Cloud Stocks: Microsoft and OpenAI Resolve Partnership Woes; AGI Timeline 3-8 Years

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced stellar quarterly results today which were clouded by a big outage that the company was still trying to fix till last evening. Microsoft saw big gains in its Azure and AI segment as it ironed out a new deal with OpenAI that has been a cause of concern among the two giants.

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Iran’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem and How 1Mby1M Offers Gamechanging Augmentation

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!

Iran’s accelerator ecosystem has seen rapid expansion over the last few years. As of 2021, the Ministry of Science reported some 162 accelerators and 223 incubators in the country, many of them specialized along industry verticals ranging from ICT and biotech to agriculture, energy, environment, and creative industries. On paper, Iran has the building blocks of a strong innovation hub—and yet, when I compare what is promised vs. what most programs deliver, I see many of the same trade-offs I analyze in The Accelerator Conundrum.

Let me name a few of the local accelerators and examine their features.

• Avatech in Tehran is among the older names. It has both a Pre-acceleration program (Avacamp) aimed at early teams, helping with idea validation, business model clarity, and minimal viable product work; and a longer Acceleration program (four months), for teams that already have a product, some features, early users or revenue. 
• DMOND Accelerator is newer; in Failory’s listing it is noted for working with startups in industries like FinTech, health, smart city, food, agriculture, retail, etc. It is a ?6-month program. 
• Sharif Accelerator (associated with Sharif University) similarly seeks to support business owners through growth stages. It works across sectors such as edtech, energy, IoT, robotics, fintech, healthcare. Duration again tends toward longer, full-time or significant commitment programs. 

Many of these accelerators are physical or hybrid; many require founders to be in Tehran; many demand full-time or high-commitment participation; equity stakes are commonly part of the deal; mentorship is human and generally well-connected locally; but longer-term follow-on support, language inclusiveness beyond Persian, virtual alternatives, and continuous access to mentor feedback over time are rare.

When I apply the axes from The Accelerator Conundrum (“virtual vs physical,” “equity vs non-equity,” “cohort sprint vs long-term support,” “founder friendliness for part-time or solo founders,” etc.), Iran’s existing ecosystem often leans toward physical or hybrid, equity and full time, with cohort sprints or fixed period accelerations. That means many founders outside Tehran, or those who cannot commit full time, or those who think better in non-English (though many local accelerators do operate in Persian, which is helpful) still face friction.

This is where 1Mby1M, with a global virtual accelerator model plus the AI Mentor in Persian, becomes a genuine game changer. I believe that for Iranian entrepreneurs, this model addresses many of the unmet needs and trade-offs that local accelerators leave unresolved.

Here is how 1Mby1M’s model compares and why the AI Mentor in Persian is transformational:

I see at least three critical advantages in 1Mby1M + AI Mentor for the Iranian context:

1. Scalability & Reach: With virtual delivery and Persian language support, the barrier of geography, cost of relocation, and even travel disappears. This allows many more founders to get meaningful acceleration than ever before.
2. Founder-First Focus on Revenue and Validation: Rather than pushing for quick investment, the model emphasizes testing hypotheses, getting paying customers, iterating, building a minimal viable business. For many Iranian startups, sanctions, capital constraints, and regulatory uncertainty make bootstrap and revenue resilience even more important than in many other markets.
3. Continuous, Language-Inclusive Mentoring: Persian language AI Mentor means that founders can engage deeply without the friction of English as the default medium. They can build pitches, product specs, go-to-market strategies in Persian, then translate if needed. Also, the virtual mentor can provide immediate feedback, not waiting for scheduled sessions only.

Of course, 1Mby1M does not entirely displace the value of in-country accelerators. The local ones bring strengths: local networks, in-person connection, access to local customers, regulatory domain, sometimes local seed funding, and credibility in the local ecosystem. Avatech’s Avacamp or DMOND’s programs still are critical for many teams that need that in-person infrastructure. But the gaps are many: coverage, inclusion, cost, equity terms, flexibility.

If I were advising Iranian ecosystem builders, I would suggest combining the best of both worlds:

• Encourage local accelerators to adopt virtual or hybrid models to reach outside Tehran and other major hubs.
• Push for non-equity or more founder-friendly equity terms.
• Use Persian-native AI or digital mentoring tools to provide continuous, low-cost support.
• Align accelerator curricula toward revenue-first metrics: customer validation, repeatable sales, unit economics—not just investor demos.

In conclusion, Iran is at a pivotal moment. The sheer number of accelerators (162+) shows enormous intent and infrastructure. But many still operate within traditional accelerator tradeoffs—equity requirements, distance constraints, fixed full-time cohorts—that limit many founders’ opportunity. 1Mby1M, with its global virtual accelerator plus AI Mentor in Persian, offers a new path: one that is language-aligned, flexible, equity-sparing, continuous, and focused on revenue and validation.

If Iran’s entrepreneurial ecosystem can embrace this hybrid, where human, cultural, and local strength are combined with scalable virtual models and local-language AI mentoring, then Iranian founders—near, far, in small cities and big—can accelerate in a way that builds sustainable, resilient companies, not just well-publicized cohorts. That is the future I want to see.

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.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Ihar Mahaniok, Geek Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: I want to understand how you find companies. You talked about five unicorns that you invested in as an angel investor, two of which we’ve had here in our Entrepreneur Journey series — People.ai and PandaDoc. I know those companies well. How did they come to you, or how did you find them?

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Startup Afghanistan: Building a Resilient Future

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!

Afghanistan’s startup ecosystem faces profound structural challenges: limited capital, political instability, urban-centric programs, and few long-term mentorship opportunities. While the entrepreneurial spirit is strong, local programs are fragmented and fragile. This is precisely where 1Mby1M’s Virtual Accelerator provides a transformative solution.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Ihar Mahaniok, Geek Ventures (Part 1)

Ihar Mahaniok is Managing Partner at Geek Ventures. We have an excellent discussion on AI trends and startup opportunities.

Why Founders Should Avoid Equity Deals Before Validation

Giving up equity early on is one of the worst decisions an entrepreneur makes. Say, you give up 15% for $200k in pre-seed accelerator funding. What happens next?

You haven’t validated anything yet.

You don’t know whether your business has the capacity to go from 0 to $100M in 5-7 years.

That’s what VCs are looking for: Blitzscaling.

Most businesses cannot blitzscale.

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Startup Afghanistan: Pros and Cons of Local Accelerators

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!

While Afghanistan has seen various entrepreneurship programs, none have been able to establish long-term, stable support for startups. Below is a comparative view:

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Tuft & Needle to Over $100M

Online mattress is one of the hottest e-commerce categories, and here is yet another one delivering venture-scale growth without venture capital. Tuft & Needle Co-founder JT Marino shared his story with me in 2017.

If you’re inspired by Tuft & Needle’s bootstrapped success, explore how a virtual accelerator for solo founders or an equity-free startup accelerator can help you grow on your own terms.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

JT Marino: I was born in Phoenix, but I grew up in Pennsylvania. I went to Penn State. That’s where I met my co-founder, Daehee Park. From there, my career took me to Silicon Valley working for several startups. That’s where my co-founder and I stuck together. We were at a company at Palo Alto and we decided that we wanted to build something of our own. Based on our previous experience with startups, we wanted to do it a different way.

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