Common Questions Anwsered

Since making the jump to Techstars I have had the amazing opportunity to chat with a wide variety of teams & entrepreneurs about our summer program. As you may expect there are several similar questions asked of us. While my answers evolve over time with more experience and consideration, I decided to put a few down.

What Makes a Good Entrepreneur/Team? There are three traits I always look for in people that I want to work with; willingness to Learn, ability to learn, and a great work ethic. From the leaders of a company to the hourly worker I have always found these three skills in the top performers I have worked with, for, and led. What you “know” at any given point in time is a far worse indicator of future success than your drive, willingness, and ability to learn.
How Far Along Do We Need To Be? The real answer is – it depends. I like to counter this questions with a question of my own. “How much have you done with the time & resources at your disposal?” The more you do with what you have the more impressed I will be. My goal is to find companies that when we add exponential resources, it will drive exponential results. What you have done with what you have is a great indicator of how you will do with more time, money, people, etc.
What Metrics Do You Look At? Every company is a bit different but make sure you know the KPI’s that really matter for your industry. Top & bottom line growth are obviously great indicators that you are on the right track and are pretty universal. That being said, if you do not yet have dollars coming in, focus on the KPI’s that will get you to that point and perhaps more importantly the plan you have in place to positively grow those key metrics. Do you have a feasible go-to-market plan? Does it make sense? Is it scalable? Past results and positive KPI trends are a great indicator of your ability to execute your plan & implement your processes. When you combine a well thought out plan with a great team you have a real shot at building a successful company.
What types of companies do you like? I am industry agnostic. Like everyone else I have personal interests and areas I know better than others. What I don’t like are companies that don’t address a significant pain point. Too many entrepreneurs think they have a great concept and start building & spending money without talking to potential customers! They then launch and realize they are not addressing a large enough problem and struggle to get traction. I, unfortunately, have been guilty of this in the past! When I hear an idea I immediately try and think of the problem the company is trying to solve. If I struggle with that or the entrepreneur struggles to pinpoint the problem for me it is a bad sign. The more proof you have that the pain point exists the better.

I’d recommend that any entrepreneur think through what their answers would be to these questions. The thought process alone could have a positive impact on how you hire, cultivate culture, fundraise, benchmark, etc.