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.

Top Accelerators for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Focus on Validation  in Hyderabad

Guest Authors Snigdha Rani Sahoo & Kaushank Nalin Khandwala

In the bustling startup ecosystem of Hyderabad, many founders are pressured to prioritize rapid building and early fundraising. However, without rigorous validation, these efforts often lead to wasted resources and ultimately, failure. This article identifies and highlights accelerator programs in Hyderabad that genuinely prioritize validation—testing business ideas, understanding customer needs, refining pricing strategies, and establishing clear market positioning—before encouraging founders to scale or seek funding.

Featured Videos

Top Accelerators for Solo Entrepreneurs in Hyderabad

Guest Authors Snigdha Rani Sahoo & Kaushank Nalin Khandwala

In the burgeoning startup ecosystem of Hyderabad, solo entrepreneurs are carving their own path, often navigating a landscape designed for teams. This article, part of the Pro-Founder Series, aims to shed light on the accelerator options available to these independent builders, focusing on programs that offer genuine mentorship, validation, and strategic clarity, rather than just funding and fleeting PR. We’ll explore the landscape, highlighting programs that truly understand and support the unique needs of solo founders, and contrasting them with those that fall short.

February 12 – 715th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 715th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, February 12, 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.

Video FAQs

714th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable Recording

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

You can register for an upcoming roundtable here.

Roundtable Recap: February 5 – Niche is Good

During this week’s roundtable, I worked with three founders of niche startups from India.

The Reader AI App

First up, Midhun Thomson from Bengaluru, India, pitched TheReader.AI app. The product is seeing a small number of paying customers. 

KinderStories

Next, we had Ajay Sadhu from Hyderabad, India, pitch KinderStories, a niche app for pre-school teachers. 

Fosse

Then, Siddhand Agarwal from Bengaluru, India, pitched Fosse, a compliance SaaS product for Indian MSMEs.

In general, I really like niche businesses. Apropos, please read: Myth of “Unfundable” LLM Wrappers – Build Profitable AI SaaS | 1Mby1M.

You can listen to today’s recording here:

Florida Startup Accelerator Ecosystem: Beyond Hype Cycles to Enduring Companies

Florida startup ecosystem, once considered peripheral, has matured into one of the most dynamic — and instructive — entrepreneurial landscapes in America. Miami’s venture boom, Tampa’s quiet SaaS strength, Orlando’s simulation innovation, and Jacksonville’s pragmatic fintech culture each tell a story of evolution. Together, they form a compelling case study on what happens when local ambition meets capital, and when that capital is either well aligned or catastrophically misaligned with sustainable entrepreneurship.

Florida Startup Accelerator Ecosystem: Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville – Quiet Builders in Florida’s Second Wave

While Miami has drawn the cameras and capital, Florida’s second wave of startup hubs — Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville — has been quietly building companies with staying power. These cities may not have Miami’s hype machine, but they do have something far more valuable: grounded founders, real customers, and ecosystems that are learning to scale sustainably.

Florida Startup Accelerator Ecosystem: Miami – The Hype, the Reality, and the Path to Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Miami has spent the last few years basking in the glow of headlines calling it the next Silicon Valley. Venture capitalists fled San Francisco for sunny waterfronts. Tech founders tweeted from beachfront offices. The city became synonymous with the great post-pandemic migration of talent.