Protect Your Ownership While You Build Your Startup

Pre-seed fund-raising is extremely expensive. One of the popular business models in our industry is accelerators investing $200k against 10-15% equity. These are bad terms. Protect your ownership and avoid taking money on these terms.

Early in the game, when you do not have much validation, you should NOT raise a priced equity round. 

Your business is not yet READY to be valued.

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Featured Videos

Startup Asia: Middle East Accelerator Ecosystem

This article presents a snapshot of the Middle East Startup accelerator ecosystem and country-level dynamics. It explores its strengths and challenges and why the 1Mby1M global virtual accelerator is well-suited for founders in the Middle East.

Introduction

The Middle East is a region of deep historical complexity, geopolitical contrasts, and extraordinary entrepreneurial potential. Across countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, and Israel, the startup ecosystem has been evolving rapidly—but unevenly. Wealthy nations with sophisticated infrastructure coexist alongside fragile or conflict-affected economies. Venture capital is abundant in some markets, scarce in others. And despite a growing number of incubators and accelerators, structural gaps persist across the region.

Avoid These 10 Common Entrepreneur Mistakes

There are many entrepreneur mistakes that are perfectly avoidable. You don’t need to make those mistakes yourself to learn from them. I want to give you pointers on how to avoid them.

Look at my Udemy course: Case Studies of Entrepreneur Mistakes with Sramana Mitra. Throughout this course we talk about common mistakes that entrepreneurs make, and look at a lot of different case studies to illustrate the different types of mistakes that we see frequently.

We roleplay. You should too.

Video FAQs

How Real Unicorn Startups Are Actually Built

There are two completely different ways to build a Unicorn: Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later (the 1Mby1M way), or Speculatively Blitzscale. Your probability of success with the first method is much higher.

Let’s look at an example.

How Freelancers Become Successful Solo Entrepreneurs

Are you a freelancer on Upwork or Fiverr? In the age of AI, you can build a million dollar business by thinking like an entrepreneur. Solo entrepreneurs are becoming the rage now. You have a leg up over them.

You are already on your own, outside of the corporate system.

You have mastered the art of hunting for business.

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Startup Asia: South Asia Startup Accelerator Ecosystem

This article presents an overview of the South Asia Startup accelerator ecosystem. It explores its shortcomings and how 1Mby1M can transform the South Asia startup accelerator ecosystem.

South Asia — encompassing India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan — is one of the fastest-growing and most complex startup regions in the world. With a combined population of over 1.9 billion, the region represents enormous entrepreneurial energy, deep informal economies, and rapidly evolving digital infrastructure. Yet, the startup accelerator landscape is far from uniform. Many local startup acceleration programs remain fragmented, donor-dependent, or heavily skewed toward equity-taking, cohort-based models that don’t always meet the nuanced needs of founders across the region.

Startup Asia: South East Asia Startup Accelerator Ecosystem

This article presents an overview of the South East Asia startup accelerator ecosystem. It explores its shortcomings for solo founders and why the 1Mby1M global virtual accelerator is well-suited for founders in South East Asia.

South East Asia (SEA) is one of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly evolving startup regions. With a population of over 650 million, rising digital adoption, and deeply diverse markets, the entrepreneurial energy here is enormous. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia collectively host a wide spectrum of innovation — from highly capitalized fintech unicorns to lean, bootstrapped social-impact ventures.

Startup Asia: An Overview of East Asia Startup Accelerator Ecosystem

This article presents an overview of East Asia Startup Accelerator Ecosystem and its challenges and compares it to 1Mby1M. 

East Asia — especially Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong — is often viewed as a powerhouse of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. These markets are among the most advanced in infrastructure, talent, and capital. But even in such developed ecosystems, many early-stage founders struggle with rigid, traditional accelerator models.