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.

April 30 – 725th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 725th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 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.

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Featured Videos

724th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable Recording

You can listen to the recording here:

Roundtable Recap: April 23 – You Cannot Build Too Many Things in One Startup

During this week’s roundtable, we had a heated argument with one of the entrepreneurs. I told him that he’s doing too many things and it isn’t possible to build a successful startup with so many agendas right at the beginning. Unfortunately, I see this flawed thinking fairly often in entrepreneurs.

MarketKrystal

As for the pitches, first we had Shiv Shukla from Noida, India, pitch MarketKrystal, which requires a thorough competitive analysis and market validation.

Uttar Pradesh (UP), India’s most populous state, is a growing startup hub, with key cities like Noida driving innovation in SaaS, fintech, e-commerce, health-tech, and agritech. The ecosystem benefits from proximity to Delhi NCR, strong industrial clusters, and a large talent pool from universities and technical institutes. Read: Uttar Pradesh Startup Accelerator Ecosystem

QuantVerify

Then, Saurabh Singh from Singapore, pitched QuantVerify, an interesting solution for counterfeit verification for Pharma, FMCG, etc.

Singapore, the so-called “Little Red Dot,” has long cultivated a reputation as a startup hub. With its stable government, robust infrastructure, and access to capital, it has successfully attracted global talent and a dense network of incubators and accelerators. This has created a vibrant, but ultimately flawed, ecosystem. Read: Startup Singapore: The Accelerator Conundrum

LoopNote

Next, Chaitanya Patankar from Mumbai, India, pitched LoopNote, a website analytics tool.

Mumbai is one of India’s most active entrepreneurial hubs, with founders building startups across fintech, SaaS, media, marketplaces, logistics, and consumer technology. Entrepreneurs in the city have access to a wide range of accelerator programs, both local and global, that support different stages of the startup journey. Read: An Overview of Startup Accelerators in Mumbai

MyPursu

Then Kesava Grandhi and Ravi Racharla from Fremont, California, pitched MyPursu, a payment, marketplace and services business all rolled into one.

Positioning Before Venture Capital

Many startups fail not because the product is weak, but because customers do not get  the positioning. When founders raise venture capital before resolving this, they lock in an unvalidated story, confuse investor signals with real market demand, and scale messaging that is not yet proven. The result is often wasted capital, fragmented execution, and reduced ability to iterate on what actually works.

The key takeaway is simple: strong positioning must come before capital. Without clarity on problem definition, target customer, segmentation, and differentiated value, funding only amplifies confusion rather than fixing it. Read the full analysis here: Risks of Raising Venture Capital Too Early When Your Positioning Is Unclear  

You can listen to the recording here:

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Video FAQs

IBM Consulting Business Should Yield Success

Earlier this week IBM (NYSE:IBM) announced its quarterly results that outpaced market expectations. But a conservative guidance driven by uncertainty around AI sent the stock falling 6% in the after-hours trading session.

An Overview of Startup Accelerators in Mangalore

This article is an overview of startup accelerators for Mangalore entrepreneurs, highlighting virtual, non-equity, bootstrapping-first, validation-focused, and long-term mentoring programs.

Guest Author Kaushank Nalin Khandwala | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

Mangalore is one of India’s most active entrepreneurial hubs, with founders building startups across fintech, SaaS, media, marketplaces, logistics, and consumer technology. Entrepreneurs in the city have access to a wide range of accelerator programs—both local and global—that support different stages of the startup journey.

Top Accelerators for Entrepreneurs Focused on Validation in Mangalore

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for entrepreneurs focused on validation in Mangalore, comparing them to 1Mby1M across key dimensions like validation focus and equity.

Guest Author Kaushank Nalin Khandwala | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

In The Accelerator Conundrum, Sramana Mitra emphasizes a critical gap in the startup ecosystem: while most accelerators are designed to accelerate growth and fundraising, very few are explicitly structured around validation—the process of confirming problem-solution fit before scaling.

Top Accelerators for Entrepreneurs Interested in Building REAL Unicorns in Mangalore

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for entrepreneurs interested in building REAL unicorns in Mangalore, comparing them to 1Mby1M across key dimensions like growth orientation and equity.

Guest Author Kaushank Nalin Khandwala | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

In The Accelerator Conundrum, Sramana Mitra draws attention to a critical nuance often overlooked in startup discourse: the difference between valuation-driven unicorns and fundamentally strong, revenue-backed companies that achieve scale.

Top Accelerators for Entrepreneurs Focused on Bootstrapping Before Blitzscaling in Mangalore

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for entrepreneurs focused on bootstrapping before blitzscaling in Mangalore, comparing them to 1Mby1M across key dimensions like growth orientation and equity.

Guest Author Kaushank Nalin Khandwala | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

In The Accelerator Conundrum, Sramana Mitra outlines a fundamental tension in the startup ecosystem: while blitzscaling has become a dominant narrative, most successful companies are built through measured validation, disciplined bootstrapping, and gradual scaling before any rapid expansion.