The Accelerator Conundrum: Navigating Your Path to Startup Success

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!

Alright, let’s cut through the noise and get to the brutal truth of the startup accelerator world. Many entrepreneurs, starry-eyed and naive, leap headfirst into 3-month accelerator programs without truly understanding the long-term implications. It’s time for an incisive commentary, a necessary dissection.

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Financing

Raising money to build a startup is a huge challenge. To be able to raise any money at all, you must first understand how investors think. We have developed the following courses catering to entrepreneurs in different stages of their entrepreneurial journey.

Roundtable Recap: May 21 – Spotlight on Startups in the American Midwest

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Tony Olivito, Partner at Comeback Capital, who discussed his firm’s Midwest focused investment thesis.

DraftMate
As for entrepreneur pitches, Keith Heaney from Lincroft, New Jersey, pitched DraftMate, a matchmaking service for sports fans. Quite an original idea.

Love One. Love All.
Next Brad Himel from New York, New York, pitched Love One. Love All. It’s a new active wear brand that is mission driven to prevent teen suicides.

The Best Menu
Then Latifa Nassoro from Subang Jaya, Malaysia, pitched The Best Menu, an effort to help restaurants menus to combat the supply chain and demand chain breakdowns post Covid.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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Featured Videos

485th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Parthib Srivathsan, Companyon Ventures

Parthib Srivathsan, Co-founder and Head of Platform at Companyon Ventures, discusses his firm’s investment thesis.

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485th Roundtable Recording on May 14, 2020: With Parthib Srivathsan, Companyon Ventures

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Roundtable Recap: May 14 – The Issue of Technical Co-founders

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Parthib Srivathsan, Co-founder and Head of Platform at Companyon Ventures.

Vittas International

As for entrepreneur pitches, Sulav Singh from Champaign, Illinois, pitched Vittas International, a FinTech lending venture focused on Nigeria to begin with.

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483rd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Nick Adams, Differential Ventures

Nick Adams is Managing Partner and Co-founder at Differential Ventures, an enterprise focused firm. We discuss counter-cyclical ventures in this Covid-19 world.

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482nd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Garrett Goldberg, Bee Partners

Garrett Goldberg, Partner at Bee Partners, discusses his firm’s enterprise focused investment thesis, including some unique insights on SaaS-powered vertical marketplaces.

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483rd Roundtable Recording on April 30, 2020: With Nick Adams, Differential Ventures

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Roundtable Recap: April 30 – Counter-cyclical Ventures in this Covid-19 World

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Nick Adams, Managing Partner and Co-founder at Differential Ventures, an enterprise focused firm. We discussed counter-cyclical ventures in this Covid-19 world.

Menerva Software
As for entrepreneur pitches, Geetha Ramaswamy from Chicago, Illinois, pitched Menerva Software, a software services company that is bootstrapping towards a product.

C-Way Electric and Autonomous Vehicle
Next, we had Ssemakula Luyima from South Africa pitch C-Way Electric and Autonomous Vehicle.

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482nd Roundtable Recording on April 23, 2020: With Garrett Goldberg, Bee Partners

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Ritesh Agarwal of CerraCap Ventures (Part 1)

Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Ritesh Agarwal was recorded in April 2020.

Ritesh Agarwal is Co-Founder and Managing Director at CerraCap Ventures, a deep tech-focused early stage firm.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Elly Truesdell of Almanac Insights (Part 1)

Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Elly Truesdell was recorded in March 2020.

Elly Truesdell is Partner at Almanac Insights, a fund focused on food-related investments. We have a fascinating conversation.

Roundtable Recap: April 23 – Discussion on Vertical Marketplaces

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Garrett Goldberg, Partner at Bee Partners. Garrett discussed his firm’s enterprise focused investment thesis, including some unique insights on SaaS-powered vertical marketplaces.

The Steel Store

As for entrepreneur pitches, Rajat Jain from Toronto, Canada, pitched The Steel Store, a steel marketplace.

Kids Dance Revolution

Next, we had Diane Tinsley from New York, NY, pitch Kids Dance Revolution, an event-focused business that faces tough times in the pandemic era.

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481st 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Joshua Posamentier, Congruent Ventures

Joshua Posamentier is Co-founder and Managing Partner at Congruent Ventures, a firm focused on sustainability oriented technology ventures.

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481st Roundtable Recording on April 16, 2020: With Joshua Posamentier, Congruent Ventures

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Roundtable Recap: April 16 – Global Entrepreneurship Continues Amidst Pandemic

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Joshua Posamentier, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Congruent Ventures, a firm focused on sustainability oriented technology ventures.

Mark N Park
As for entrepreneur pitches, Sanket Thodge from Pune, India, pitched the Mark N Park app, a parking
optimization solution.

VacaShopping.com
Next, we had Matias Larroulet from Buenos Aires, Argentina, pitching VacaShopping.com, a B-to-B marketplace for the oil and gas sector in Vaca Muerta, a province of Argentina.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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