David Cohen

Because Techstars is an intensely productive three-month program in which product development and iteration are primary goals, we're constantly looking to streamline our program to help entrepreneurs avoid recurring obstacles. ”

I'm most proud of helping so many others achieve their dreams as founders. ”

In the rare cases where I've had to cut a company loose, I just tell them why and wish them luck and hope they learn something from it. I don't spend more mental energy on it than I have to, and I try very hard not to hold a grudge or try to negatively affect them either. It's just done for me. ”

Quality and a great product matters, in startups, and in accelerators. ”

Aspiring entrepreneurs are often advised to work at a startup for a couple of years first, to understand what's involved. But often, each company's approach to success is very narrow. So my advice is, 'Just do it.' ”

The two big startup killers are when there's just no market for what you are doing, and team problems. ”

I think entrepreneurs should demand transparency for startup accelerators. ”

Techstars is truly global; you'll see us continue to expand all our programs worldwide, including accelerators, our venture capital, as well as the UP Global programs including Startup Weekend, Startup Next, Startup Digest, etc. ”

We believe that startups can be built anywhere. ”

My attitude is there are at least hundreds of interesting startups that are going to get going in every year. ”