So we're going to talk with downtown Boulder Inc. to discuss possibly implementing our system
on Pearl Street.
We're testing out our visual recognition engine on some shops on Pearl Street.
We just threw together a demo.
Come on, please work.
Come on, come on, come on.
It takes a little...
Yes!
Okay, see you, see you, see you.
We're an early stage tech startup company here in Boulder.
Well, wouldn't it be awesome if there was a downtown Boulder application of some sort
where you could click on any of the businesses and immediately get back information about
them.
Nader came back from San Francisco to help us get ready for investor day.
A little sleep deprived, but it feels good to be back in it.
Every week we've got a one-on-one with David and Nicole and we just talk about whatever
our biggest issues are, just trying to nail down our pitch as well as we can.
I moved you guys in the last pitch practice room with it, that was the last time of five
to seven.
I think I feel like it was a big jump, so I thought it was good.
There you could click around a little and show me a few different screens so I can get
the beauty of the product.
Then what I think you can do is when you say we turn the circle of pain into the circle
of profit, give me back that money.
David's very direct, very honest, he doesn't pull any punches, which is just what you want
from feedback.
Today we have a visiting mentor, Howard Linsen, who's one of the founders of StockTwits.
He always talks about how it's important to turn work into play, to work hard and play
hard and have fun while you're doing it.
If you're not passionate about what you're doing, it's too much like work and not enough
like play.
I've invested in I think four or five tech-star companies, and I'm an investor in tech-stars
as well, so I helped pick some of you guys.
I was against four of you, I won't tell you.
Walk us through your filter process of what you look at when you're at the table, you're
going to invest.
We've heard lots of different philosophies.
As an investor, that's the hardest part.
I've built a reputation, and so you get pigeonholed, like I said, you get pigeonholed as a company,
you get pigeonholed as an investor, and maybe because it's 44 and I've raised hundreds
of millions of dollars for bad ideas and good ideas, is that it's very hard to say no,
but it's the most important thing that you learn to do is just to keep yourself focused.
So rent monitor.
What's your revenue model?
A monthly fee for use of the software, and then there will be transaction fees and fees
for credit reports.
Every year when we talk with the founders about fundraising, we always start with the
question, should you be doing it?
Bill Flagg and David Brown talked about bootstrapping as an alternative to raising money.
Focus I think was really, really important, and when I mentor some of the tech-star teams,
one of the things that often comes up as a topic of discussion is how hard it is to
say no, and figuring out when to say no.
We had a lot of fun at work, right, and I really, really believed to my core that that
was a huge part of our success.
We created some core beliefs in which we said, you know, we've got to create great products
and services is number one, but the second most important thing is to work really, really
hard at creating an environment that is fun.
This is the quarterfinal match of the tech-star's ping-pong invitation.
This one's going to be really intense.
These are the last two players, so we've been playing since 10 o'clock this morning.
The trophy changes hands tonight.
To be the 2010 champ after the 2009 champ of David Cohen, it feels pretty good.
Mentors are still coming into tech-star's even as we get near demo day.
We had Rob LaJesse visit from Rackspace.
Everybody, when they see my title, they ask me what the hell I do.
My title is Chief Disruption Officer.
The chairman of Rackspace, Graham Weston, gave me that title because when customers are in
pain or they have a complaint or we broke a promise or a process got broken, I'll do
anything I can for that customer's f***ing rules, they don't matter.
At tech-star's, one of the things that we always say to the founders is to try to focus
on what you're doing so that you can be the best in the world at that one thing.
It's much easier to grow from there than trying to boil the ocean.
So we still have a few mentors coming in right before investor day, and we're really looking
forward to seeing Lewis Gersh of Metamorphic VC in New York City.
The first part of this is, how and why is the VC market where it is today?
You can look at time spent and time wasted and how to be more efficient with what you're
doing and how to produce more with less.
It is far better than staying up later.
We're meeting Josh Frazier for lunch.
He is a former tech-star's from a couple years ago, and so he's going to give us some good
advice and feedback on what to do and what not to do.
It's fun.
It turns out that startup life is really tiring and really exhausting.
What would your advice be for the day after tech-star's?
The day after tech-star's, that's just really good beginning.
That's when it all starts.
Getting funded is just the beginning of everything.
You go out there and you get customers, you go and you make money, and you make lots of
mistakes and you learn as much as you can along the way.
For probably the past four or five days, Zach and I have been here to like three or four
every night working and coming back at night.
The summer has flown by, I can't believe it's almost over.
It's big because you've been talking to a lot of investors over the course of the summer.
All kind of roads lead to investor day.
Literally, we went from May to August like that.
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, you don't know.
If you're going to hit land, Emma, if you're just here for entertainment, there's a lot
of things.
It stands.
I have a little countdown calendar.
We've got five days, 21 hours, 39 minutes, 38, 37, 36 seconds left to investor day.
What sets you apart and what can you do for business?
Let me know, see you in a minute.
What are you doing?
I'm trying to get our balls to work.
So, this guy, this guy, I got Cameron in my face, I had to say.
Cut that.
It's four o'clock mountain time.
That's my thing.
Rock on.
Oh my God.
You don't need to see inside the force.
Wait, can you say that again and look at it?
Full sentence.
Full sentence.
Just sit there, boy, come on and raise your sound to get over here.
I'm going to make you tell me the truth.
