Bootstrapping Course: Welcome

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Featured Videos

The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

The Accelerator Conundrum: Navigating Your Path to Startup Success

The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

Alright, let’s cut through the noise and get to the brutal truth of the startup accelerator world. Many entrepreneurs, starry-eyed and naive, leap headfirst into 3-month accelerator programs without truly understanding the long-term implications. It’s time for an incisive commentary, a necessary dissection.

November 19 – 749th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 749th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 8 a.m. PST / 11 a.m. EST / 5 p.m. CET / 9:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to Pitch and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback from Sramana Mitra, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to Attend to watch and learn.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be Interested.

Featured Videos

748th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable Recording

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

Roundtable Recap: November 5 – From Corporate VP to Founder: Why Big Tech Buyouts Are the Ultimate Seed Round

A Vice President at Oracle recently read my piece on Microsoft’s voluntary buyouts and the 1Mby1M Career Lifeboat strategy. Having taken a similar exit package himself, he walked away from corporate executive life and joined our free public roundtable last week seeking a roadmap to build his own business. His story is not an isolated one. It represents a structural shift across Big Tech.

For years, senior tech executives, product leaders, and engineering leaders operated under the illusion of corporate security. However, today’s tech environment defined by relentless AI realignments, efficiency mandates, and recurring reorgs has rewritten that contract. High paying corporate roles carry immense friction, yet senior leaders hesitate to leave because of the golden handcuffs.

Video FAQs

Will Alphabet’s TPUs Offset its Declining Search Business?

Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG) recently announced its third quarter results that failed to meet market expectations. The performance sent the stock tumbling 13%, the worst drop since it went public in 2004.

November 5 – 748th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 748th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 8 a.m. PST / 11 a.m. EST / 5 p.m. CET / 9:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to Pitch and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback from Sramana Mitra, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to Attend to watch and learn.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be Interested.

747th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable Recording

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

Roundtable Recap: October 29 – How to Compete and Exit in a Market that has Already had a Major Acquisition

During last week’s roundtable, an early stage B2B software founder presented a venture operating in a market segment recently reshaped by a significant event. Atlassian acquired the dominant category leader.

In this market, enterprise customers are overwhelmingly controlled by Atlassian and no other equivalent strategic acquirer exists at the top tier. For an emerging startup, competing head to head for enterprise deals against an incumbent with deep distribution and native platform integration presents severe customer acquisition and scaling hurdles. Furthermore, with the primary logical acquirer off the table, the likelihood of a high valuation, top tier exit in the enterprise segment is minimal.

Strategy & Recommendation

Rather than burning capital competing directly against Atlassian’s enterprise monopoly or holding out for a rare mega exit, the recommended path focuses on capital efficiency, targeted positioning, and a pragmatic outcome:

Everpure’s AI-Focused Product Strategy Pays Off

AI is fueling the need for data centers that are replacing traditional hard drives with high-speed flash storage. Storage and data management player Everpure (NYSE: P), formerly known as Pure Storage, is riding this boom. The stock has climbed more than 80% year to date.