You made the right decision based on incorrect thinking.
Your math about dilution is completely wrong. That's a major issue right there. Then your math about expected success rate (claiming that TechStars has a negative impact on startups) is also completely off.
You did come to the right conclusion because you do not want to raise VC funding. That's it. That program is not for you, since your goals differ. From the tone of your post, you have your own way of thinking, fairly black and white. You naturally detected that there was a disconnect between your way of operating and TechStars'. So you didn't take the offer and my guess is TechStars is happy you didn't join either.
Good luck to your startup though. You are free to run your company whichever way you want (that's one of the beauties of startups).
Your math about dilution is completely wrong. That's a major issue right there. Then your math about expected success rate (claiming that TechStars has a negative impact on startups) is also completely off.
You did come to the right conclusion because you do not want to raise VC funding. That's it. That program is not for you, since your goals differ. From the tone of your post, you have your own way of thinking, fairly black and white. You naturally detected that there was a disconnect between your way of operating and TechStars'. So you didn't take the offer and my guess is TechStars is happy you didn't join either.
Good luck to your startup though. You are free to run your company whichever way you want (that's one of the beauties of startups).