Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet on Thursday criticized a blog post penned by Chris DeVore, a longtime Seattle investor who ran Techstars Seattle as managing director from 2014 to 2019.
In the blog post, titled “What went wrong at Techstars,” DeVore called out strategic decisions such as leaning on corporate sponsors “at the expense of founders” and altering the incentive system for local managing directors.
DeVore published his post Wednesday following news that Techstars was shutting down its Seattle program amid other changes at the global accelerator company.
Gavet responded to DeVore’s post on LinkedIn.
“Chris – now I understand the ‘professional troublemaker’ as your LinkedIn headline,” Gavet wrote. “Perhaps consider adding ‘facts and data don’t matter’ to it, given the creative liberties in your Techstars narrative.”
She added: “If rather than posting a hit piece on social media, you want to have a real business discussion with me about what we’re planning to do in Seattle and around the world, please don’t hesitate to ping me. I love a good debate as long as they’re fact based.”
Then, in response to her own comment, Gavet continued, detailing Techstars’ plans this year and commenting on the decision to shut down in Seattle.
“I understand your emotional reaction about Techstars not running an accelerator in Seattle anymore (or maybe you’re just trying to promote your own business?),” wrote Gavet, a former exec at Compass and Priceline who became Techstars CEO in 2021. “We will continue to support entrepreneurs from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest but just not the exact same way we have done in the past.”
GeekWire reported Wednesday on the surprising closure of Techstars Seattle, one of the pillars of Seattle’s tech community that graduated more than 200 startups through its accelerator programs since launching in 2010.
The news came as a shock to many people associated with Techstars Seattle, particularly given that it was one of Techstars’ best-performing accelerators as measured by returns and future funding for participating startups.
The program just held its 15th Demo Day last month.
Techstars said it is focusing on markets with high concentrations of VC activity.
Gavet published her own blog post Wednesday about “Techstars 2.0,” outlining the company’s new focus and its headquarters relocation from Boulder, Colo. — where Techstars is also shutting down an accelerator — to New York City. The post does not mention Seattle.
“We know that founders are more likely to succeed when they are plugged into a thriving ecosystem — because no one succeeds alone,” Gavet wrote. “So we’re doubling-down on running in-person programs in the largest tech ecosystems so entrepreneurs can be surrounded by the highest concentration of VCs, startups, talent, mentors, and support.”
We’ve followed up with Gavet to learn more about Techstars’ future plans in Seattle.
Techstars laid off 20 people, or 7% of its staff, last month, according to The Information. Techstars, founded in 2006, is also pausing operations in Austin, TechCrunch reported in December.
Update: DeVore posted a response on Twitter Friday with a line from Shakespeare: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
