All articles by Ryan Broshar

 

Introducing Matchstick Ventures’ Newest Partner – Natty Zola

I’m thrilled to announce today that Natty Zola will be joining Matchstick as our newest partner! Natty joins us in Boulder, CO where he is the Managing Director for the Techstars Boulder program. Natty also wrote a blog post detailing why he’s excited to join Matchstick on his personal blog. I’d encourage you to check

 

Startup Pilot Blind Spots: Lessons from Target

I recently held an AMA on corporate innovation with Cory Hooyman, lead innovation manager at Target. We talked about corporate innovation and how to bring new practices and methods into your team and company. From the Target perspective, what blind spots do startups have in pursuing a pilot, and how should they make a pilot

 

Startups Interacting with Large Corporations: Lessons from Target

I recently held an AMA on corporate innovation with Cory Hooyman, lead innovation manager at Target. We talked about corporate innovation and how to bring new practices and methods into your team and company. Is there one thing that startup founders need to know to best interact with large corporations? Ryan: The nice thing about

 

5 Key Factors to a Successful Pilot

Last week, I wrote about the many things—testing a new product, exploring the potential for a working relationship, understanding your market better—that make corporations want to run pilots with startups. This week, I want to go one step further and lay out some of key factors to actually running a successful pilot with a corporation.

 

What Actually Motivates a Corporation to Pilot with a Startup?

Working with a corporation can offer all kinds of opportunities to a startup. It lets you test new functions of your app, figure out implementation techniques, and, most importantly, learn from and build a lasting relationship with a potential partner. I’ve watched this process first-hand at the Techstars Retail, where many of our startups have

 

Techstars Retail with Target: Driving Innovation for Retail

I’m excited to announce that we’ve opened applications for the 2017 class of Techstars Retail in partnership with Target. You can apply online by going to www.techstars.com/apply. Applications are open through April 9th and the program starts in July. Watch this video for a great overview of the program. Recapping Last Year In case you

 

#TCSW15 + #betadotmn Recap

The week after the week has come and gone and I’ve had some time to reflect on all things TCSW. First off…wow.  I was absolutely blown away by the startups, the events, and overall enthusiasm sustained throughout TCSW15.  I’m not just playing cheerleader here either. Well done everyone.  Hats off to you! It really felt like

 

Where I’ll Be During #TCSW15

The 2nd annual Twin Cities Startup Week is next week and this year it really blew up. 60 events over the entire week and, by the looks of it, many events are completely sold out. Whoa. The week will be fun, busy and crazy.  Kind of like life in a startup! Here’s what I’m looking forward

 

Calling All Minnesotans!

Lately I’ve been witnessing a positive trend for the Twin Cities startup community. One that I think positions it uniquely amongst other markets I’ve visited. At least once a week I get contacted by a Minnesotan who lives somewhere else but wants to move back. They either work for or started a tech company and

 

Communication Cadence for Startups

As they say, communication is key. Never more is this so than during a fundraising process. Maybe even more so when not fundraising for startups. First off, if you’re fundraising you should have a weekly update email. Start sending these out at least a month before you start fundraising. This should include anyone you’ve targeted

 

Welcome to the BrosharBlog

Hello Internet, My name is Ryan Broshar. This is my blog. Broshar+Blog = BrosharBlog. Genius, right? I’m excited to finally get the blog up and running. There are a lot of blogs out there. Why should you read this one? To be honest, I’m not really sure yet. This is a bit of a personal