TechStars Cloud launches its inaugural program in January and the application deadline is looming. If you’re thinking about applying or just want to know more about the program, tune into the live stream coverage of TechStars for a Day on November 5th from 12:00 – 5:00 CT here. Alumni and mentors will host a question and answer session as well as divulge their own personal experience building cloud infrastructure. Recently, TechStars increased their funding for each company by $100K. With this foundation and the best mentors in the space, the three month program promises a huge delivery. Apply by November 7th to be considered.

Today, it was announced that Techstars has raised a fund to provide $100,000 to each of its startups.  This is awesome news for both participants in the program as well as the Techstars Network, in general.

As a complete non sequitur, I had a lot of fun last year making an Xtranormal Video that portrayed my good friend and partner Brad Feld as nothing more than a huckster for his book, Do More Faster. Coming off of that, I was inspired to make a video of my own, I’m a VC which proves that I’m nothing more than a huckster for my (and Brad’s) book Venture Deals, Be Smarter than your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist.

So what do these two seemingly unconnected stories have in common?  Simple, I like to have fun with videos and figured it was time to turn my sights on Techstars.  So here is my Xtranormal “homage” to the Techstars Network.  Congrats guys!

Techstars Network
by: mendelja

One of the questions that I’m asked the most is “how do I find a business partner in Boulder?”  I always liken it to dating – it’s really not that much different.  Thanks to the hard work of Tracy DeCicco, we now have a founder matching event in Boulder. Here are the details:

Come Meet Your Match at the first-ever FounderMatch event!

The event will be held on Wed., Nov. 3, from 6-9pm, at the TechStars Bunker in Boulder.

· Do you have an idea but need a partner(s) to help get it off the ground?

· Do you have a strong desire to form a startup but don’t necessarily have an idea?

· Do you want to hear awesome startup ideas and brainstorm with like-minded people?

If you answered yes to any of the above, check out the first FounderMatch event.  Signup is through our partner site, startupSQUARE.com.

To signup, go to STARTUPSQUARE.COM/foundermatch

BE SURE TO COMPLETELY FILL OUT THE PROFILE INFORMATION ON THE SITE!

We’ll need to understand your skills and interest areas to help you meet your match!

Space is limited so SIGNUP NOW to get in on the action!  Attendees will be selected to ensure balanced mix of people.

As with any good series, there are always good outtakes.  The TechStars Founders video series is no exception, either.  And yes, I do look like an idiot. 

Check it out. 

The Founders | Bloopers from Megan Leigh Sweeney on Vimeo.

The latest TechStars TV is out.  Not to be missed is David Cohen setting up the Everlater guys.  He completely convinced them that some cute girls thought that Nate and Natty were "rock stars."  Nice work, David, but I hear paybacks are a bitch.

As a P.S., check out Everlater’s launched site.

Episode 5 is live featuring yours truly, but even better Soul Patch as part of the soundtrack!

If you are curious about hat’s up during the first week of Techstars, here is a great video following three of the teams.  This year, there will be a video chronicling the entire journey of the Boulder version of the program. 

The teams featured are The Next Big Sound, Everlater and ReTel and their founders Alex White, David Hoffman, Samir Rayani, Natty Zola, Nate Abbott, Adam Rodnitzky, Scott Roberts and George Aspland.  Coincidentally, the first two teams are teams that I’m mentoring this summer. (That probably means that I should get a haircut as I’ll be in future segments).   Enjoy. 

Last year, one of the TechStars companies that I mentored was App-X.  They are a great team developing great products for private equity firms and their investors.

They’ve done a great job of building a robust software offering on the Salesforce platform and today announced a major release:  their Alternative Investment Management (AIM) solution is now available on the Force.com AppExchange. 

From their press release:

AIM centralizes institutional knowledge related to investment due diligence, portfolio management and fundraising activities, addressing the emerging transparency and regulatory issues facing this industry. In addition, AIM provides operational efficiencies around Limited Partner communications deal sourcing, portfolio management and general contact and activity management.

I’m really happy for them, as they’ve been working hard on this to support their always expanding roster of top-tiered clients.  Congrats!

Today is a good day for entrepreneurs seeking seed funding for their venture, because David has announced the creation of his new seed fund.

I’ve gotten to know David through my involvement in TechStars and besides money, David provides a wealth of experience and most importantly the wealth of being a good human being.

I’m really excited to be an investor in the fund and really looking forward to seeing him succeed and fund some great startups.

I’m very happy to report that Foodzie was selected as one of the Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs for 2009 by Business Week.

This is a huge accomplishment and more further proof that Techstars is really an amazing program. 

Congrats to Rob, Emily and Nik!  I suggest everyone celebrate by buying some great food on their site!