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TechStars, Lies & Videotape

melanie.io

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Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#21

Post by rswilson »

pedalpete wrote: post #6

Do people here think TechStars is somewhat to blame in this? they are the ones who are running the incubator and hosting the companies. Why would they bring in this sort of outside factor into an already challenging environment. If they were unaware of how the show would turn out, I suspect all they needed to do was speak to reality tv producers (other than those who produced this show), and they would have been told…

I've been a big fan of TechStars... until this show. I thought the entire tone of the show was just horrific for their brand. It played off the worse stereotypes and came off as very patronizing toward entrepreneurs. Tisch seems to really reflect the character of Techstars New York and thats unfortunate.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#24

Post by wensing »

veyron wrote: post #12

Bloomberg in general is terrible. From the financial side, they leak information to others, so the rule of thumb is to never talk to them unless you are absolutely desperate to raise monies.

I agree they messed up here, but Bloomberg in general is amazing. The terminal is invincible, the news network is the best on television (have you seen their interview with pg or their feature on Elon Musk?), their revenues are insanely great. On what evidence are you basing this "leak info" rumor?

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#26

Post by snprbob86 »

badclient wrote: post #14
pedalpete wrote: post #6

Do people here think TechStars is somewhat to blame in this? they are the ones who are running the incubator and hosting the companies. Why would they bring in this sort of outside factor into an already challenging environment. If they were unaware of how the show would turn out, I suspect all they needed to do was speak to reality tv producers (other than those who produced this show), and they would have been told…

As I stated below, I largely believe Bloomberg did its job and techstars owes a big fat apology to their cos for putting them in this situation without covering all bases.

I don't know the exact details, but you'll notice that there are only 6 companies being profiled in the show. Ten companies went through the NY program in that cycle. My understanding is that each team was given the option of participating in the show, along with appropriate caveats. I doubt anyone from TechStars pressured them to participate, although the folks from BloombergTV may have. In theory, TechStars founders are supposed to be smart people: they surely knew the risks to perception and weighted it against the rewards of exposure.

EDIT: Melanie says I'm wrong. Color me surprised.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#27

Post by jasonlbaptiste »

swanson wrote: post #15

I was aware that stuff was probably being edited and I think Melanie and Jason Baptiste got an unfair shake. If I am reading this blog post correctly: the production crew spliced together two unrelated bits of audio ("LinkedIn for fashion") and then played it off like it was actually said? And that it was the new pivot for the company? That's messed up.

the "LinkedIn for fashion" was a retarded move on bloomberg's part. I was there when Melanie was contemplating that pivot. It was more like salesforce for fashion aka a SaaS tool to help the fashion world.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#28

Post by melanie_io »

snprbob86 wrote: post #26
badclient wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I stated below, I largely believe Bloomberg did its job and techstars owes a big fat apology to their cos for putting them in this situation without covering all bases.

I don't know the exact details, but you'll notice that there are only 6 companies being profiled in the show. Ten companies went through the NY program in that cycle. My understanding is that each team was given the option of participating in the show, along with appropriate caveats. I doubt anyone from TechStars pressured them to participate, although the folks from BloombergTV may have. In theory, TechStars founder…

Every company was required to participate: the choice was (1) do the show or (2) drop out of TechStars. Bloomberg followed all 11 (not 10) companies throughout the entire program, but focused only on 6 companies because it was impossible to follow 11 different story lines in 6, 22-minute episodes.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#29

Post by nicholasjbs »

snprbob86 wrote: post #26
badclient wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I stated below, I largely believe Bloomberg did its job and techstars owes a big fat apology to their cos for putting them in this situation without covering all bases.

I don't know the exact details, but you'll notice that there are only 6 companies being profiled in the show. Ten companies went through the NY program in that cycle. My understanding is that each team was given the option of participating in the show, along with appropriate caveats. I doubt anyone from TechStars pressured them to participate, although the folks from BloombergTV may have. In theory, TechStars founder…

I was told that Bloomberg filmed all of the teams and then chose whom they wanted to include.

Could someone from TechStars clarify if teams were given a chance to opt out?

EDIT: Just saw below that it was required for all teams to participate or drop out of TechStars. Wow.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#30

Post by jasonlbaptiste »

pedalpete wrote: post #6

Do people here think TechStars is somewhat to blame in this? they are the ones who are running the incubator and hosting the companies. Why would they bring in this sort of outside factor into an already challenging environment. If they were unaware of how the show would turn out, I suspect all they needed to do was speak to reality tv producers (other than those who produced this show), and they would have been told…

No, I actually don't blame TechStars. We were ALL told the same thing - it was constantly referred to as a documentary while filming. Go look at TS post and mine when the show was announced.

Trust me, Bloomberg wanted to do far worse, but TS fought hard to make sure they didn't. We're all fairly upset at how it was cut.

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