The Accelerator Conundrum: The Velocity Mirage – Can Genuine Traction Be Manufactured in 90 Days?

Every accelerator program beats the drum of “velocity,” “speed,” and “hyper-growth.” 

The unspoken promise is that in just 90 days, your fledgling idea will transform into a high-flying, traction-generating machine, ready to conquer markets and impress investors. 

But let’s apply some critical thinking here: can genuine, sustainable traction truly be manufactured on such an artificial, compressed timeline? 

I say, unequivocally, no.

True traction is born from deep customer understanding, iterative product development, and the painstaking process of finding product-market fit. It’s about solving real problems for real customers, and that takes time, experimentation, and often, quiet dedication, not a frenetic 90-day sprint dictated by a program calendar. 

The pressure to achieve “results” within a fixed window often leads to premature blitzscaling, superficial metrics, and a focus on looking good for Demo Day rather than building a fundamentally sound business.

Founders often end up chasing vanity metrics – inflated user numbers without corresponding engagement, or pre-revenue “partnerships” that never materialize into paying customers. 

This “velocity” is a mirage. It’s a short-term burst of activity designed to create an illusion of progress for potential investors, rather than a genuine indicator of a robust, scalable business. 

Real growth, the kind that endures, is built brick by painstaking brick, not sprinted over a quarter. 

Beware the illusion of speed when it comes at the expense of fundamental business building.

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