Bootstrapping Course: Welcome

>>>

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.

July 16 – 734th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 734th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, July 16, 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.

Featured Videos

733rd 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable Recording

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

Roundtable Recap: July 9 – Beware of Chasing Unicorns and Becoming a Zombie

In the startup ecosystem, we are obsessed with the Unicorn. We are conditioned to believe that if you aren’t building a billion-dollar company, you aren’t really building a company at all. But there is a dangerous, hidden cost to this obsession. My new paper, The Zombie Epidemic: Why Unicorn-Chasing by Startup Accelerators is Destroying Entrepreneurial Value, highlights the growing crisis from the systematic production of Zombie Startups and Zombie Unicorns.

Video FAQs

Top Startup Accelerators for Personalized Investor Introductions in Finland

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for personalized investor introductions in Finland for entrepreneurs, and compares them to 1Mby1M across key metrics.

By Guest Author Rishi Rajesh | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

For many entrepreneurs, being able to secure funding early on is one of the most challenging stages of building a company. Still, the mere thought of an investor prematurely deploying their funds into your idea remains one of the biggest reasons as to why founders join startup accelerators in the first place. Many founders view these short-term accelerators as the quickest path one could take to obtain venture capital funding. By the end of the program–having completed 3-months of workshops and business building–founders must prepare for their first pitch on a day many have circled on their calendar: “Demo Day”. Demo Day is traditionally seen as the pinnacle of the accelerator experience. Founders, whether fully prepared or not, are expected to present their startups to a panel of intrigued and open-minded investors, looking for the next unicorn.

Top Startup Accelerators for the Marathon, not a 3-month Sprint, in Iceland

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for the marathon, not a 3-month sprint, in Iceland, comparing them to 1Mby1M. 

By Guest Author Paige A | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

The startup world loves a good sprint story. A scrappy team enters a prestigious cohort, survives three months of intense pressure, pitches on Demo Day, raises a seed round, and rides off into a venture-backed sunset. It’s a compelling narrative. It’s also the exception, not the rule, and for most founders, especially those building out of smaller ecosystems like Iceland, it is the wrong model entirely. Building a company is a marathon. Treating it like a sprint is one of the most common and costly mistakes early-stage founders make.

Top Startup Accelerators for Long-Term Mentoring in Iceland

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for long-term mentoring in Iceland, comparing them to 1Mby1M. 

By Guest Author Paige A | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

Building a real business is not a 90-day event. It is a multi-year process of iteration, pivots, customer discovery, and market adaptation. Yet the dominant model in the accelerator world is built around exactly that: a 90-day sprint, a Demo Day, and a handshake goodbye. For most founders, and especially for those building out of a small ecosystem like Iceland, that model leaves them alone with the hardest problems still ahead. Long-term mentoring is the missing piece, and it is far more valuable than anything a short cohort can deliver.

Top Startup Accelerators for Entrepreneurs Bootstrapping with a Paycheck in Iceland

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for entrepreneurs bootstrapping with a paycheck in Iceland, comparing them to 1Mby1M. 

By Guest Author Paige A | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

Not every founder quits their job to start a company. In fact, increasingly, the smartest ones don’t, at least not yet. A growing cohort of entrepreneurs worldwide are pursuing what’s known as Bootstrapping with a Paycheck: building a real business on the side while keeping the financial stability of full-time employment. It’s a disciplined, lower-risk path to entrepreneurship, and it deserves a different kind of accelerator to match.

Top Startup Accelerators for Solo Entrepreneurs in Iceland

This article summarizes the top startup accelerators for solo entrepreneurs in Iceland, comparing them to 1Mby1M. 

By Guest Author Paige A | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

Something fundamental has shifted in how startups get built. Across the world, and especially in Iceland, a growing number of founders are choosing to go it alone. Not out of limitation, but out of a strategic recognition that in the age of AI, one person with the right tools and methodology can build what once required an entire team. For these founders, the traditional accelerator model is largely a mismatch. Most programs were designed for co-founded, venture-ready teams. Solo entrepreneurs need something different.