Accelerating A Techstars Startup

by | Jul 23, 2014 | Design, usability

I was along for the roller coaster ride of Tenacity. A Sprint Accelerator startup, Tenacity  was put through the rigorous Techstars curriculum and came out with national clientele. In the 3 month program Tenacity not only started a mobile health app company, they also refined their UI by making it more user-centric. Not many of the 10 companies in the accelerator took this route, but Tenacity will be solid in a competitive market because they did.

Tenacity wasn’t looking to change their UI when I first met them, but free user testing by Sprint quickly changed their minds. They then contacted me to do wireframes and, on their own initiative, did user surveys and then user interviews with wireframe reviews.

It takes good sense and courage for a startup to take a step back. These MIT and Harvard grads have plenty of each. Each member of the team is distinctly different from the others, giving great appeal, balance and insight to their growing company. Since the Sprint Accelerator is part of the international Techstars network, so is Tenacity and their future is bright and secure cause of the training and connections they now have.

The Tenacity team is now back in Boston and Seattle with strong memories and ties to Kansas City. Meanwhile two of their fellow startups are establishing roots in Kansas City. Look forward to hearing more about:
  • Fit bark: An activity tracker for dogs
  • Sympton.ly: A symptom-tracking platform for conditions like asthma

And coming next Spring, the Sprint Accelerator gets another batch of Techstars startups.