DesmondPieri

"Mass" as in "Massachusetts."

I have endorsed two companies each of which I've worked with for over a year as part of the Boston University Kindle Mentoring program. One of the founders told me this morning that -- in his "networking" to get more endorsements -- he's met some "movers and shakers" in Boston who will be a big help for his business. This is exactly the intended result when the MassChallenge Team added the "endorsement" step to the process. If nothing else, MassChallenge is well thought out. And last year it was well executed by a hoard of people volunteering their time and energy.

Last year a dozen firms won $50k and 4 firms won $100k.

I was with one of last year's winners, RelayRides, and believe me there were no strings attached. Our founder decided to move the company to San Francisco and he was able to do that. Being part of MassChallenge was a HUGE win for us. It very much helped us raise the $4.5 million we got from top tier VCs on the west coast.

You'll learn a lot. The mentors are top notch. Upside is being part of the great MassChallenge eco system for a year (it's that long if you are a winner.) I was with one of last year's winners, RelayRides. It was all upside. And winning this helped us raise our $4.5 million Series A.