On Monday I noticed this article in my feed and was sucked in by the very first line: “Among the credible candidates to be the economic capital of the 21st century, the oddest and most reluctant has got to be San Francisco.” The crux of the author’s argument is that, by every other indicator, San Francisco continue…
I’m excited to be able to finally talk about this one as it took some doing to bring it all together. KITT.AI is a new Seattle company that emerged from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. AI2 is a private, Seattle-based AI research institute headed up by longtime UW Computer Science and Engineering leader (and serial entrepreneur) Oren continue…
The eleven companies in this year’s Techstars Seattle class are headed into the home stretch here at Startup Hall. Demo Day is just five weeks away — on October 27 — and we’re all feeling the heat. Early reviews from investors and mentors suggest that this year’s class is Seattle’s strongest ever, which only adds to the continue…
I was on a call with a pair of entrepreneurs last week and said something that seemed obvious to me, but was clearly news to them: “It’s not enough to have a market with strong volume, it needs to also have a big enough surplus.” This team was trying to sell me on a market continue…
There was a traffic jam last night in Startup Hall. At six o’clock, sixty-plus angel investors were wrapping up a discussion hosted by the Seattle Angel Fund; while another, even larger group of Techstars founders and mentors were milling around in the main reception area, waiting to kick off a speed-dating style Mentor Mixer that officially continue…
I’m excited to be able to announce our investment in another great Seattle-area company today: Auth0 just raised $6.9 million, led by Sunil Nagaraj at Bessemer Venture Partners, with support from Manu Kumar at K9 Ventures. This was a later and larger round than we typically participate in as a fund, but CEO Jon Gelsey continue…
Eighteen months ago I posited the emergence of a different flavor of global capitalism here in the Pacific Northwest, which I described as “big tent” capitalism, subsequently amended to the more region-specific “Cascadian Capitalism“. My assertion was — and is — that: Seattle is emerging as a global leader in fusing the growth-oriented culture of continue…
Eighteen months ago we announced a four-way partnership among UP Global, Techstars Seattle, Founders’ Co-op and the University of Washington to create an end-to-end support system for high-performing Pacific Northwest entrepreneurs here in Startup Hall. By bringing the UW’s proven strength in global talent development, Startup Weekend’s excellence in entrepreneurial education, Techstars’ world-leading model for startup acceleration and Founders’ continue…
Breathless digital enthusiasts — myself among them — have been predicting a massive shift from store-based to online retail shopping for the past 20 years. And while that transition is well underway, with online sellers now capturing eight percent of total retail spend, and 75% of the growth in spend since 2000, the long-predicted “death of continue…
I’m thrilled to announce the addition of another fantastic new founder to the FC family, as well as an exciting new role for one of the first (and most successful) founders we’ve ever backed as a fund. First, please meet Hussein Ahmed, CEO of Transpose. Hussein is a first-generation American immigrant, PhD Computer Scientist and continue…