David Cohen (entrepreneur)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David G. Cohen | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cohen in 2022 | |
| Born | 1968 (age 57–58) |
| Occupations | Founder and co-CEO, Techstars |
David Cohen (born 1968) is an American entrepreneur and the founder of Pinpoint Technologies, iContact.com, and Earfeeder. He is also an angel investor with a portfolio of more than 100 companies.[1][2] Cohen is best known as the co-founder of Techstars, a mentorship-based startup accelerator.[3][4]
He and Brad Feld co-authored Do More Faster: Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup.[5]
Cohen was born in 1968 in DeLand, FL.
Early career
Cohen began working as a software engineer in 1991 when he became the Director of Development for Automated Dispatch Services, Inc., where he worked until 1994.[4]
Cohen founded Pinpoint Technologies in 1993. He was its CTO and vice president of research and development.[citation needed] The company developed public safety and EMS dispatch vehicle software.[citation needed] Zoll Medical Corporation acquired Pinpoint Technologies in 1999.[citation needed] Cohen stayed with the company until 2004.[citation needed]
Cohen then founded iContact.com, a social networking service for mobile devices. It is now defunct.[citation needed] In 2006, Cohen founded the music service earFeeder.com.[6] SonicSwap bought earFeeder.com in 2006.[citation needed]
Techstars
Cohen is the founder and co-CEO of Techstars, a startup accelerator program[3] he found in 2006 with Brad Feld,[6] Jared Polis, and David Brown. The first program ran in 2007.[6] Cohen designed Techstars to improve the existing system of angel investing and to provide more support to startups.[6][7] In a speech at the Future of Entrepreneurship Education Summit, Cohen said that he was particularly interested in improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Techstars' launch city, Boulder, Colorado.[2] Now, Techstars has dozens of locations globally that accept new startups regularly.[citation needed]
The Techstars experience was turned into a reality TV show on Bloomberg TV.[citation needed] Techstars invests $118,000 in each of its program startups. The startups also receive mentorship and pitch opportunities during the program.[citation needed] Techstars accepts approximately 1% of applicants.[2][8]
