Techstars is all about "give first" and one week in, we can feel that sense of community. Everyone is helpful. Perhaps this blog might help future cohorts?
In the days leading up to the programme I was full of anticipation and keen to get my head around the place, the people and the plan.
ABOVE: As we moved our stuff to London, I felt pretty melancholy at leaving Norwich. Whitespace, we will be back!
My apartment was not ready until Tuesday so I spent the first couple of nights in the Malmaison hotel. My wife Emma came down to London with me on Sunday so we got to enjoy a last supper and a couple of drinks with some of the team which was great. A real treat!
The next morning it was a quick breakfast and we were on our way.
ABOVE: My teammates on the first day: Ben, Barry, Chris, Nathan and Dom.
ABOVE: Getting set up.
ABOVE: Our first briefing with Jon Bradford.
Monday morning, Jon laid out the road ahead and defined what we could expect. It's nice to be told that we are awesome to have been accepted - but that's the ego-stroking out of the way. We have an insane amount of work to get done.
ABOVE: The infamous Techstars countdown clock to Demo Day. This really gets to you and I am already getting an adrenaline boost every time I walk past it! I am glad we can't see it from our desks.
The afternoon was dedicated to an icebreaker challenge and this was our first chance to meet each other properly. These are all smart and dynamic people. We have some great support in the Hackstars and Associates too.
ABOVE: Techstars Associate Helena provides the first clue for our London treasure-hunt.
ABOVE: This seems like a good name for a pub, but no time to stop.
Our teams were mixed up. Ben's team won and our team came second so a good result. We all go and have an Indian curry together and finish the first day totally exhausted but happy to be with some great people.
On Tuesday Techstar's own Tak and Mark set some homework which really focuses us on our mission. It get's us into a lot of debate and we spend time scrutinising our product, market and business in detail.
ABOVE: Ben and I finally get into our apartment and we meet there and work until midnight.
It's Wednesday and we have our first deep dive with Jon and some of the Associates. We face probing and thoughtful questions and leave the session with a bunch of actions for the week.
ABOVE: Thursday morning Ben and I have just enough time to grab a croissant before we attend a meeting Jon has secured for us. It was great to see Jon in action. The meeting went very well and could lead to an amazing project.
ABOVE: On Thursday afternoon we end up in an epic whiteboard session as we work through the gain creators and pain relievers of our product, and really get under the skin of our target market. Rainbird can do so much so we are looking for focus and a clear definition of what we are trying to achieve. We are tired but are on a roll so we fuel the last hour with a dose of sugar treats and push on through.
By Friday we are all pretty exhausted. We spend the morning preparing for next week's mentor meetings. We are really excited to meet these people, share what we are doing and listen to what they have to say.
ABOVE: We grab our usual lunch at the Leather Lane pop-up food stalls round the corner, and rush back to the office to scoff and then crack on with our work.
So how was Week 1? Frankly, it feels like we have been here for a month but we have just scratched the surface. We are all looking forward to seeing our families and taking a little bit of time to unwind before we start Week 2.
Bring it on!
James
Well done team Rainbird. No one minds hard work when you are part of a team commited to achieve a singular goal...success.
ReplyDeleteYou have done about 6 months of work already as you are compressing 5 years into 3 months.