I’ve worked with 20 accelerators over the last year and I’ve noticed two approaches I admire, Just Do It and Challenge The Model.
They generally stick to the standard 3 months, with round-robin mentoring, and a demo day at the end.
What they discover, other than general structural improvements to the program, are who and how they can help best. So next time, they have a more specific sense of who qualifies and why, adapting their model around their investment thesis. I’ve seen programs shift selection and support towards a B2B, sports-only, emerging trends like Internet Of Things, or particular tech stacks, but only after it was clear this made sense from actual startup progress.
This is learning that can only be acted on at the end of cohort #1, so the directors know getting their ASAP is a worthy goal. They say hindsight is 20/20, so better get some hindsight!
Many programmes have challenged onward funding as the main goal, focusing on a rapid field trial or enterprise client #1 instead. This is particularly happening in industry-specific accelerators – engineering, medical, cleantech, finance, education.
Others have moved away from equity-based funding models altogether, benefitting instead from knowledge-exchange, PR, and partnerships.
A tough experience triggered me to reconsider by goals, so switched from educational services and NGOs to a monastic, creative life.
Mentor Impact - from the startup mentors that get results.
Decision Hacks - early-stage startup decisions distilled.
Peer Learning Is - education for fast-changing topics.