527 applications for TechStars this year

[ctingom]

http://www.techstars.org/2009/03/21/applications-are-closed-for-2009/

[ivankirigin]

Is that a good metric to track? My intuition is that not all applications are equal. A good metric might be "if I had N copies of the team, and unlimited money, how many of these would I accept?"

You can get 2X the applications, and 0.5X the acceptable applications - depending on the pool.

[tlrobinson → ivankirigin]

It's up 34%, but that's not particularly surprising since they expanded to Boston, it's now for two cities.

It could just be that 34% is willing to participate in Boston but not Boulder.

[andrewhyde → ivankirigin]

I have not talked to David much about this, but the early indication was the applications and quality were much higher this year.

Certainly, that was the theme from TechStars for a Day.

[jwilliams]

This feels like good news, but I'm not sure I know enough to read into it -- any good theories on the root cause if this?

[vaksel → jwilliams]

a portion came from organic growth

a portion came from lots of programmers losing their jobs due to a bad economy and deciding to try their luck at the startup game.

a portion came from programmers thinking they have a better chance in a down economy

[jwilliams → vaksel]

Well I guess I was wondering how these various portions are contributing.

I know it's unlikely -- But it would be interesting to see an exit survey from this or YC's current round.

[pclark]

doesn't seem like a huge amount. How many startups do they accept each batch?

[andrewhyde → pclark]

10 for Boulder and 10 for Boston.

[immad]

Whoops I did 500 submissions the other day. I hope they didn't count them all.