Landon Howell, a longtime Techstars mentor and entrepreneur, practices what he calls, “entrepreneurial empathy.” “Entrepreneurship is lonely and tough,”said Howell. “I’m a non-judgemental person who the founders can trust.”

Howell is part of the much-lauded Techstars mentor network. The 5,000-strong group includes people from across every industry including aerospace, finance, software engineering, education, fintech, healthcare, sustainability and more. Like Howell, many are drawn to mentoring having been in the position of mentee. 

“If it were not for a few key conversations with mentors, things for me could have turned out very differently,” said Howell. 

By participating in mentor-madness and forming deep relationships before, during and after accelerator programs and startup weekends, mentors are an integral part of the Techstars ecosystem and its secret sauce. 

And in today’s rather turbulent market, having an advocate is a little like having a superhero in your corner. 

Yvenique Lovinsky, Techstars investment associate who regularly works with mentors in the Techstars Detroit powered by JP Morgan program, couldn’t agree more. “I call them The Avengers,” said Lovinsky. “Our mentors’ shared superpower is their ability to instill courage and confidence in our founders by helping them understand how to leverage their innate superpower needed to execute their companies’ vision.” 

Howell, Neha Singh and 82 others were recently named All-Stars for their tireless efforts and profound impact on Techstars founders. The all-stars were nominated by Techstars program managers. 

Singh, JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking Vice President of Marketing Strategy for the Innovation Economy, started as a mentor for the Washington D.C. Founder Catalyst Pre-Accelerator Program and later went on to be a mentor for the 2022 Techstars Washington D.C. powered by J.P. Morgan accelerator program. There she gave workshops on marketing, branding, paid media, and messaging to founders. She was instantly impressed. 

“The founders are phenomenal and come with extremely impressive backgrounds,” said Singh who focused her talks on providing frameworks and platforms to help ensure valuable marketing resources weren’t wasted needlessly. 

“Marketing is a tricky space,” said Singh. ”Many founders get stuck spending their marketing dollars on unnecessary hires, agencies, or the wrong marketing channels. As mentors, we can be a soundboard for founders, and guide them towards the best strategy or tools for their specific business.”

It didn’t take long for Singh to realize she had to get more involved. Sara Wadud, global mentorship program manager, was thrilled. With high-caliber, diverse mentors like Singh involved, Techstars can continue to connect unstoppable founders, wherever they are, with connections and champions who open doors and offer support. 

It is important that founders know they not only belong in those rooms but own them once the doors are open.” added Lovinsky. 

When Wadud brought the 84 all-stars from across the Techstars family of accelerators together for a recent zoom call, the web of connections expanded even further. 

“The mentors have historically only interacted with other mentors from their program,” said Wadud. “I loved having the worlds collide like that.”

Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet joined the celebration and praised the newly named all-stars for their dedication and commitment to the founders. The mentors will receive an invitation to join the rich Techstars Discord network as well as other perks. Once on Discord, Wadud knows the connections, networking and support for founders will only continue to flourish. 

“Our mentors love being in the trenches with the founders,” said Wadud. “It means something to be a Techstars mentor.” 

Wadud welcomes applications from individuals who wish to share their passion with others. To learn more about mentorship, CLICK HERE.

Techstars Los Angeles: Adam Dole

Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth: Ajith Pai

The Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator: Ali Goldstein Norup

Stockholm Techstars Accelerator: Anders Gustavsson

Torino Cities of the Future: Andrea Baldereschi

Techstars Stockholm: Andris Merkulovs

Techstars JPM Washington DC: Andy Greenberg

Techstars Boston: Anuj Adhiya

Techstars Sustainability Paris: Arnaud Weiss

Techstars Boston: Ben Greene

Techstars NYC / Comcast NBCUniversal: Bharat Krish

Techstars Stockholm: Bojan Lazic

Workforce Development: Brian Bar

Techstars Toronto: Brice Scheschuk

Techstars Sustainability Paris: Caroline Franczia

Techstars Iowa: Cassie Edgar

Techstars Austin: Colin Gardiner

Techstars + ABN AMRO: Dagmar Van Ravenswaaij Claassen

Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Dan Driscoll

Techstars NYC / Comcast NBCUniversal: Dave Shor

Techstars NYC: David Pace

The Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator: David Ross

Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: David Woessner

Torino Cities of the Future: Dennis Levien

Torino Cities of the Future Techstars Accelerator: Diego Goldesten

Techstars Tel Aviv: Elan Levy

Torino Cities of the Future Techstars Accelerator: Emilio Cosso

Techstars Crypto Boston: Farid Haque

Techstars Berlin: Federico Travella

Techstars NYC: Greg Kristof

Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Jamie Tomasello

Techstars Anywhere: Jane Tran

Techstars Iowa: Jeff Reed

Techstars Miami Powered by J.P. Morgan: Jennifer Deare

Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Jim Tenzillo

Techstars Riyadh: Johann Romefort

Techstars Los Angeles: John Zimmerman

Techstars Iowa: Jon Woodard

Build In Tulsa Techstars: Jonathan Badeen

Stockholm Techstars Accelerator: Josefin Gullbrandsson

Techstars Anywhere: Josh Sturgeon

Build In Tulsa Techstars: Kameron Hypolite

Techstars Anywhere: Kate Brodock

Techstars Iowa: Kaylee Williams

Build In Tulsa Techstars: Kelly Roark

Minnesota Twins & Farm to Fork: Kelly Roark

Techstars Tulsa: Kelly Roark

Techstars Austin: Kevin King

Techstars Atlanta Powered by Cox Enterprises: Landon Howell

Techstars Seattle: Landon Howell

Build In Tulsa Techstars: Lauren Washington

Techstars EnergyTech: Leo Trudel

Techstars Anywhere: Mark Lambert

Techstars + ABN AMRO: Martin Cass

Techstars EnergyTech: Matt Candler

Techstars Toronto: Max Kaizen

Build In Tulsa Techstars: Mia Howard

Build In Tulsa Techstars: Miles Dotson

Techstars Tulsa: Miles Dotson

Techstars Riyadh: Morrad Irsane

Techstars Sports Indy: Myles Grote

JPM Washington DC: Neha Singh

Techstars Washington DC Powered by J.P. Morgan: Neha Singh (JP Morgan)

Techstars Toronto: Nic Haralambous

Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth: Patrick Brown

Equinor and Techstars Energy: Pete Blake

Techstars Toronto: Raymond Luk

Techstars London: Rizwan Khan

Workforce Development: Sara Sietski

TS + ABN AMRO Future of Finance: Sebastiaan Vaessen

Techstars Sustainability Paris: Sera Evcimen

Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth: Sheril Appel

Minnesota Twins & Farm to Fork: Stephanie Rich

Techstars Chicago: Stu Grubbs

Techstars Future of Longevity: Susan Golden

Equinor and Techstars Energy: Tallak Thorleifsson

Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan: Tamira Chapman

TS + ABN AMRO Future of Finance: Tariq Khan

Atlanta Powered by J.P. Morgan: Thomas Knoll

Techstars Boulder: Tif Lien

Techstars Boulder: Tim Grace

Techstars Chicago: Tom Cirone

Techstars Future of Longevity: Wendi Burkhardt

Techstars Sports Indy: Yanni Hufnagel

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