Reflections on My Experience As A Techstars Associate
Considering the program? Hopefully this post provides some clarity as to what it’s all about.
When I was interviewing for the Techstars Growth Associate role, I was referred to a series of Medium articles written by former Associates that detailed their experiences and offered advice for those considering the role. Seeing as how helpful I found those articles to be, I thought it was only fitting to pay it forward with one of my own.
Now, the first caveat I’d mention is that I was a Growth Associate during a batch that ran entirely virtually, so comparing my experience to those of others may not entirely be apples-to-apples. That being said, Techstars runs a variety of batches throughout the year and across the country, and some of them have always followed a virtual model even long before COVID-19 necessitated it. As a result, I was able to reap the benefits of a company that already understood how to properly translate an in-person program to a virtual model.
The second caveat I’d include is that I participated in Techstars while still being enrolled full-time as a student. Generally, this isn’t typically how Associates are hired, but it was a convenient silver-lining for me in light of the current environment. I participated in Techstars in conjunction with the Entrepreneurship Department at my school, and it was an invaluable opportunity to bridge the gap between in-class material and hands-on experience.
With that, let’s get into it.
What does a Techstars Business/Growth Associate do?
In the batch, I was 1 of 3 associates, and our job was to own ad-hoc project work for the startups across the portfolio. Our central hub was quite literally a Google Sheet that each founder had access to, where they could easily post project requests, details and deadlines, and the three of us would sign-off on each project to own it. These projects completely ran the gamut from user acquisition, to market-sizing, to building financial models, to web development — and everything in between. To give a more concrete example, here are just some of the projects I worked on while an Associate at Techstars:
- Engineered front-end of website and wrote content strategy for cybersecurity startup’s primary landing page
- Redesigned core user profile page for hiring marketplace startup
- Sized the TAM of private-practice physician technology spend for telehealth enablement startup
- Built the financial operating model for virtual events marketplace startup
- Researched consumer trends among first and second generation Africans for African Film/TV OTT streaming startup
- Developed B2B client leads and inventory pipeline for remote workplace startup
- Sourced and conducted user need-finding interviews for computer vision loss prevention startup
Again, the above list only reflects a sampling of the projects I worked on, but hopefully drives home the point that the nature of the work is incredibly varied and forces one to switch gears constantly. In order to be successful, it requires both comfortability with wading into territory where you’re not an expert, as well as a willingness to flex different parts of your brain and learn new things.
What were my thoughts on the program?
Despite times where I felt my plate was impossibly full (remember, I was also a full-time student over this period), the personal and professional growth I experienced as a result of Techstars has been incredible.
Personally, I feel like I walked away from the program with 1) a vastly improved understanding of the inner-workings of startups and the startup ecosystem, and 2) a much better understanding of the type of work I personally enjoy doing, as well as a better sense at what I am truly good at. I will certainly carry these learnings with me as I continue in my career.
Professionally, one of the most obvious benefits was access to an incredibly strong network of entrepreneurs, advisors and investors. One of the mantras at Techstars is “Techstars is for life,” which certainly rings true to me given how so much of the program relied on volunteers from previously graduated batches to succeed. Further, as someone whose previous work experience predominantly came in the form of large enterprise companies, getting so much varied experience at early stage startups was highly valuable for me and addressed blindspots in my perspective.
Advice for Aspiring Associates
From a recruiting perspective, my advice to applicants would be to think of examples from previous experience in which you managed multiple workstreams simultaneously, operated with minimal oversight, and independently identified opportunities to add value — as these ideas are at the heart of what the Associate team does on a day-to-day basis.
Additionally, once you become an associate, my advice is to spend the first two weeks getting to know all of the founders. This is something I wish I had done better earlier (and something on which I worked to course-correct over the duration of the program). One of the main benefits to the program is simply being surrounded by so many companies, so it’s important to take advantage of that and make sure it is reflected in the breadth of projects you decide to take.
Overall, I had a great experience being part of Techstars and am so grateful they decided to have me for their recent cohort. I’d definitely recommend the program to anyone considering it!
