At Techstars, we embrace Give First — a philosophy of helping anyone, especially entrepreneurs, without any expectation of getting something in return.

During our annual Give First awards ceremony, Techstars honored four mentors who embody this philosophy and go above and beyond to support Techstars founders.

Meet the winners of this year's Give First awards:

• Bharat Krish - Chief Product Officer at Newsweek

• Jamie Tomasello - Managing Director at Superbloom & Founder of Keel Paradox

• Raymond Luk - Founder of Flow & Senior Advisor at Deloitte

• Nina Archie - Program Innovation Manager at U.S. Department of State

During the virtual celebration on November 7, Techstars Founder and CEO David Cohen discussed the meaning of Give First and its place as a core value at Techstars.

"Give First is often misunderstood. It’s not about paying it forward. Give First is about giving first. It’s very non-transactional," said Cohen. "Give First is magical."

Shirley Romig, Chief Operating Officer at Techstars, also spoke to attendees, sharing how even the smallest of gestures from a mentor can make a big difference to founders.

"It is really hard to build companies from 0 to 1. Most days are tough, and you have little moments of sunshine when you get a piece of good news, but it's a really hard thing to do. So you may not realize it, but even if it's just a nice 'Hey, way to go!' note or just to check in to say 'How are you doing today?' could make a huge difference in in someone's day — and that is the power and the magic of Techstars," said Romig.

To learn more about mentorship at Techstars, click here.

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