The Accelerator Conundrum: Specific Tracks Within the 1Mby1M Global Virtual Accelerator

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!

As you start closing in on your decision to join the 1Mby1M global, virtual, non-equity accelerator, here are some ways to dip your toes into the program with progressively higher commitment:

Step 1: Attend some Free Mentoring Roundtables.

Step 2: Pitch at a Free Mentoring Roundtable.

Step 3: Do some Udemy courses. They are extremely affordable and full of high quality case studies that provide the underpinning of the 1Mby1M program.

Step 4: Join 1Mby1M Basic to access the full curriculum if you decide you just want to study for a few months. Cost: $99/month subscription fee.

Step 5: Join 1Mby1M Premium to access the full acceleration program. Cost: $1000 annual subscription fee.

In the upcoming posts, we will articulate specific tracks, frameworks and structures for entrepreneurs at different stages, sectors or situations that we’re encountering regularly: <Jyo: pls link them all once published>

1. Bootstrapping Playbook for Non-Technical Founders
2. Bootstrapping Playbook for Idea-Stage Founders
3. Bootstrapping Playbook for Validation-stage Technical Founders
4. Bootstrapping Playbook for Validation-stage Non-Technical Founders
5. Fundraising Playbook for Bootstrapping Founders
6. Bootstrapping Playbook for B-to-B SaaS/AI Founders
7. Playbook for Fundraising for B2B SaaS/AI
8. Bootstrapping with a Paycheck: Playbook for Founders with a Day Job
9. Playbook for Founders Bootstrapping with Services 
10. Playbook for Solo Entrepreneurs Bootstrapping an Ultralight Startup

You will notice that all tracks can lead to funding, but the belief is:

1. Entrepreneurship = Customers + Revenues + Profits; Financing and Exit are Optional
2. Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later strategy over Fundraising and Blitzscaling from the get go.
3. Go Big or Go Home is bad philosophy.
4. Do not go to VCs as beggars, go as kings.
5. Best way to build Unicorns is by bootstrapping first to repeatability, THEN blitzscaling.
6. Excess is not a requirement for success. We respect founders building small, profitable, sustainable businesses as much as we respect founders chasing unicorns.
7. There is no graduation from 1Mby1M. We would work with you for as long as you wish to stay in 1Mby1M.
8. Ownership matters. We believe in equity preservation for founders. 
9. No need to move. We work with founders virtually and globally.
10. We do not charge any success fee to raise funding.

Photo Credit: Walter Bichler from Pixabay

One Million by One Million (1Mby1M) is the first global virtual accelerator in the world, founded in 2010 by Silicon Valley serial Entrepreneur Sramana Mitra. It offers a fully online entrepreneurship incubation, acceleration and education resource for solo entrepreneurs and bootstrapped founders working on tech and tech-enabled services ventures. 1Mby1M does not charge equity, offers an AI Mentor in 57 languages, and offers a distinct advantage over other accelerators including Y Combinator.

This segment is a part in the series : The Accelerator Conundrum