Prologue

100 Days of Techstars

It seems fitting that I write this after only two hours sleep. Hopefully the writing style will match the slightly manic and incoherent style of the rest of this book. It’s contents were, after all, usually written around midnight, after a 16 hour day, when I was exhausted.

You see, I was lucky enough to go to Techstars. Our company, Rainbird, was one of ten that went through the London 2014 Winter Techstars programme. Techstars is a thirteen week, mentor driven tech accelerator that takes early stage startups and attempts to cram two years growth, development and learning into three months. Think of it as a cross between startup boot camp, and The Masons for tech.

There’s actually very little information out there on what it’s like to be part of a Techstars programme. I mean what it’s really like. Not the broad strokes of a write-up after the fact, or a weekly blog. I know what happens to a company when it goes through an accelerator. What happens to the people?

Inspired by a comment made by John Bradford, the Managing Director of Techstars London, I decided to record my experience on a near daily basis. I omitted Saturdays, partly because there usually wasn’t a whole load to write about, but mainly so I wouldn’t feel obliged to write when I was with my family. I also appear to have missed one Sunday.

What follows is a blow by blow account of being at Techstars in diary format, warts and all. The only constraints were that what was written should not negatively affect Rainbird, Techstars or anyone involved in the programme. It is, after all, a very public record.

Some entries are tame because nothing much new happened during the day. Some are innocuous because I really couldn’t publish what I wanted to publish. And some posts are vague, because Techstars is a safe place. What goes on in Techstars stays in Techstars, and I need to respect that. Feel free to read between the lines.

This book is, by and large, unedited from it’s original form on the blog. I’ve made some minor typographical corrections, fixed some inaccuracies, and removed or edited some content that doesn’t work well in this format. I’ve also added extra footnotes where further comment would be useful. Otherwise it’s a near stream of consciousness account of what Techstars was like for me.

About The Author

Despite later events I am not the Dom Davis. He is, I believe, an American football player. It amuses me that during my more active periods online I have more Google juice than him. I am CTO and, by some definitions, co-founder, of a software startup and I am a Techstars Alumni. I believe I hold the distinction of being the first person to blog near daily during a Techstars programme, the result of which you’ll find in this book. I describe myself as a geek, pedant and sarcastic git. I’m also a rabid mac fanboy.

Oh, and I’m British, and attended Techstars in London. I’m aware some of my turns of phrase may not translate so well for readers from other countries. Just read it in an English accent and smile and nod at the bits you don’t understand.

Dramatis Personae

My Family

• Zo - My wife, who was pregnant and due a few weeks after Techstars finished
• Willow - Our daughter, who had just turned 3 when Techstars started

Rainbird

• Ben Taylor - CEO
• James Duez - Chairman
• Chris Wilkinson - Head of Professional Services, also my flatmate for the duration of our time in London
• Barry Mears - Head of Business Development
• Nathan Roberts - Senior Software Engineer

Techstars

• Jon Bradford - MD, Techstars London

Dates and Times

Each entry contains the date and time it was originally published. Quite often the date will be in the early hours of the following day so it sometimes seems there are two entries on some days and none on others.

My typical pattern was to write an entry and post it just before going to sleep. Since I woke up at 6am every week day (except where noted) you can actually track how much sleep I was getting during the week.

Entries for Friday and Sunday were typically written on the train, from home, or from the flat while watching TV. They were generally posted much earlier in the day.

Day 0: Next Stop London

Sunday, 9th November 2014 16:32

I’ve done enough research over the past few weeks to know there is a metric crapton of information on what Techstars is. Illegitimate child of YCombinator, huge international tech accelerator. Blah. Blah. Blah.

And yet there’s very little information on what it actually is - as in what does it really mean to be going on a three month boot camp with some of the best startups in the world? There are a couple of very interesting blogs which help give an idea, but I’m really not sure what to expect. I guess we’ll find out…

So yeah, I joined a startup and in, what… less than five months I’ve managed to hitch a ride to Techstars. I do know one thing: it’s going to be mental!

Last week we mothballed the Norwich office, sent our kit down to our new office space and prepared to say goodbye to our families. For the next three to four months we’re going to be living and working (and working, and working) London.

So what do we know at the moment? Well going to London isn’t a huge issue - we’re living and working in my old stomping ground. I can get the “essential”¹ parts of my life into a large suitcase, a gym bag and a rucksack (and I could have done away with the gym bag if I really had to) - really doesn’t seem enough. I know I’ve forgotten something, I just don’t know what yet. Oh, and explaining to a three year old that she won’t see me until next weekend isn’t easy²… especially since there are going to be much longer periods where she doesn’t see me.

Sad that I am to leave my family for so long I need to be pragmatic. I’ve done the Cromer-to-London weekend commute before and it’s punishing. Chuck in weekend engineering works, long work hours and the mountain of work that I know is coming my way and I can see me burnt out before Christmas - I am, after all, rapidly approaching 40.

So, next stop London… Well, technically the next stop is Salhouse, I’m just not getting off there; and I’ll be changing at Norwich - there’s a reason why I describe myself as a pedant.

Everything I need for three months… and some stuff I don’t. Doesn’t seem enough