American Idol, Startup Style: TechStars Reality Show to Debut on Bloomberg TV

TechStars, the seed-stage investment and incubator program for entrepreneurs, announced today that it will be the subject of a series starting this fall on Bloomberg TV. The show, called “TechStars” (see trailer below), follows the inaugural New York program, which ran for three months earlier this year. The show will debut September 13.

TechStars holds three-month startup programs in Boston, Boulder, Seattle, and now New York. The program’s philosophy is to provide not just seed funding, but mentorship and connections meant to help entrepreneurs get a strong enough footing to launch their companies successfully when they leave the program.

In the trailer, TechStars New York’s managing director David Tisch is seen speaking before the first class of NYC entrepreneurs. “You have a chance to set a massively loud tone in this city,” he says. “Don’t blow that f-ing opportunity.”

In another clip, mentor and venture capitalist Roger Ehrenberg remarks in not-so-kind terms about one of the startups, which isn’t named. “If they keep that cockiness and that ego, they’re really going to screw themselves,” says Ehrenberg, founder and managing partner of IA Ventures. Ehrenberg is also one of our Xconomists.

TechStars founder and CEO David Cohen says such scenes aren’t an over-dramatization of what life really is like for TechStars entrepreneurs. “There’s a lot of tough love. It’s not all flowers and sunshine,” says Cohen, another Xconomist. “It’s very real.” Tisch

Author: Arlene Weintraub

Arlene is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences and technology. She was previously a senior health writer based out of the New York City headquarters of BusinessWeek, where she wrote hundreds of articles that explored both the science and business of health. Her freelance pieces have been published in USA Today, US News & World Report, Technology Review, and other media outlets. Arlene has won awards from the New York Press Club, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Her book about the anti-aging industry, Selling the Fountain of Youth, was published by Basic Books in September 2010.