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!

Big news today- TechStars is coming to Boston!  As announced by TechCrunchs, TechStars is expanding outside of Boulder to include Boston. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the program, TechStars is a mentorship-driven entrepreneurship program.  In fact, I’ve been one of the mentors for the past two years.  The first company that I mentored, Socialthing! was successfully acquired by AOL.  My second summer, I mentored Ingnighter and App-X, one that raised a successful angel round and the other, being in revenue, not needing to raise money. 

The program has been very successful with 12 of the 20 companies that have been through the program being angel or venture backed. Two more left the program profitable.  Two companies, including the aforementioned Socialthing! have been acquired.

The investors and mentors in TechStars Boston are local entrepreneurs and investors.  The program in Boston is being run by Shawn Broderick, an established Boston-based entrepreneur. 

Applications are open NOW through March 21st. Apply now!

In case you haven’t heard, Techstars is now open for applications for this summer. 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Techstars, it’s one of the greatest business accelerators that I can think of.  Up to ten teams a year move to Boulder and get hands-on mentorship from a great group of people. 

Along with the $18,000 that comes with each accepted company, every team gets to meet with potential investors along the way for both feedback and networking for potential funding later.

I’m proud to say that the team I mentored in year one, socialthing! was ranked as the #2 M&A return for 2008 for Internet companies. 

My two teams this past year, Ignighter and App-X are both doing well, one having received seed funding and the other doing so well that they haven’t needed it. 

I’d encourage anyone with a great idea that wants to really move their concept to consider applying.

While I’m a little late to the party in delivering the news, I wanted to send a personal shout out to the Socialthing! team congratulating them on their acquisition by AOL.

When I met Matt, Ben, Brian and later Joel, I found out from David Cohen that I would be their mentor for the inaugural summer at TechStars.  My initial reaction was that I didn’t like their idea, their direction or their market, but told them that if they could change my mind, then they would be in great shape. 

Instead of pouting, Matt decided to prove me wrong.  He and the team did.  It was a great summer of 2007 meeting with them every week, dreaming about new features and figuring out how to make their idea a business.  Sometimes, I think they only listened to me for the free sushi, but that was okay too.   

Although the 2007 TechStars class graduated, we’ve stayed in close touch and it’s been great to see their progress.  I can think of no better reward than having lunch today with Matt and his family and was honored and happy to get to share part of the day with them. 

Congratulations to everyone.  Here’s to you, to staying in touch and to your future successes.