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TechStars, Lies & Videotape

melanie.io

61–70 of 103 posts

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#61
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not arguing about bloomberg the terminal. I and many of my other friends in trading have had conversations with really chatty Bloomberg reps who wantonly leak information. In particular one rep mentioned by name that I was a customer when discussing smaller firms using Bloomberg :/

Did you complain? If you're interested, email me (profile).

I don't see an email in your profile ...

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#62

As a TechStars alum, I can say that this show painted a very distorted view of the real TechStars program. The drama was fabricated by Bloomberg because that's what makes good TV. Don't let this show ruin your view of TechStars. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up regretting doing this show, but of course, hindsight is 20/20. It would have been hard for me to turn down that amount of national exposure too.

I agree. I think TechStars had nothing but the best of intentions, and they were sold a bill of goods from Bloomberg that the show would be a documentary. I think this is why they were so adamant about each company participating: because they honestly believed the exposure would be good for our companies.

But still, forcing companies to do something or drop out? That is not how an accelerator should treat its companies, like they were your bosses. The only boss a startup should have is its customers, and now TS, due to its poor judgement has done the opposite of what it was meant to do. Not only do they make poor calls, but they also bulley founders?

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it is illegal to fix sporting events for gambling purposes, evidently you can fix sports for entertainment purposes. The NFL's lawyers stated the NFL competes in the "entertainment marketplace" ( http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?renderfor... ) and operates as a single entity, not as 32 teams.

If the NFL fixed a game then their would be issues in Las Vegas and DC because of the betting. beyond that, the damage done to their reputation would end the league.

You can place bets on professional wrestling (http://www.covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=228164), and I doubt Vegas would mind.

Moreover there have been several politically-beneficial wins in the last 10 years -- the Patriots winning the Super Bowl after 911, the Saints winning it after Katrina, the Jets winning this year's Sunday night opener on the 10th anniversary of 911, in a metaphorical come-from-behind victory -- did you see how that game went down?

In the Jets game, Romo literally had to throw the game away in the 4th to lose it, and then his reputation was restored the next two weeks after two dramatic, media-hyped come-from-behind victories while playing with broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#64

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'd blame TechStars for involving their companies in a reality show, absolutely. At some point, companies are probably able to manage press on their own (and would be smart to decline to participate in a reality show), but part of the purpose of an incubator/accelerator is educational and to keep you out of really stupid situations like this. They failed to do their job, proving something about the zero indexing of startup accelerators.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#65
post #56
post #18

Well, that's showbusiness for you. I have friends in media and showbusiness, so I've seen these things from behind the scenes, and have a good feel for the dynamics. Media is about getting customers just like any other company, and their product is stories. They try to make these stories as appealing as possible, just like any other company tries to make the product their customers want.Truth plays second fiddle to a…

I believed they were asking me because they were looking out for me. from the article > Oftentimes we think the media is engaged in a search for truth, justice and a real portrayal of how things work I'm astonished that there are people who can think that at any age. Kids are either too young even to understand the concepts involved or too old to believe in Santa Claus. It might be culture-dependent. Maybe I'm too na…

It just takes a belief in common human decency and fairness. Not that unreasonable if you ask me. As she describes it, these producers are basically fraudsters, taking real events, warping them to fit their own desired story, and then portraying it as a real account of what happened. Fraud should not be considered the norm.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#66
While I'm empathetic towards the founders who got the short sticks on this episode, I just watched episode three (having not been aware of the show before reading this post) and it was exactly what I'd expect a show like this to be. If an incubator gave me an ultimatum like "reality documentary or hit the curb" I'd run the other way as quickly as possible.

Melanie might be strong and brilliant, but there's real live footage here of her being unrealistic, ineloquent and covering for a weak business model (in which she appears to have zero unfair advantage) by hiding behind a claim that "developers just don't get fashion".

This show might be trash but her responses to medium-hard questions about her business model don't suggest CEO DNA. I've never met a competent CEO that says "like" constantly and says what they think VCs want to hear.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#67

This American Life's "Gossip" episode had a story from someone working on a reality TV show. TL;DR Everything is staged and drama is fabricated if it doesn't exist. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/444/g...

I don't doubt that you're correct overall that everything on "reality" shows is staged: my neighbor was on a dating reality show on national tv and lots of it was fake. Just for the record, though, as a huge fan of TAL, their site describes that story as based on a work of fiction.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#68
It's nice that the startup founders are defending Techstars, but as a potential applicant, this whole thing does raise red flags for me.

Doing a startup is hard enough with your personal emotional ups and downs. To add a reality tv show to that just seems like the worst idea ever. Maybe it's good for media startups to get as much press as possible, good or bad. But this blog post seems to suggest otherwise.

If the people running Techstars really got fooled by Bloomberg, then how can I trust these people about giving good startup advice?

The title of this blog post doesn't help. Why isn't it Bloomberg, lies and videotape?

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#69

This actually reflects poorly on TechStars that they gave so much access to a media source without proper negotiaion and/or enforcement. To the OP I say "what did you expect?". If you are not versed with the media and yet agree on giving them hours and hours of access, you will get some twisted final product more times than not. Also why PR firms still exist.

Definitely agree with this. TechStars should have had veto power over the final product. That's a clearly rookie mistake.

I would be shocked if PG allowed a program like this about YC to air.

I don't think you can argue that Bloomberg is in the wrong. They are a media house. They have to create drama to sell the show.

TS should have had better contracts to enforce more editorial control over the end-product.

I have just watched 2 episodes, and David Tisch looks like a real douchebag that seems to be acting like a dick for the camera.

This also feels less like a 'mentoring' program, where people are helping you make your startup success and more like "I (Tisch) know all the answers. Listen to me or you are gonna fail."

Definitely not the type of environment I would want to build my company in. The very point of being an entrepreneur is so that you can control your own destiny, not trade your corporate overlord boss to some entitled investor that thinks he knows everything.

Re: TechStars, Lies & Videotape

#70
post #18

Well, that's showbusiness for you. I have friends in media and showbusiness, so I've seen these things from behind the scenes, and have a good feel for the dynamics. Media is about getting customers just like any other company, and their product is stories. They try to make these stories as appealing as possible, just like any other company tries to make the product their customers want.Truth plays second fiddle to a…

Nicolas Nassem Taleb, in either Fooled By Randomness or The Black Swan, opened my eyes to this. He was talking about the financial press. He gave an example of something that rose dramatically early in the day, and the news confidently offered an explanation, worries about X. Then it fell dramatically later in the day. The explanation? Worries about the same X.
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