Power Case Studies

How do you get your tech company off the ground?

 

1. Get coffee with Google.

Rich Miner and Krishna Yeshwant, partners at the local arm of Google Ventures, host occasional “office hours” in Harvard Square’s Crema Café. If your idea is good enough, they might even pull out the the search giant’s VC checkbook.

2. Hire the right tech talent.

No surprise here: You’ll find the smartest computer geeks at MIT, Harvard, and Northeastern’s co-op program. If you’re still having trouble staffing up, look to the Greenhorn Connect blog and job board.

3. Claim a desk at Dogpatch Labs.

Kendall Square’s self-described “frat house for geeks” is a rent-free incubator for startups.

4. Reach for TechStars.

Only one percent of applicants to this Cambridge startup accelerator — which offers a quarter-million dollars in business perks and priceless access to angel investors — get in.

5. Put in 60-plus-hour work weeks.

What, did you think this was going to be easy? — Janelle Nanos