Ted Mann: ‘This was far and away the best DreamIt class I’ve ever seen’

Ted Mann’s startup SnipSnap was acquired for $6.5 million earlier this year. Now he’s looking to make his first angel investment.
And he’s got his eye on the most recent Philly class of DreamIt Ventures.
“This was far and away the best DreamIt class I’ve ever seen,” he said over the phone last week. The accelerator held its demo day late last month during Philly Tech Week 2015 presented by Comcast, before shipping its founders out on a venture capital roadshow on both coasts.
Mann compared it to his DreamIt class (2012), where everyone was pre-revenue. The 2015 class, he said, was full of startups generating revenue. He pointed to IglooHome, the smart-home technology startup targeting short-term rentals like Airbnb and vacation homes. Mann mentored IglooHome during the DreamIt cycle.
“These guys accomplished a ridiculous amount,” he said.
They went from a “back of the napkin idea” to a product out in the market. They built hardware and software and deployed their product to nearly a dozen homes in Philly.
Mann said he felt both happy for them and bad about himself because he’s not accomplishing more with his startup.
What made this DreamIt class so great? Mann credits the leadership of Patrick FitzGerald, who, he says, knows how to run a successful business.
Now that the startups have completed their venture capital roadshow, Mann’s just nervous that Philly investors won’t step up and invest. In past DreamIt cycles, that’s been a big factor in deciding whether or not startups stay in Philly.