Techstars San Francisco Selection Process - March 2025 [Challenge Series]
Sylvia Bouloutas
Last updated
Thank you for applying to Techstars San Francisco and welcome to the next step in our process!
Our goal for every applicant is to go through our selection process and gain valuable knowledge about your business, regardless of the outcome. In order to determine the best 10 fits for our upcoming class, we will ask you to complete a series of exercises around your business.
We’ve put significant thought into the Challenge Series and believe it offers a meaningful way to evaluate your strengths while also providing you with opportunities for reflection and growth. To support you in this process, we’ve drafted a comprehensive FAQ that explains the Challenge Series in detail and highlights why it’s so important to our team. Please take time to review it. Below, you will find an outline of the logistics and details of the Challenge Series. We look forward seeing how you engage with these exercises and to learning more about your vision and approach.
Logistics
All challenges are due January 2 2025 at 11:59pm PST.
Please be aware that only one submission is accepted per applicant. It is crucial that all assignments are completed and uploaded through the submission form. Please submit all deliverables using the form provided, ensuring each section is uploaded in its designated field.
Upload each deliverable in the specified field as a separate PDF:
Commitment Statement
Lean Canvas
KPI Summary
Financial Feasibility
Why are you the right founder(s) to solve this problem?
Jobs To Be Done (Customer Discovery): Combine all materials related to this section into a single PDF before uploading just for this section.
Note: Each deliverable must be uploaded in its assigned field. Combining all documents into one file or uploading files to the wrong section may delay the review process.
Once you submit, you will not be able to edit or resubmit, so please double-check your work before hitting submit. Thank you for your attention to this process!
Commitment Statement - Why are you the right founder(s) for Techstars San Francisco?
Due January 2 End of Day (11:59pm PST)
Background: The Techstars San Francisco program is crafted a lot like the work you've done in this selection process. There will be countless mentors, workshops, and assignments laid out before you, and you get to decide how much effort you're willing to put into it.
Our job is to make sure the ten companies selected are the ones that will take the best advantage of these opportunities. We've seen again and again that the most successful companies are the ones who commit to put their all into the program in order to gain the most value.
Our commitment to you, should you be accepted to participate in the program, is as follows:
Help us get to know you. You've heard our commitment to you, but this road goes two ways. What can we count on for how you will interact with and commit to the program experience, should you be accepted?
While you might be an amazing founder with a compelling and investable business, there’s still something that separates the founders who would benefit the most from Techstars San Francisco. There’s a way of operating and thinking that distinguishes the founders we can help the most. We’d like to better understand your leadership style, problem solving, and your coachability.
Have your CEO write a "commitment statement" (1 paragraph) that demonstrates the communication, accountability, and follow-through we can expect from you as an entrepreneur.
*We would like you to add any important disclosures we should know about to this document as well. Examples may include significant personal debt, current legal disputes, etc.
Lean Canvas - Do you have a succinct grasp of your business model?
Due January 2 End of Day (11:59pm PST)
Background:
In the past, businesses have submitted 50+ page business plans as a means to demonstrate the value of the company they are trying to create. However, we believe the Lean Canvas method is the best means by which a founder can most effectively communicate their venture to investors and other potential stakeholders.
Assignment:
Capture your business model in a portable 1-page diagram. The Lean Canvas is the perfect format for brainstorming possible business models, prioritizing where to start, and tracking ongoing learning.
For a deeper dive, here are some optional videos from the Techstars Entrepreneurs’ Toolkit: Watch the videos.
KPIs - Are you focused on measuring the right things?
Due January 2 End of Day (11:59pm PST)
Background: Companies that are metric-driven outperform their competitors. What gets measured gets improved. However, setting goals too high will lead to losing motivation and credibility. One of our explicit goals at Techstars is to craft the right set of metrics for your startup.
Assignment: Prepare a write-up (no more than one page) that addresses the following questions:
How is your company measuring progress?
What “levers” can you pull to create guaranteed progress within your business? Please include 2-3 of your most important “levers”.
Are your indicators the right ones for your business? Why?
How have your KPIs directly impacted your sales outcomes in the past?
Financial Feasibility - Can You Sustain and Scale Your Business
Due January 2 End of Day (11:59pm PST)
Background:
Understanding your business’s financial health is critical to making informed decisions about growth and sustainability. A solid financial feasibility plan should not only assess your current position but also detail how you plan to allocate funds strategically to achieve your goals. Proper scrutiny of your actuals to date, current cash reserves, and thoughtful use of new funding from Techstars and future investors demonstrates your ability to manage resources effectively and instills confidence in your financial planning.
Assignment:
Prepare a financial feasibility plan that includes the following:
Evaluation of Actuals to Date:
Key Financial Metrics: Revenue (total and segmented), burn rate (gross and net), and cash flow with any irregularities explained.
Growth Metrics: Customer acquisition (total, CAC, and trends) and retention (churn, LTV, and trends).
Financial Health: Runway (based on burn rate and cash on hand) and outstanding obligations (debts or deferred payments). Highlight significant trends or variances from prior projections.
Current Financial Position:
Provide a breakdown of your current cash and any recent funding inflows.
Projected Use of Funds:
Detail your intended use of Techstars and additional funding in a six-month financial roadmap.
Include a breakdown of projected spending by category (e.g., product development, marketing, hiring).
Justify how these expenditures will help achieve specific milestones or outcomes.
Scenario Analysis:
Model at least two scenarios for the next six months:
Conservative Scenario: Adjust for slower growth or unforeseen challenges.
Include a brief analysis of how each scenario affects your cash runway and ability to scale.
Note: If you do not yet have revenue or sufficient financial data to date, provide a clear explanation and focus on other key metrics (e.g., user growth, engagement, pipeline development, or cost structure). Highlight any qualitative or quantitative insights that demonstrate your understanding of your business model and financial health.
Submit a 1 minute video walking us through your assumptions for two different scenarios, and show us how they will affect your business (what happens if you do X? vs what happens if you do Y?). Please include a copy of your model as well.
Submit your work as a video and spreadsheet or Google Sheet here.
Why are you the right founder(s) to solve this problem?
Due January 2 End of Day (11:59pm PST)
Background & Assignment:
Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. We want to understand the extent of your desire to build your business. If you can’t sell us on your vision from a personal place, it’ll be nearly impossible to sell anyone else (such as vital customers or investors).
What’s keeping you committed to your company despite the many challenges you’ve faced along the way? What drives you to solve this problem instead of taking the "easy road out" when building this business gets tough? When life hits you hard from multiple directions, what do you do to overcome the adversity?
Why are you the right founder(s) to solve this problem? What personal duty do you feel you have in striving to change the world with your idea?
We want you to make your case for why you are working on your business. This can be a one-minute video and/or written form of up to one page.
Submit your work as a pdf or a video link (publicly accessible) here.
Jobs To Be Done - How well do you know your customer?
Due January 2 End of Day (11:59pm PST)
Background: We believe that deeply understanding your customers is one of the foundations of successful Techstars San Francisco companies. This helps them grow quicker, withstand competition, improve customer satisfaction, and raise more money (if they want to). One framework for doing customer interviews that we recommend is "Jobs To Be Done."
Assignment:
Please read through the instructions below, and conduct 1-3 JTBD interviews based on the framework described in the included resources.
First, write a paragraph explaining your initial customer segment that you chose to target for these interviews. Who are they? What situation are your potential customers in before finding your company? Be as specific as possible - the narrower the segment, the better. Explain why you chose this group.
Next, complete the timeline and forces diagrams for each of the interviews you conduct (you can also find these templates in the resources below).
Submit your work as a PDF here. (Please put all the deliverables in this section into a single PDF.)
