On a weekly basis, we get together with the companies and we check in to see that they’re making the progress they’ve committed to.
Deep dives are the times where you can open up and share what’s happening behind the scenes. This is one-on-one time with me where all the cards are on the table. You can share your professional and personal problems – we’ve invested not only in your company, but also you as a team. It is time for you to ask me anything, share any problems you’re having, big decisions you’ll need to make, huge successes, or help with fundraising. We want to help you think through your business, and how to take that forward.
These weekly meetings also help to keep you on track, making sure you’re not missing milestones or heading in the wrong direction. With frequent communication, we can identify early patterns and signals of heading off-course quickly and easily. I can’t stress enough how important they are, and how they shouldn’t be missed. Travelling for work, or away from Berlin for the week? We will chat via phone or video chat. We ask all founders to keep their scheduled time free and available – and in return, we try very hard to keep it at around the same time every week.
Deep dives are relatively standard across Techstars programs, but rare outside of the ecosystem because of their frequency – once you get to Series A, you’ll only meet with most of your shareholders at quarterly board meetings. Take advantage of this while you can!
