The Accelerator Conundrum: Playbook for B-to-C Entrepreneurs

B-to-C startups are notoriously high-risk. The failure rate is brutal. The temptation to chase scale with venture funding is strong—and often fatal. Most accelerators feed this temptation. They want viral growth, app downloads, and DAUs—regardless of whether there’s a business model behind it.

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The Accelerator Conundrum: Playbook for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

Ecommerce is seductive. It promises scale, global reach, and fast-moving consumer engagement. But here’s the truth most founders don’t hear in traditional accelerators: Ecommerce is brutal. It’s low-margin, logistics-heavy, and customer acquisition costs can eat you alive—unless you operate with ruthless discipline.

Building an AI Platform Company for Real-Time Applications: Vantiq CEO Marty Sprinzen (Part 1)

The world is severely short of AI talent to build complex solutions. It is essential that platforms offer layers of abstraction on top of which systems can be built without getting deep into the weeds. Vantiq is innovating with such a platform and offering excellent business model options including revenue sharing, outcome-based pricing, etc. Very cool company.

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The Accelerator Conundrum: Playbook for Entrepreneurs Building 2-Sided Marketplaces

Two-sided marketplaces are deceptively complex. Founders often underestimate the difficulty of igniting both sides of the equation—supply and demand—simultaneously. Add to this the noise of accelerators pushing scale-before-substance, and you have a recipe for premature failure.

The Accelerator Conundrum: Playbook for Solo Entrepreneurs Bootstrapping an Ultralight Startup

You’re a solo founder with a big vision but limited resources. Smart. The conventional startup path isn’t built for you. An “ultralight startup” strategy focuses on extreme leanness, rapid validation, and achieving profitability with minimal overhead. It’s about building a sustainable business, on your terms, without needing a team or external capital initially.

The Accelerator Conundrum: Playbook for Founders Bootstrapping with Services

You’re a founder leveraging services to build your product. Smart move. This strategy provides immediate revenue, funds product development, and offers direct market validation – all without premature dilution. It’s about building a sustainable foundation, on your terms.

1Mby1M Entrepreneur Bootstrapping an AI Deep Learning Venture to over $5M ARR: Bharath Gaddam, CEO of Data Poem (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: What were the ARR numbers between 2022 and 2023? Can you walk me through that growth?

Colors: Drama in Light II

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 – Drama in Light II

Drama in Light II | Sramana Mitra, 2018 | Watercolor, Ink, Pastel | 18  x 24, On Paper