Category: Founders Feedback (Page 3 of 11)

Being accepted into the prestigious Founders Space as one among 10-12 startups globally was a true honor for us. It turned out to be a superb experience overall, in terms of focusing on the right aspects of the business and staying lean. I would recommend the program to any startup that wants to take their game to the next level.

The two-week program was extremely productive and useful. Captain Hoff and Steve Austin are superstars and deserve a lot of credit for the success of the program. Captain Hoff focused on improving the fundamentals of the core business and strategy, while Steve Austin complemented with great traininig on how to be a better executive and how to tell the story right. Overall, it was a transformative experience.

There were great guest lectures on various topics starting from legal to SEO and valuation of startups. The mentor days were especially awesome. Expert mentors spent a lot of time on each startup’s specific business, providing surgical feedback. These mentors are renowned experts in various fields. Their advice and inputs made a huge difference. By bringing different perspectives and experiences from different mentors, this supplemented the program very well. Read More...

The Founder Space program is an outstanding resource for first time founders like us. The program helps cultivate a variety of skills critical for every startup, including developing the right product-market-fit and business model as well as delivering a compelling elevator and 3 minute pitch. Although the two-weeks fly by in a daze of myriad video lectures, mentor sessions, and speakers, knowledge gained from the program will guide our business for years to come.

We really appreciated the honest and critical feedback we received from Naomi Kokubo, Steve Austin, and Captain Hoff and count ourselves lucky to have been a part of the program.

SE3D is a biotech startup that designs and develops 3D lab robotics for biology. We have a desktop bioprinting and liquid dispensing device that can print living cells, biological materials and food based materials. We are currently funded by the National Science Foundation and seeking partners who are interested in what we do. To learn more about our technology, please visit us here.

Thanks for TIEC helping Theia to Founders Space Program. TIEC is the accelerator that bridges Taiwan Startups and the US market. Thanks for Founders Space, we learned a lot from the very intense 2-week program.

Theia provides 3D display with no glasses. During the program, a lot of mentors advised us, from how to sell (explicitly on hardware and software), what should be noticed for product design, and overall market strategy, to how to set up sales and marketing team in US. Also, the program gave opportunity to build connection with some potential clients. Steve Austin gave us a lot insights on B to B sale. Steven Hoffman taught us the right attitude to be a successful startup. Austin and Hoffman both gave us a lot of one-on-one meetings to perfect our pitch. We also had a great time on the final pitch day and get a lot of responses.

We met a lot of participants and we exchanged our notes for the program, not only made us friend but also gave us chances to learn from each other. We realize the business should focus more on how you do networking instead of how you build the technology.

Joining Founders Space was an invaluable experience for me. Not only did I learn a lot from the many resource materials and lessons, I was also immediately immersed in the local network of mentors and professionals in Silicon Valley. They have many years experience in the startup world. Everybody was eager to help and share their own knowledge and experience. I received more contacts in the intense two weeks program than I could ever normally get in a month!

Those of you in startup La-La-land, Sergeant Steve Austin will kick your ass to startup reality. Those of you that are just in love with your own solution and not the customer’ pain points will get a real wake up call, and question your startup’s real existence. But once you survived Sergeant Austin’s “Startup reality bootcamp”, you will get a confidence boost, that your idea, your startup and all the sweat equity you put in is worthwhile and realistic. Thank goodness we already had traction, but Sergeant Austin still put us thru his rigorous quality control to make sure we are of Silicon Valley standards.

Thank you, Founders Space, for the platform you have created to enable startups from all over the world, an equal opportunity to learn, experience and connect. Thus giving us an edge to excel and hopefully make the world a better place for everyone. Read More...

We picked Founders Space because we wanted an incubator that understood what it means to be a global start up from the ground-up. The two weeks helped clarify our sales strategy, our investor pitch and gave us perspective on the Silicon Valley ecosystem. It also put us in a place with energized, hard-working and focused founders from around the world. Finally, the pitch day opened up some doors we are hoping to take advantage of. Thanks to the Founders Space team for the experience!

Participating at the Founders Space accelerator program was a one in a lifetime experience. Especially coming from overseas, it helped us a lot to learn and understand the business environment in the US.

Captain Hoff and Naomi have compiled a tremendous schedule. The variety of lectures, mentoring by very experienced serial entrepreneurs and information sessions about outsourcing activities during your early start-up phase, was a perfect combination of all you need to know, in order to succeed in Silicon Valley; even more we also received valuable input for our overall strategy and improvement ideas for the European market.

Even though the program was very intensive (in particular due to the demanding pitch training by Steve Austin – thanks a lot for this perfect preparation!), we still had time and the opportunity to get to know the other participating start-ups better and make new friends. Read More...

Thank you Founders Space for a priceless opportunity to get into the inner circles of the Silicon Valley network.

The rigor of top Silicon Valley introductions, classes on business development, fund-raising, and go-to-market strategy, and all finally culminating in a grand pitch event make participating in Founders Space a key milestone for any startup. Founders Space does not offer funding like other accelerators in the valley. Though, its value is made up in the resources Captain Hoff and his team bring to your startup. I enjoyed meeting like minded entrepreneurs at the accelerator and gaining exposure to the newest ideas in tech. I thank the Founder Space team tremendously for a fine program.

Joseph Sokol
Founder & CEO of OlehPay

First off, we’d like to thank TIEC for connecting Cherri Tech to Founders Space Program. TIEC is the top-tier accelerator that bridges Taiwan-based startups that are planning to expand into the US market.

I’m the CEO of Cherri Tech, Inc. Our product TapPay is an SDK that allows developers to utilize our patented high-frequency sound wave technology for financial transactions that are turnkey and device agnostic. In short, we are the Apple/Android Pay that works across all credit card terminals. Yes, that means your 7-year old smartphone can be used for mobile payments.

Currently, we are partnered with Taiwan’s 7 largest banks and processing 7,000+ transactions weekly. We’ve built partnerships and integrations with other prominent payment companies such as Stripe, Square, and Paypal. Our huge potential to penetrate the US market, company traction, and domain expertise provided the persuasion necessary to be accepted into Founders Space. Read More...

First of all, I really want to thank Steve Hoffman and Naomi Kokubo. They built up a fantastic place for all the startups, which is filled with enthusiasm and passion.

I really had a great time at Founders Space. Before Founders Space, I experienced other accelerator programs as a mentor and a mentee. My three week experience at Founders Space blew my mind.

The concentrated lectures and pitch training helped me gain confidence and grow up rapidly. Korea has its own startup ecosystem, but it was totally different. This program not only trains you how to pitch but also teaches you how to think and act like a real Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Read More...

My team was very lucky to be a part of Founders Space. During the intensive two weeks program, we have learned how to address the market, how to build strategy and how to communicate with investors.

You actually get a lot of helpful advice not only from Steve Austin, Captain Hoff and Naomi but also from mentors coming from different background.

I highly recommend this program to all the entrepreneurs. Read More...