Posted by Krista Paul
Techstars had our first “Founder’s Dinner” on Thursday to go over the initial weeks of the program. The official count (as of today):

Been here: 26 Days
Time left: approx 60 days (give or take a week or so for the BIG day)

This means we are already over a quarter of the way finished with the program! It also means we’re nearing the start of the Phase II, which is designated as the “hauling ass on your idea” phase. So eloquently put, David. Bravo.

I want to briefly recap our progress thus far and give a little update on what is to come. I think we’ve made incredible advancement in terms of refining our idea and proving that it can actually be done (sort of important, dontchyathink?) We’ve digested tons and tons of advice from a lot of people within the Boulder tech community and from other introductions made in Techstars. We’ve analyzed each bit of input and used it ultimately to get to where we are now. A lot has changed. A lot has stayed the same. In a nutshell, we are doing a lot more with a lot less. So instead of trying to solve every problem today in travel (a noble, yet stupid feat), we are trying to solve a few specific problems really well. And we are trying to do it pretty freaking fast.

So what’s ahead?
Well, we’ve identified our biggest potential problem: so much coding to be done…only one coder to do it—and have come up with a solid solution. Thanks to Nathan’s various connections in his past world, we have an extremely overqualified coder joining the team next week on a part-time basis with the potential to come on full-time. The two have worked together in the past and complement each other’s weaknesses so it should be a match made in Techstar Heaven. You will see them holding hands throughout the Bunker.

Engaging mentors is still at the forefront of our plans in July, particularly for us business types who aren’t coding all day (believe me, we wish we could). We’ve already engaged some pretty incredible mentors, but I think we could have even done better, so we’re pushing to talk to more people and maximize our exposure to those who want to be involved. I’m also trying to do a better job of keeping track of what we learn, so you will see blogs popping up about specific mentor meetings in my personal blog or here – depending on my mood. 

The last update is regarding our new design. We will be launching the new domain name and design this week. Yeah! More news on that soon. There is still much tweaking to be had with the logo and some other design stuff, but it’s a good start.

In closing, we’ve got a new mantra we are repeating incessantly in our brains as we race into phase two of Techstars (a Brad Feld and David Cohen favorite): “Do or Do Not. There is No Try.” Amen sista.

The TripDoor is going to see some big changes over the summer. We’ve kicked off the TechStars program and embarked on a journey to grow the business and provide a better solution for frequent flyers. You will see a lot of exciting changes to the site over the summer, and we appreciate your feedback throughout the process.

Our blog has traditionally focused on bringing you the best travel news we come across on the web. This summer we are going to take a partial detour to begin blogging about our experiences in TechStars and throughout the evolution of our company. I will continue to blog about travel news as well as my experiences in the program, but you will also see some blogs popping up from other members of the team. I will let them introduce themselves…. ☺

As the first week of TechStars wraps up, I think it’s a good exercise to take a step back and briefly recap some of the most important “aha’s” that came out of the week. In no particular order…

1.    Everybody sucks at something. Actually, at several things. So deal with it.
2.    Establish a rhythm (this one really resonates).
3.    Focus on being tiny….and try to do a lot with a little.
4.    Be FASTER.
5.    Do one thing really well. Only then will you get permission from your users to do other things well.
6.    Engage the right mentors. Then listen.