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John Jackovin: A time to reflect
(Guest post by John Jackovin) Less than a week before this Techstars experience comes to an end. This was the post I was most excited to write when I began the Techstars program. The post right before Demo Day. The post before I can get back to “normal” life. The post before I get to…
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John Jackovin: I should be memorizing right now
(Guest post by John Jackovin) With less than two weeks until demo day I have to do something I am pretty bad at…memorization. My brain works a certain way, I guess all brains work a certain way, duh. Better put, my brain works in a way that makes it difficult for me to memorize words…
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How Rocket Referrals’ Carl Maerz wrote an e-book to generate leads
(Guest post by Carl Maerz) For those of you not local to Des Moines, chances are you have never heard of Rocket Referrals. We are a tech startup founded by me and my brother, Torey. Known in the entrepreneur community as “bro-founders” we share the same blood, but have much different skill sets. You know,…
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John Jackovin: It’s OK to cry
(Guest post by John Jackovin) I could write about a lot of things this week. I could write about the trip I took to San Francisco. I could write about the awesome meeting I had with this really inspirational connector/investor from the Valley. I could write about how awesome it was to spend a day…
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John Jackovin: Home, San Francisco, three weeks and done
(Guest post by John Jackovin) After nine weeks of Techstars the end is very near and we have our work cut out for us. I am writing this from my kitchen table in Des Moines, Iowa, not from my rented kitchen table in Boulder, Colorado. I flew back late Wednesday and got to spend the…
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How Lyndsay Clark helped design Gravitate to be the community’s center
(Guest post by Lyndsay Clark) In recent years, another buzzword has been added to our ever growing lexicon in the tech world: co-working. The idea of collaborative working was established in response to a frustration many experienced while working independently or remotely for an organization from their home or a coffee shop. These frustrations led…
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John Jackovin: Are we where we need to be?
(Guest post by John Jackovin) I am sure this is a question many companies ask themselves. Am I far enough along? Have I made enough progress? Techstars’, like most all accelerators, goal is to get you “ready” to exit the program. This means different things for every company. The ambiguity revolves around what “ready” means…
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John Jackovin on Techstars Boulder: It’s all downhill from here
(Guest post by John Jackovin) Seven weeks down and six to go. So much left to do. I love the fact that we are more than half way through a really tough program. We made it this far and I haven’t lost my marbles. Only six weeks until I get to see my girls for…
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What’s it like to pitch Shark Tank producers? Iowa entrepreneurs share
Last week ABC reality show “Shark Tank” hosted an open casting call in Des Moines and more than 100 entrepreneurs and inventors turned out for an opportunity to swim with the sharks. It’s still too soon to say if any of the companies that pitched last Monday will make it on to the show’s taping.…
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OCS Blog: No more homework or projects, it’s time to find where we fit
(Guest post by Andy von Dohren) The last two weeks have been a lot of work. I’m not talking about project work, which can actually be a lot of fun. I’m talking about mock interviews, resume writing, portfolio building and documentation writing work. Omaha Code School has done a lot for us over the last…