By Pete Townsend, Managing Director, Techstars Web3

It feels different this time.

We're now well into the next bull run in crypto, but the experience of having lived through the last four cycles puts my mindset firmly in the category of 'restrained optimism' for the long-term growth of the decentralized internet, rather than wild speculation.

Fred Ehrsam, one of the original Coinbase co-founders and now co-founder and general partner at Paradigm, shared some insights with Paradigm's portfolio companies during the last bull run in 2021, and this part jumped out at me as uniquely timeless:

"When things are good, they're never as good as they seem; when things are bad, they're never as bad as they seem. I do not know how the current cycle will play out, or even that it is a cycle at all. I do know that every past cycle has left crypto stronger than where it started. Times when things feel like they are going well are the times to build resiliency and set yourself up for success no matter what the future holds. I hope you embrace that opportunity." Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm

We're certainly embracing this opportunity with the Techstars Web3 Class of 2024, which we largely built before this bull run was in full swing. The timing could not be better for these founders to be connecting with mentors, executing fast and fundraising. We've invested up to $120,000 into each of the 12 companies, and we're now on a mission to help them find their path to product-market fit. To quote Hugh Mc Girr, our Techstars Web3 Investment Principal:

"Find your product market-fit, and the money will follow." Hugh Mc Girr, Techstars

Putting your head down and building for users, focusing on the fundamentals and building for the long term is the space we play in. We sought out founders who signaled that they were prepared to build for the long term, and we looked at over 600 teams to find our top 12. 

This year, we're thrilled to have the support of the team behind Aleph Zero as a Techstars Web3 Innovation Member. Aleph Zero is a layer 1 blockchain that enables teams to deploy scalable, secure, low-cost, and ZK privacy-enhanced products across multiple verticals—from DeFi and gaming to enterprise. They're contributing some amazing technical and commercial expertise to our web3 mentor group, and our founders are excited about working with them.

Antoni Zolciak, Co-Founder of Aleph Zero, stated: "At Aleph Zero, we're thrilled to collaborate with Techstars and contribute to the success of the Web3 Accelerator's class of 2024. With Techstars' proven track record in supporting founders and innovative projects, we aim to empower these entrepreneurs by sharing our expertise in blockchain and privacy-enhancing technologies. Our goal is to equip them with the necessary tools to develop groundbreaking Web3 projects that meet the evolving expectations of users, who demand features comparable to Web2 and beyond. We firmly believe that practical, real-world innovations will shape the future of the internet, and we're excited to help the class of 2024 bring their ideas to life."

In a perfect setting for initiating relationships, we kicked off week one in Dublin on 11th March, with the benefit of inviting locally based mentors to engage the group during a special day of in-person Mentor Madness office hours. We've built a deep pool of mentors over the past three years, and this year, we're focusing on three core mentor profiles: web3 product builders, web3 user growth and partnership experts, and those with strong web3 fundraising chops.

While the program is largely online, we will be taking the show on the road twice more! We’ll descend on London in April (22nd-26th) and New York City in the first week of June (3rd-6th). If you would like to connect in either city, we would love to hear from you.