If anyone on HN have been through any Techstars programme and are prepared to comment on the experience that'll be super valuable.
We found the program immensely valuable. The network you get connected to is almost worth it alone. The actual 3 month program is what you make it really. You get connected to amazing mentors, are expected to meet weekly milestones, and are offered the chance to hear many talks from prominent investors/entrepreneurs. How you decide you and your team act on these opportunities is where the value can be relative and vary per team. Some teams don't like the structure, some do, and some just keep their head down for the 3 months and pay little attention to who comes in the Techstars office door.
This person's critique of the program seems a bit off to me. As other commenters stated, his math is off on the equity calculations (we just finished our first raise and certainly didn't give up anywhere close to 50% of the company). Getting upset because a couple of people couldn't provide a detailed, helpful answer very specific to your startup after hearing a 10 minute pitch about it is a bit too critical, in my opinion. And I wouldn't read much in the request to sign the paperwork by Monday. It was likely oversight, and personally, if I needed time, I'd have told them that instead of interpreting it as some sketchy sales tactic and getting upset.
That said, the program isn't for everyone, and it can of course be improved, so maybe they made the right decision in the end. I just don't think they had enough evidence (or at least interpreted that evidence fairly enough) to ever know at this point.
Easily one of the best things I've ever done. I'm not sure how to compare it to other Cities, but it was certainly a benefit to our company.
Edit to add:
The 3 month program was broken up roughly into three chunks:
1. Achieving Product Market Fit 2. Product Development 3. Fund Raising
Depending on the stage of your company, you spent more or less time in each of these phases. We were relatively mature from a product market fit standpoint, so we focused our time between Product Development, Signing Customers, and Fund Raising.
Add the TechStars network, the "prestige" of being in TechStars, and what essentially amounts to a 3-month pass to ask for help from businesses, and it felt like it was a great experience.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2012/04/30/top-tech-i...