A successful Birmingham entrepreneur who stepped up as Techstars' local managing director in March has big plans for the accelerator.
The accelerator recently relocated to Innovation Depot shortly after hiring a new director and program manager.
That entrepreneur is Matt Jaeh, who co-founded ProctorU and made an exit of over half a billion dollars in 2020. He took on his new role as former managing director Nate Schmidt moved up within Techstars as general manager of America's East and head of product and founder experience.
Jaeh said he is looking for confident founders who "know and understand their strengths and weaknesses, can take feedback and have the grit to make it to the end," for the accelerator in a Q&A published by Techstars.
He also wants founders who are looking to solve a well-researched and validated problem with a solution that people will pay for.
"Lastly, I want evidence of traction, trial and error and execution," Jaeh said. "Show me that you know how to set an objective or goal and demonstrate how you are measuring your success.
Jaeh said coming from Los Angeles, he was shocked to find how great Birmingham is.
"They don't call Birmingham the 'Magic City' for nothing," he said. "You can feel the energy in the air. The growth in the tech and startup scene over the past decade has been incredible. Including my company, ProctorU, we've had over five companies exit north of $500 million, with two being over a billion dollars. I believe this is due to the culture, community, infrastructure and support of partners like Alabama Power. All the founders that have come here are always amazed at how welcoming, supportive and accessible everyone is."
