By Nitasha Tiku 1/31 10:30am

The Real TechStars of New York

f1b4d737d213aed68e7cd45e0363782eb01ef85a-523685_10101722939028183_1469547493_n

TechStars NYC Poaches Eugene Chung, a VC at NEA, to Replace David Tisch

In December, after reports about an impending downturn in the accelerator boom, some local investors expressed concerns about the future of TechStars New York. Would the next Demo Day be the same parade of oversubscribed startups when much-hyped graduates were still stuck in beta? Were the lessons learned in TechStars enough to prepare companies for life outside the bubble?

David Tisch’s departure as managing director added to that uncertainty. But TechStars CEO and founder David Cohen dismissed those worries, pointing to “heavy inbound interest” in the role. Today, he announced his new hire from the 35 candidates interviewed: Eugene Chung, a former venture capitalist with New Enterprise Associates.  Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 11/19/12 3:45pm

The Real TechStars of New York

Ms. Glaros (Photo: NearlyNicole.com)

TechStars NYC Ships in Talent From Boulder to Replace David Tisch

TechStars NYC has been quiet since August, when managing director David Tisch announced that he would be stepping back from his day-to-day role at the accelerator program. Almost exactly a year ago, we profiled Mr. Tisch’s rise to prominence in New York’s startup scene largely through his role in building a satellite program for TechStars, which entered the local market just when it could benefit from a little infrastructure.

(Early observers will recall that the first class of TechStars New York was filmed for a reality show, but managed to escape the humorless vitriol directed at Randi Zuckerberg–probably because the TechStars version was for Bloomberg instead of Bravo, and involved about 100 percent fewer toga parties.) Over the past few years, Mr. Tisch has become a prolific angel investor through Box Group, and his name frequently shows up in seed funding rounds for New York companies–TechStars and otherwise. Thus finding a replacement who is as well-versed in the scene might be tricky. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 8/17/12 4:10pm

Real TechStars of New York

38-david-tisch

David Tisch Just Stepped Down as Managing Director of TechStars NYC

David Tisch has just announced that he is stepping down from his position as managing director of TechStars NYC. Word came via his blog, where Mr. Tisch offered little in the way of explanation, other than to say that “the time has come for me to move on to the next challenge and take a step back from my day-to-day role.”

However, he’s not departing the program entirely: Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 6/13/12 4:47pm

The Real TechStars of New York

twitter_0611

The One TechStars NYC Startup That Won’t Be Pitching At Demo Day Tomorrow

In March, TechStars NYC announced that it had selected 14 startups from an applicant pool of more than 1,600 for the chance at 13-weeks of mentorship and $100,000. But only 13 companies will be presenting at tomorrow’s Demo Day at Webster Hall. Betabeat has learned that StockTouch, which described itself as “revolutionizing finance with mobile data visualization,” did not participate in the program.

Managing director David Tisch would only say that the decision was mutual. We have reached out to StockTouch for comment and will update the post when we hear back. StockTouch CEO Jennifer Johnson was one of five female CEOs (and six female cofounders) accepted into the spring 2012 class. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 3/12/12 1:05pm

The Real TechStars of New York

techstars

Meet Your Spring 2012 TechStars NYC Class: ‘They All Take Big Swings’

It’s that time again, boys and girls. TechStars NYC managing director David Tisch just announced the 14 companies who got the golden ticket to the accelerator and seed fund’s Spring class. Unlike the previous two programs, which operated out of Pivotal Labs, this class will call 36 Cooper Square home. (TechStars recently moved in to Foursquare’s old office in the Village Voice building.) “They’ll be able to sleep there easier,” Mr. Tisch quipped to Betabeat over the phone.

Last year, TechStars NYC funded 23 companies, 21 of which went on to raise $50 million after they graduated. According to Mr. Tisch, you can expect even bigger things from this class. The common element among all 14 newbies? “They all take big swings,” he said. “I think the ideas are all going for something big.  I don’t think there are  lot of safe bets or small bets.” Read More