By David Brown, Techstars Cofounder and CEO

Today I am announcing that I am going to be stepping down as Techstars’ CEO sometime in 2021. 

Let me start by saying that from a personal perspective, I love being Techstars’ CEO and though this will be a big change, I am not going anywhere - my heart remains in every part of this business. Having different leaders at various times can make an invaluable impact to the success and trajectory of a company’s long journey and as a founder, leader and board member, I want to see Techstars be all that it can be. The rest of the board and I believe that it’s the right time for a change to take us forward on the strategic path we’ve laid out. I will stay very involved in the business and, of course, will remain a major shareholder and board member. 

Things are going very well at Techstars. I know many of you feel and see that up close and personal, and our trajectory has been and is incredible. This change is about optimizing the future. To grow the way we want to in the next phase of the Techstars story, we need some fresh perspective and skill sets added to our already strong leadership. 

Thoughtful leadership evolution in growing and scaling companies is healthy. It happens in strong, successful, mission-driven companies all the time. We’ve seen it over and over again in our own investment portfolio - and helped to mentor our founders through these strategic decisions and transitions. It’s all part of the journey. 

I will remain CEO until we find the right person to take the helm through a thoughtful transition. This will take some time, likely through the middle of next year. Once the new CEO is in place, I will transition to an advisory role and spokesperson for Techstars, focusing mostly on our portfolio of entrepreneurs, and will maintain my current role on the board of directors.

Thank you for all your support. I love Techstars, our mission, our founders, our team and partners, and all the incredible impact we make together. Here’s to our future!

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