David Cohen

“Twilio is a great example of a company executing tremendously well on its vision and delivering a beautiful set of products that solves real problems.”

“People are starting companies at young ages. They fail fast, learn a lot, and keep going.”

“If you look at the history of innovation, the innovations coming through the defence department have been some of the most important innovations ever. Little things like drones, sensors, and the Internet of Things are defence-type initiatives, but the big one is the Internet itself.”

“I had done six or eight traditional angel investments and basically just thought it sucked.”

“I had to quit a 'real job' to start my first company.”

“Going public is one step in the life cycle of a company; it's not the last step.”

“Ultimately, even if you follow the advice of a mentor or board member, it's still your fault if they were wrong!”

“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.”

“We think of the Techstars product as not really the accelerator but the network. That's what entrepreneurs should be valuing here. I think it's the most undervalued thing that many entrepreneurs don't get.”

“I think the best developers can learn any language; if they are a good developer, they can learn whatever. But the raw talent, the ability to learn it and do it and demonstrate the ability is helpful.”

“Meetings with no goal, also known as 'coffee shop' meetings, can be huge time wasters if you're not efficient with them. 'Always know why you're meeting, and make sure it's important - try to keep them to 30 minutes, max.”

“In Boulder entrepreneurship circles, there is a genuine desire to see others succeed and a general belief that karma matters. There's a sense that together we're building something here, and that we're all a meaningful part of it.”

“Company naming is a key part of the branding process, but it's subject to contrasting tastes and an illiquid domain name market that results in startups wasting their time during the branding process.”

“There is no doubt that Boulder was a supportive and open-door community well before TechStars ever existed. But one of the things that I'm most proud of is that TechStars has provided a real focal point for this sort of activity and has brought attention to just how impactful one community can be when it works together.”

“I think entrepreneurs should demand transparency for startup accelerators.”

“When fundraising, your network is critical. Leveraging it early and often is the key. Don't make the mistake of waiting until you need money to engage sources of capital.”

“If you're not working on something you're passionate about, it's a long, hard road.”

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

“Self-knowledge is power.”

“Entrepreneurship transparency, I think, is important because there are so many problems that you just have to be real about them. There are so many ways for a startup to die, so the transparency attitude is key.”