Andrew Hyde lives in Boulder, Colorado and travels frequently.

Full Circle ( Startup Weekend, Startup Week + Techstars)

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The top two companies that have had a positive impact on my life are Startup Weekend and Techstars. Big news about both today, as told in how I view it:

The company I founded (and moved on, and rejoined after travel) was just acquired by the company I was the first non-founder employee at (and moved on, and now rejoined after joining the first, first).

Full circle.

Startup Weekend became UP Global when it transitioned into a non profit which is when I I exited to start running other movements like Startup Digest and Startup Next. All of these programs are now a proud part of Techstars. This is inspiring and phenomenally good news.. and hysterical. I was the first non founder employee of TechStars. During the period that I kept showing up to the office pretending I had a job (and eventually actually having a job) I started Startup Weekend. The year I left Techstars I started Startup Week which joined with UP Global in 2014.

I’m extremely excited for the future. The two companies that made the most impact on me as a person are joining up.

TechStars coverage.

UP Global coverage. 

TechCrunch coverage. 

I have to thank David Cohen for taking a random meeting with me and letting me hang out in 2007 pushing me to do big things. Huge thank you to Brad Feld who has reached superhuman status in my book as a supporter of community. Thanks to Marc Nager for bringing new life and showing the world Startup Weekend. The biggest thanks would have to go to the thousands of volunteers that make our programs work. These volunteers give back to their communities to make them a better place for entrepreneurship and are just stunningly good people.

I’ve seen both companies as an early founder or employee. I love them both. I’m excited to see them both grow with this partnership.

So what is next for Startup Week? We get to continue to grow and support entrepreneurship around the world!

What is next for Startup Weekend? We get to continue to grow and support entrepreneurship around the world!

What is next for Techstars? Well, I plan to bring back my hand screen printed notebooks (as modeled by Dick Costolo here).

My office will shift from various coffeeshops around the world to various coffeeshops around the world plus the Techstars office.

I’ll keep my ears open on new programs to develop and other ways to help everyone in the world have access to experiencing entrepreneurship.

The future is bright.

The future is bright.

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Comments

4 responses to “Full Circle ( Startup Weekend, Startup Week + Techstars)”

  1. heyrich Avatar
    heyrich

    Kudos and congratulations, my friend.

    This is a big thing for all people and orgs involved. It is fair to expect great things when there are great companies and terrific people engaged – all sharing the same #givefirst mindset and all on a mission to encourage, develop, and connect entrepreneurs.

    Well done, humanity.

  2. mooreds Avatar
    mooreds

    Congrats, Andrew. Funny how the world works sometimes.

  3. Alex Rodriguez Avatar
    Alex Rodriguez

    Congrats Andrew. I just started following your blog and I’m a huge fan already!

  4. arinewman Avatar
    arinewman

    Andrew – what a ride its been thus far, and indeed the future is bright. Amazing how these two entities were birthed out of the same primordial startup stew and are now re-united. I hope you are proud of the role you’ve played in the development of both organizations. Looking forward to seeing you more often!

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