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Demo Days compared: Seattle TechStars VS San Francisco AngelPad

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Re: Demo Days compared: Seattle TechStars VS San Francisco AngelPad

#11

Post by cookingrobot »

staufman wrote: post #9

Seattle obviously has a lot of tech talent so I can see some great startups coming onto the scene there. This got me thinking. Are there any thematic differences in the kinds of startups popping up there? For instance, we are seeing lots of fashion startups in NY as compared to SF. What about Seattle?

Great question. No fashion startups here this time. Some were using their experience to enter tough spaces, like working with insurance companies or doing money transfers. A few trying to help brands / marketers reach their audience better. A couple trying to make it easier for non-designers to build a very targeted very slick web presence. Also a team building an actual robot, and one trying to improve on dating sites. .. any obvious theme jump out?

Re: Demo Days compared: Seattle TechStars VS San Francisco AngelPad

#12

Post by staunch »

cookingrobot wrote: post #3

I was really surprised to hear time spent explaining that "Angel investing is a great opportunity!" In SF the investors know that it's a great business and are only worried about finding the right teams. A question for founders in other cities: do you have to try to sell the idea of "being an investor in a startup", or do you just need to sell yourself?

I'd never sell the idea of investing in a startup. It's an area that should be left to sophisticated investors. It's not like investing in a laundromat or an apartment building.

Re: Demo Days compared: Seattle TechStars VS San Francisco AngelPad

#13

Post by forrestthewoods »

webwright wrote: post #10
staufman wrote: post #9

Seattle obviously has a lot of tech talent so I can see some great startups coming onto the scene there. This got me thinking. Are there any thematic differences in the kinds of startups popping up there? For instance, we are seeing lots of fashion startups in NY as compared to SF. What about Seattle?

A lot of commerce/ad startups (Amazon influence?) and a lot of LeadGen stuff (AllStarDirectories influence and several key investors up here seem to like that style of business). Plenty of B2B. There's a fair bit of gaming DNA here (Valve, BigFish, PopCap) but strangely few gaming startups (there are a few). Lots of mobile stuff (notably Swype). I'd say it's pretty all-over-the-map.

I'd say that Seattle has plenty of gaming startups, they just don't seek VC money. The VC money for games is primarily (exclusively?) in social games which a lot of devs aren't interested in.

Re: Demo Days compared: Seattle TechStars VS San Francisco AngelPad

#15

Post by anateus »

whather wrote: post #4
bretthellman wrote: post #2

A 7m pitch for TechStars... 2m for AngelPad. What about YC?

Back in YC S'08 pitches were between 5-6m. Now with so many teams I believe they're around 2m.

They brought them down to 2m, and then back up to 2.5m for the most recent batch. I heard it mentioned that 2.5m was discovered to be the sweet spot.
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