay Kulkarni and Andy Cheung, SensobiChapter 49 Find Your Whitespace 197Raj Aggarwal, LocalyticsChapter 50 Focus on What Matters 201Dick Costolo, TwitterChapter 51 Obsess over Metrics 203Dave McClureChapter 52 Avoid Distractions 205Andy Sack, Founder's Co-opChapter 53 Know Your Customer 209Bill Flagg, RegOnlineChapter 54 Beware the Big Companies 213Michael Zeisser, XO GroupChapter 55 Throw Things Away 215Eric Marcoullier, OneTrueFanChapter 56 Pivot 219Rob Hayes, First Round CapitalTheme Five: Fundraising 221Chapter 57 There's More than One Way to Raise Money 223Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 58 Beware of Angel Investors Who Aren't 227David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 59 Don't Forget about Bootstrapping 231David Brown, TechstarsChapter 60 You Don't Have to Raise Money 235Joe Aigboboh and Jesse Tevelow, PlayQChapter 61 Seed Investors Care about Three Things 239Jeff Clavier, Uncork CapitalChapter 62 Practice Like You Play 243Alex White, Next Big SoundChapter 63 If You Want Money, Ask for Advice 247Nicole Glaros, TechstarsChapter 64 Show, Don't Tell 251Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 65 Turn the Knife after You Stick It In 253David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 66 Don't Overoptimize on Valuations 257Kirk Holland, Access Venture PartnersChapter 67 Get Help with Your Term Sheet 261Jason Mendelson, Foundry GroupChapter 68 Focus on the First One-Third 265Brad Feld, Foundry GroupTheme Six: Legal and Structure 267Chapter 69 Choose the Right Company Structure 269Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 70 Form the Company Early 273Brad Bernthal, University of ColoradoChapter 71 Default to Delaware 277Jon Taylor, KOChapter 72 Lawyers Don't Have to Be Expensive 279Michael Platt, Cooley LLPChapter 73 Vesting is Good for You 283Jon Fox, Intense DebateChapter 74 Your Brother-in-Law is Probably Not the Right Corporate Lawyer 287Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 75 To 83(b) or Not to 83(b), There is No Question 291Matt Galligan, SocialthingTheme Seven: Work-Life Harmony 295Chapter 76 Discover Work-Life Harmony 297Brad Feld, Foundry GroupChapter 77 Practice Your Passion 301Eran Egozy, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyChapter 78 Follow Your Heart 305Mark Solon, TechstarsChapter 79 Turn Work into Play 309Howard Lindzon, StockTwitsChapter 80 Don't Make Yourself Indispensable 313David Cohen, TechstarsChapter 81 Get Out from Behind Your Computer 315Seth Levine, Foundry GroupChapter 82 Stay Healthy 319Andy Smith, DailyBurnChapter 83 Get Away from It All 323Amy Batchelor, Anchor Point FoundationConclusion 327Appendix 1: The Evolution of Techstars 331What Motivated Us to Start Techstars? 331Why Techstars Started in Boulder 334How Techstars Came to Boston 336How Techstars Came to Seattle 338So You Want to Start a Techstars Accelerator in Your Community or Company? 340Techstars in 2019 and Beyond 341Techstars Foundation: Increasing Diversity in Entrepreneurship 342Appendix 2: Original Edition's Foreword 345Appendix 3: Where are the Techstars Companies Now? 349About the Authors 355Acknowledgments 357Index 359

About the author

DAVID COHEN is the cofounder and Managing Partner of Techstars. He has founded several software and web technology companies, including Pinpoint Technologies, which was acquired by ZOLL Medical Corporation. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with the coolest girl he's ever met (his wife) and their children.

BRAD FELD is an early-stage investor, entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist. He is cofounder of Techstars and Foundry Group and is the author or co-author of eleven books including Venture Deals, Startup Communities, and The Startup Community Way. A tireless advocate of the Boulder Thesis, Brad mentors hundreds of entrepreneurs and community leaders in building vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Summary

Do you dream of taking your Indian startup to new heights? Turn that dream into a reality!

David Cohen, cofounder and Managing Partner of Techstars, and Brad Feld, cofounder of Techstars and Managing Partner of Foundry Group, team up to focus on the rapidly expanding Indian marketplace, bringing their years of shared experience to entrepreneurs, investors, and community ecosystem developers.

Do More Faster India educates readers on all the major areas of creating, developing, and supercharging a young startup with a focus on the nuances of the Indian market and how Techstars is fostering new business opportunities in India.

Each chapter is written by a different mentor or founder involved with the Techstars program and provides a unique perspective on the seven themes at the core of the Techstars mission:
* Ideas and Vision
* People
* Working Effectively
* Product
* Fundraising
* Legal and Structure
* Work and Life Harmony
With a renewed focus on one of the most influential emerging markets in the world, Do More Faster India includes chapters written by Indian entrepreneurs and dedicated to India-specific topics and culture, as well as how Techstars fits into and serves the increasingly powerful Indian audience.

Product details

• Authors: David Cohen, David G. Cohen, David G. Feld Cohen, Brad Feld
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2020
• EAN: 9781119699187
• ISBN: 978-1-119-69918-7
• No. of pages: 416
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Entrepreneurship, Small Business / Entrepreneurship