Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup

TechStars, founded in Boulder, is the world’s number one Startup Accelerator. TechStars has demonstrated amazing success in accelerating startups by providing small amounts of seed capital combined with huge amounts of intellectual capital in the form of mentoring.  TechStars’ results are impressive.  Over 60 percent of startups in the programs make it through the precarious early stage phase.

Two of the founders, David Cohen (investor) and Brad Feld (venture capitalist) decided to share their thoughts from five years of TechStars Seed Accelerator program experiences and so they put together the book, Do More Faster, TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup. 

Do More Faster is a collection of short articles by Cohen, Feld and various mentors and startup founders that were participants in TechStars programs.  The short articles are based on the most common questions Brad and David were asked (repeatedly) by entrepreneurs.

The articles are grouped into seven themes, so it’s easy to read Do More Faster cover-to-cover, or to find your specific area of interest and dive in.  Among the themes are the common ones for startups:  Idea and Vision, Product, Fundraising and Legal and Structure.  A key theme that’s not usually covered well in startup books is People but this book does it well.  A critical issue in Do More Faster that’s rarely covered for startups is Work-Life Balance.

From the book, “Mastering the seven themes may not ensure success. But understanding the issues, reading the stories, and getting advice pertaining to these issues will increase your chances dramatically. And if nothing else, you’ll realize that you aren’t alone in facing these issues.”

Not every entrepreneur can qualify to participate in a TechStars 90-day mentoring program, but every entrepreneur can get a copy of the book and benefit from its in-the-trenches lessons. Owning a copy of Do More Faster is a smart move. Who knows, it may motivate you to apply to TechStars.  Two of my clients did just that!

Bottom line, Do More Faster is a must read for both startups and small businesses that want to grow, which is why Resonnect Recommends it.