
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 is a nation in flux. Decades of conflict, political instability, and recent regime changes have left its economy fragile. Yet, despite these challenges, there is a growing generation of resilient, talented young Afghans determined to create opportunities through entrepreneurship.
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I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Hidden Impressions IV
Hidden Impressions IV | Sramana Mitra, 2023 | Watercolor, Ink, Pastel | 9 x 12, On Paper
Sramana Mitra: There’s no need to open anything to everyone. I think it’s very good to stay focused, especially because your strategy is a land-and-expand strategy. You get in through finance, do one use case, then ten, then a hundred. You want a set of large customers where you can expand and make each customer a multimillion-dollar deal. That’s really the kind of business you want to build.
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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!
Sri Lanka’s ecosystem needs a continuous, scalable, and inclusive platform to complement its existing accelerators. This is precisely where 1Mby1M’s Virtual Accelerator delivers value.
>>>Sramana Mitra: Let’s stay with the journey. Let me first focus on the journey, then we’ll draw extrapolations and big conclusions. You identified a use case in invoice processing that took advantage of your product’s functionality, allowing a business user to use your product to make this happen. Did you close that deal?
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I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Hidden Impressions III
Hidden Impressions III | Sramana Mitra, 2023 | Watercolor, Ink, Pastel | 9 x 12, On Paper

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!
Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem has been developing steadily over the past decade. With a population of 22 million, a well-educated workforce, and a strategic geographic position between India and Southeast Asia, the country has a strong foundation for entrepreneurship.
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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!
Bhutan’s startup programs are making important strides, but they face significant structural limitations. Here’s a deeper look at the strengths and weaknesses of the leading initiatives.
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