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BoomStartup is a mentorship-driven startup accelerator founded by John Richards and Robb Kunz that has historically held 13-week programs for startups in Provo and Salt Lake City. BoomStartup is consistently rated in the Top 15 accelerators, ranking at #12 for 2014. Fewer than 2% of the companies that apply to BoomStartup are accepted. Of the dozens of startup teams that have completed its program, 80% are active. BoomStartup's mentors include over 40 of Utah's top tech ecosystem players.

History
After founding several startups and moving to Utah to be an entrepreneurship professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, John Richards in 2009 contacted Paul Graham of  YCombinator and  David Cohen of TechStars about forming a seed accelerator in Utah. Cohen was especially helpful, lending the TechStars playbook to Richards. Due to the global recession, Richards held off until 2010 to start BoomStartup. Simultaneously, Robb Kunz was forming Startup Utah with a similar vision. Richards and Kunz decided to merge efforts and BoomStartup launched in 2010. Richards and Kunz quickly built a group of investors, mentors, and service providers anxious to launch the new seed accelerator. The company was established in Provo in 2010 and held its first program in 2010 with an initial 10 companies. Jon Bradshaw was chosen to be the first year's Program Manager.

BoomStartup's network of ecosystem players would simultaneously bring together potentially interesting companies, leverage the entrepreneurial community behind these companies for three months, and then decide whether to invest further. BoomStartup began interviewing companies in March 2010 for its first cohort scheduled for Summer 2010. Richards and Kunz recruited web entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and CEOs to provide mentoring.

In January 2011, BoomStartup became one of the 5 charter members of the newly launched TechStars Affiliate Network, a best practices association of seed accelerators. The network is now known as the Global Accelerator Network, which links over 50 similar programs internationally. The network was launched in conjunction with President Barack Obama’s Startup America Partnership.

In December 2014, Robb Kunz and a group of investors purchased Richards' share of BoomStartup, leaving Kunz as CEO.

Structure
Startups can apply for TechStars’ program and their viability is judged by the program’s directors. Less than 1% of applicants are accepted into the program. In particular, of the 1,500 applicants to the TechStars New York Spring 2012 program, 14 were selected. TechStars provides each company with free office space and $18,000 in exchange for a 6% stake in the company. In addition, a syndicate of more than 75 top venture capitalists backs each company with a $100,000 convertible note which converts into equity when the company raises a Series A.

One of TechStars’ goals is to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystems in the 5 cities in which they operate. There are between 50 and 100 mentors in each city for 10 to 15 companies.

Boot Camp
Accepted founders participate in a three-month program in their program’s city. While there, the founders develop their business under the guidance of mentors and meet with potential investors through TechStars’ network of connections. Mentors for accepted startups include: Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, tumblr CEO David Karp, HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, and Howard Lindzon of StockTwits.

Cohen refers to the TechStars boot camp as three one-month programs. In the first month the founders engage the mentors and receive feedback on their product or service. The goal of the first month is to orient the team in the correct direction, with Cohen stating that this is when many companies pivot their focus, market strategy, or idea. In the second month, founders work with their mentors on specific issues like customer interaction, partner opportunities, and product development. In the third month, founders develop a plan for action after TechStars, which includes fundraising, pitching investors, launching the product, or developing a company strategy.

At the end of the 13-week program, TechStars hosts "Demo Day", which can draw over 500 investors, entrepreneurs, and journalists.

Results and reception
The New York Times notes that “One of the biggest lures of the program is the unlimited access the start-ups get to established tech community mentors.” Of the 114 companies that have graduated from the TechStars program, 98 are active, 8 have been acquired, and 8 have failed. The success rate for most technology start-ups is estimated at 10%. Companies that have participated in TechStars programs currently employ 772 people and 90% of those companies receive funding after graduating. Techstars does not report financial results of its overall portfolio of companies, so, analysis of the financial results of TechStars's stake in its startups is anecdotal at best.