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Jason Seats
Chief Investment Officer at Techstars
Jason Seats is the former Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Techstars, a prominent startup accelerator and venture capital firm. He served in this role from March 2018 until January 2024, when he transitioned to a position as Senior Fund Advisor at Techstars.45
Professional Background
Before becoming CIO, Jason held various positions within Techstars, including Managing Director and Partner. He joined the organization in 2011 and played a critical role in managing Techstars' investment strategy and operations.13
Prior to his tenure at Techstars, Jason was a co-founder of Slicehost, an early cloud computing hosting company that was acquired by Rackspace in 2008. Following the acquisition, he served as Vice President of Software Development for Rackspace Cloud until 2010.13
Education
Jason holds dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Saint Louis University.23
Additional Contributions
In addition to his role at Techstars, Jason was an inaugural member of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, which advises on policies related to small businesses and startups. He is also involved with The Center for American Entrepreneurship, focusing on policy advocacy for entrepreneurs.3
Overall, Jason Seats has a strong background in both entrepreneurship and investment, contributing significantly to the startup ecosystem through his work at Techstars and beyond.
Highlights
What is an entrepreneur’s fundamental skill? I have a metaphor: CANCER, HOUSE FIRE, KNIFE FIGHT
Imagine that you have CANCER. This terminal diagnosis would be a preoccupying thought. Possible treatment, death, next steps, etc.
Now, imagine that the house that you are in catches FIRE. All of a sudden, the cancer diagnosis is irrelevant. It does not matter. The most important thing is escaping the house.
In the hallway, while you find yourself escaping the building, you encounter someone attacking you with a KNIFE. Now, all of a sudden, the burning building and the cancer are irrelevant. The knife fight is the most important thing!
To frame this for entrepreneurs so that they can think about their 'knife fight.' What is the house fire? What is cancer? Because every one of them is LIFE or DEATH. But they have different levels of PRIORITY.
The ability to have a knife fight while not thinking about cancer treatment is a fundamental skill of an entrepreneur. The ability to work on ONE THING at a time.
Kimberly Smith, thanks for shooting this together!
#startups #venturecapital
