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.

The Twilight Zone of Venture Funded Startups

There is a Twilight Zone in which many venture funded startups exist. The company isn’t growing at a high velocity. No further financing is viable. No exit is viable either. What happens to such startups? And how do you avoid becoming one of these walking deads?

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Featured Videos

AI and Tech Startup Course Coupons for January

As the New Year begins, Artificial Intelligence is reshaping every industry and giving founders who act early a decisive edge. 2026 is the year to move from experimentation to execution. Entrepreneurs who understand how to build, validate and scale AI startups are best positioned to capture emerging opportunities across Generative AI, Machine Learning, FinTech, HealthTech, Cybersecurity, customer support automation and more. We provide the following AI startup course coupons to help you start the year with clarity, momentum and a proven path from idea to scalable product, grounded in real-world case studies, best practices and actionable founder frameworks.

To help you kick off the year strong, we’re offering January discount coupons across our entire AI course portfolio. You can dive into focused case-study courses in Generative AI Marketing, AI Cybersecurity, FinTech, HealthTech, Services, and Machine Learning, or choose strategic programs like How to Bootstrap an AI Startup First and Blitzscale Later, How VC Investors Think About AI Startups, and How to Build AI and Machine Learning Startups. Engineers can also explore From Developer to Entrepreneur and AI Startup Ideas. These limited-time coupons make it easier to invest in founder-focused AI education and accelerate your progress in the rapidly expanding AI economy starting now.

We are currently offering up to 85% off with the startup course coupons listed below.

All our tech startup course coupons expire on January 31, so take advantage of these discounts and enroll today!

Artificial Intelligence:

Generative AI Marketing Startup Case Studies: TRY1MBY1MJAN2026GAIM

AI Cybersecurity Startup Case Studies: TRY1MBY1MJAN2026AICS

How to Bootstrap an AI Startup First and Blitzscale Later: TRY1MBY1MJAN2026AIBB

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January 15 – 714th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 714th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, January 15, 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

713th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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

You can register for an upcoming roundtable here.

Roundtable Recap: January 8 – Pre-Seed Funding Rejection Rate is 99.8%

During this week’s roundtable, we had several pre-seed entrepreneurs trying to wrap their heads around the outrageous fundability conditions of their stage.

Nokio

We first had Rohan Jacob, from Dallas, Texas, pitch Nokio. The business is not venture fundable, but seedstrapping to an exit may be a possibility.

Flocci Technologies

Next, we had Afsar Hussain from Ranchi, India, pitch Flocci Technologies, an ERP suite for Indian SMBs. Afsar is a techie coder, and has a mental block around being able to learn the nuances of becoming a well-rounded entrepreneur. He needs to get past this blockage.

You can listen to today’s recording here:

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Cloud Stocks: Atlassian Grows Through Acquisitions

Enterprise collaboration solutions provider Atlassian (Nasdaq: TEAM) continues to deliver strong growth over the quarters. It recently announced a series of acquisitions that are helping it drive growth inorganically.

Startup US: Why 1Mby1M Is a Game-Changer for US Solo Founders Seeking a YC-Style, Equity-Free Virtual Accelerator

The United States has long been seen as the beating heart of global innovation — but what does that really mean for emerging founders today, especially US solo founders and community-driven founders seeking equity-free support and online mentoring?

An Overview of Best Startup Accelerators in the Mountain states (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming , Idaho)

by Vaivasvat Ramesh

In the past ten blogs I wrote for 1Mby1M’s The Accelerator Conundrum series, I focused on examining best startup accelerators across the Mountain States of the United States of America: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, and seeing how they compare with 1Mby1M, the world’s first global virtual accelerator.