20 VC 027: Greg Rogers on Techstars, Mentors and The Potential for Fintech

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2015

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Rogers is Managing Director at Techstars, the world’s leading accelerator programme for early stage technology start-ups and is responsible for the Barclays Accelerator. Prior to joining Techstars, he spent eleven years in New York City as an entrepreneur and senior manager. Most recently, he was founder and CEO of Pictela, a super rich media technology company that was acquired by AOL in 2010. An active angel, Greg was an early investor in Schedulicity and has recently co-founded SmartUp, a new ed-tech company with Frank Meehan (Siri), Brent Hoberman (Lastminute.com), and Barry Smith (Skyscanner).

Items Mentioned in Today’s Show:

The Fundraising Rules by Mark Peter-Davis

Brent Hoberman, Frank Meehan, Jon Bradford

In today’s episode you will learn:

1.) How Greg got into the TechStars world?

2.) What attracted Greg to the the Fintech space and how has he seen Fintech develop over the last 5 years?

3.) What areas within the Fintech space Greg finds most interesting and why?

4.) What does Greg see the future of Fintech looking like? Does he see any trends arising in the space in 2015?

5.) What does Techstars offer startups and what do they take in return?

6.) What does Greg think are the characteristics of effective mentors? Are mentors necessary for startups in their early growth?

7.) What is Greg’s new venture, SmartUp. Who is involved and what are his plans for the future of SmartUp?

We finish today’s episode with a quick fire round where we hear Greg’s plans for the next five years, what tip Greg would give Fintech entrepreneurs and the 3 companies from TechStars or Barclays Accelerator that Greg is most excited about and why?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to episode 27 of the 20 minute VC with your host, Harry Stebbings.
0:05.9	Now, I am hugely excited to welcome our guest today, Greg Rogers.
0:10.7	Greg is currently managing director at TechStars, the world's leading accelerator program
0:15.7	for early stage technology startups and is responsible for the Barclays Accelerator.
0:21.9	Prior to joining TechStars, he spent 11 years in New York City as an entrepreneur and senior manager.
0:27.1	However, most recently, he was the founder and CEO of Pickteller, a super rich media technology
0:32.6	company that was acquired by AOL in 2010. Since then, Greg has served as AOL's senior vice president of premium advertising until 2013.
0:43.4	In today's episode, we will delve into all things, Accelerator Programs, FinTech,
0:48.7	and talk about Greg's new venture, SmartUp.
0:51.7	But first, it's time to announce our book of the week, and this week's book
0:55.7	is The Thundraising Rules by Mark Peter Davis. Now, Mark was a guest on the show previously.
1:02.4	If you haven't listened to it, check it out. It's episode eight. And since the interview,
1:06.5	his book has generated huge amount of response from our audience and has provided incredibly
1:12.2	actionable and useful tips for founders looking to enter the fundraising game. But without further
1:18.1	ado, it's time to dive into our interview with Greg. Three, two, one, zero. You have now
1:27.0	arrived at your destination.
1:29.3	Greg, welcome to the 20-minute VC.
1:31.4	I'm so excited to have you on the show.
1:33.9	Thanks, Harry. Thanks for having me.
1:36.4	I'm always happy to help and contribute.
1:39.2	Now, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got into the tech star's world?
1:49.3	Sure. Well, I started off um as an entrepreneur so spent 11 years in new york city and um i really caught the entrepreneurial book very early on
	...

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