So long and thanks for all the ??

Hi there,?

I’ve some big personal news to tell you about.

All the way back in 2017 I remember my first call with Blake Caldwell. We talked about how we could work together to save a pre-accelerator program that we had run in our separate countries called Startup Next, which was being retired by Techstars. We knew how valuable the program was to founders and we didn’t want them to lose this resource. Little did we know that over the next four years Boost would become the global entity it is today.

The inaugural Techstars Startup Next Dublin cohort of 2015 ??

Within a few months of online meetings between Dublin and LA (before remote was what it is today) we had our first cohort up and running for the Fall of 2017, taking place in Detroit, Dublin, LA, London, and Toronto.?

Over the next four years Boost grew, with programs opening up in 16 cities across the US, Canada, Europe, UK and Africa. And half of this growth took place during the pandemic, when we rewrote and redesigned the program to make sure we could support founders, and we did all of this within a three week window!

What's truly amazing, and probably one of the things I am most proud of, is the impact Boost has made for founders in ecosystems around the world; all of which was made possible by a phenomenal group of program leaders, mentors and speakers. The results speak for themselves. To date, these programs have supported 300+ startups, who have gone on to raise $85m in funding and join the world's top accelerators.

However, in these last four years there’s been some great, and not so great life events for me.?

I was blessed with the greatest event of my life, I married my very wonderful wife, Jessica, who is one of the most supportive and smartest people I know;? her encouragement and advice was everything, especially while growing Boost during trying times.

We faced an emotional battle finding ourselves in limbo through the pandemic, which I think we can all agree has been an assault on the senses in every which way. We found ourselves in a lengthy visa process that took over 2 years, which finally culminated in a transatlantic move from Ireland to the US. One word to explain all that could be “tiring”, but if I’m being honest, the real words are, “burnt out”.?

With all of that in mind, I’ve decided, after 4 years of building Boost, to step back to pursue other areas of interest that, to be honest, I'm still exploring. I will tell you all more about it once I know more myself.

I can never put into words how grateful I am for what Boost has developed into and for the time, effort, and support from the many program leaders, mentors, and speakers that have helped so many founders.?

Equally, it’s tough to find more words to say how fortunate I am to have had the support of two very important people in my life, my wife Jessica and of course my co-founder Blake.?

In the time I’ve gotten to know Blake, his passion and vision for supporting early stage founders is quite mesmerizing. I’ve learned a lot from him and it’s evident that his plans for the future of Boost and the support for founders is going to be one I watch from afar with a lot of excitement.

That’s my big news. Thanks for taking the time to read through all of this and if I can be of any help or you have an idea on what Gene 4.0 might bejust drop me a line here...I’m only a tweet, email, or call away.?

So thanks for all the fish and all the best for now,

Gene