Landon Howell, a longtime Techstars mentor and entrepreneur, practices what he calls, “entrepreneurial empathy.” “Entrepreneurship is lonely and tough,”said Howell. “I’m a non-judgemental person who the founders can trust.”
Howell is part of the much-lauded Techstars mentor network. The 5,000-strong group includes people from across every industry including aerospace, finance, software engineering, education, fintech, healthcare, sustainability and more. Like Howell, many are drawn to mentoring having been in the position of mentee.
“If it were not for a few key conversations with mentors, things for me could have turned out very differently,” said Howell.
By participating in mentor-madness and forming deep relationships before, during and after accelerator programs and startup weekends, mentors are an integral part of the Techstars ecosystem and its secret sauce.
And in today’s rather turbulent market, having an advocate is a little like having a superhero in your corner.
Yvenique Lovinsky, Techstars investment associate who regularly works with mentors in the Techstars Detroit powered by JP Morgan program, couldn’t agree more. “I call them The Avengers,” said Lovinsky. “Our mentors’ shared superpower is their ability to instill courage and confidence in our founders by helping them understand how to leverage their innate superpower needed to execute their companies’ vision.”
Howell, Neha Singh and 82 others were recently named All-Stars for their tireless efforts and profound impact on Techstars founders. The all-stars were nominated by Techstars program managers.
Singh, JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking Vice President of Marketing Strategy for the Innovation Economy, started as a mentor for the Washington D.C. Founder Catalyst Pre-Accelerator Program and later went on to be a mentor for the 2022 Techstars Washington D.C. powered by J.P. Morgan accelerator program. There she gave workshops on marketing, branding, paid media, and messaging to founders. She was instantly impressed.
“The founders are phenomenal and come with extremely impressive backgrounds,” said Singh who focused her talks on providing frameworks and platforms to help ensure valuable marketing resources weren’t wasted needlessly.
“Marketing is a tricky space,” said Singh. ”Many founders get stuck spending their marketing dollars on unnecessary hires, agencies, or the wrong marketing channels. As mentors, we can be a soundboard for founders, and guide them towards the best strategy or tools for their specific business.”
It didn’t take long for Singh to realize she had to get more involved. Sara Wadud, global mentorship program manager, was thrilled. With high-caliber, diverse mentors like Singh involved, Techstars can continue to connect unstoppable founders, wherever they are, with connections and champions who open doors and offer support.
It is important that founders know they not only belong in those rooms but own them once the doors are open.” added Lovinsky.
When Wadud brought the 84 all-stars from across the Techstars family of accelerators together for a recent zoom call, the web of connections expanded even further.
“The mentors have historically only interacted with other mentors from their program,” said Wadud. “I loved having the worlds collide like that.”
Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet joined the celebration and praised the newly named all-stars for their dedication and commitment to the founders. The mentors will receive an invitation to join the rich Techstars Discord network as well as other perks. Once on Discord, Wadud knows the connections, networking and support for founders will only continue to flourish.
“Our mentors love being in the trenches with the founders,” said Wadud. “It means something to be a Techstars mentor.”
Wadud welcomes applications from individuals who wish to share their passion with others. To learn more about mentorship, CLICK HERE.
Techstars Los Angeles: Adam Dole
Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth: Ajith Pai
The Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator: Ali Goldstein Norup
Stockholm Techstars Accelerator: Anders Gustavsson
Torino Cities of the Future: Andrea Baldereschi
Techstars Stockholm: Andris Merkulovs
Techstars JPM Washington DC: Andy Greenberg
Techstars Boston: Anuj Adhiya
Techstars Sustainability Paris: Arnaud Weiss
Techstars Boston: Ben Greene
Techstars NYC / Comcast NBCUniversal: Bharat Krish
Techstars Stockholm: Bojan Lazic
Workforce Development: Brian Bar
Techstars Toronto: Brice Scheschuk
Techstars Sustainability Paris: Caroline Franczia
Techstars Iowa: Cassie Edgar
Techstars Austin: Colin Gardiner
Techstars + ABN AMRO: Dagmar Van Ravenswaaij Claassen
Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Dan Driscoll
Techstars NYC / Comcast NBCUniversal: Dave Shor
Techstars NYC: David Pace
The Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator: David Ross
Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: David Woessner
Torino Cities of the Future: Dennis Levien
Torino Cities of the Future Techstars Accelerator: Diego Goldesten
Techstars Tel Aviv: Elan Levy
Torino Cities of the Future Techstars Accelerator: Emilio Cosso
Techstars Crypto Boston: Farid Haque
Techstars Berlin: Federico Travella
Techstars NYC: Greg Kristof
Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Jamie Tomasello
Techstars Anywhere: Jane Tran
Techstars Iowa: Jeff Reed
Techstars Miami Powered by J.P. Morgan: Jennifer Deare
Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Jim Tenzillo
Techstars Riyadh: Johann Romefort
Techstars Los Angeles: John Zimmerman
Techstars Iowa: Jon Woodard
Build In Tulsa Techstars: Jonathan Badeen
Stockholm Techstars Accelerator: Josefin Gullbrandsson
Techstars Anywhere: Josh Sturgeon
Build In Tulsa Techstars: Kameron Hypolite
Techstars Anywhere: Kate Brodock
Techstars Iowa: Kaylee Williams
Build In Tulsa Techstars: Kelly Roark
Minnesota Twins & Farm to Fork: Kelly Roark
Techstars Tulsa: Kelly Roark
Techstars Austin: Kevin King
Techstars Atlanta Powered by Cox Enterprises: Landon Howell
Techstars Seattle: Landon Howell
Build In Tulsa Techstars: Lauren Washington
Techstars EnergyTech: Leo Trudel
Techstars Anywhere: Mark Lambert
Techstars + ABN AMRO: Martin Cass
Techstars EnergyTech: Matt Candler
Techstars Toronto: Max Kaizen
Build In Tulsa Techstars: Mia Howard
Build In Tulsa Techstars: Miles Dotson
Techstars Tulsa: Miles Dotson
Techstars Riyadh: Morrad Irsane
Techstars Sports Indy: Myles Grote
JPM Washington DC: Neha Singh
Techstars Washington DC Powered by J.P. Morgan: Neha Singh (JP Morgan)
Techstars Toronto: Nic Haralambous
Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth: Patrick Brown
Equinor and Techstars Energy: Pete Blake
Techstars Toronto: Raymond Luk
Techstars London: Rizwan Khan
Workforce Development: Sara Sietski
TS + ABN AMRO Future of Finance: Sebastiaan Vaessen
Techstars Sustainability Paris: Sera Evcimen
Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth: Sheril Appel
Minnesota Twins & Farm to Fork: Stephanie Rich
Techstars Chicago: Stu Grubbs
Techstars Future of Longevity: Susan Golden
Equinor and Techstars Energy: Tallak Thorleifsson
Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Tamira Chapman
TS + ABN AMRO Future of Finance: Tariq Khan
Atlanta Powered by J.P. Morgan: Thomas Knoll
Techstars Boulder: Tif Lien
Techstars Boulder: Tim Grace
Techstars Chicago: Tom Cirone
Techstars Future of Longevity: Wendi Burkhardt
Techstars Sports Indy: Yanni Hufnagel