Thursday, November 11, 2010

TechStars' Geographical Advantage Over Y Combinator

Image representing TechStars as depicted in Cr...Image via CrunchBase
TechCrunch: TechStars Launches Ten New Startups In Seattle: six of the first twenty companies to go through the program have been acquired by larger companies, and about 70% of its companies have been funded and/or are now profitable.
Y Combinator is in the Valley. Y Combinator has done something remarkable. I think Y Combinator is the reason we have a new species in town: the super angel. But Y Combinator is in the Valley. Being in the Valley, in the Valley alone is a disadvantage. People don't buy servers anymore. They have Amazon web services. Times have changed. Some of the best programmers I know are self taught people. All the material you need to teach yourself programming is available online for free. And so the idea that you have to be in the Valley to be part of the action, well, that is passe.

TechStars is a few different places, New York among them.

The news though for me is that I was in a BBC article early this year; in the same BBC article as Paul Graham - the Y Combinator guy - and Brad Feld - the TechStars dude. So, you know, I have a soft spot for both Y Combinator and TechStars. I have never interacted with Graham, but I have exchanged a few
Image representing Y Combinator as depicted in...Image via CrunchBase emails with Feld. He is a force of a man.

Paul Graham, Brad Feld, Me, BBC
Me @ BBC

Brad Feld is action oriented. This Colorado hippy perhaps knows that of all states in the US, Colorado is the most Nepal like. Denver has that Kathmandu feel to it. Brad Feld is a different kind of VC. He stands out.

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