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.

428th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Ondrej Bartos, Credo Ventures

Ondrej Bartos, General Partner at Credo Ventures based in Prague, focuses on investing in Central European startups. Their major success story is UiPath in robotics process automation that has raised $265 million at a $3 billion valuation. UiPath has over 2,100 customers and claims to have annual revenues of $150 million. We discuss the Romanian company in some detail.

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Featured Videos

427th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Daniel Keiper-Knorr, SpeedInvest

Daniel Keiper-Knorr is Founder and General Partner at SpeedInvest, a venture firm based in Vienna. It’s great to see exciting energy and activity in Vienna, one of my favorite cities.

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Alireza Rahnema of 7 Gate 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 Alireza Rahnema was recorded in January 2019.

Alireza Rahnema, Principal and General Partner at 7 Gate Ventures, talks about the Vancouver startup ecosystem and his firm’s investment thesis.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by getting you acquainted with our audience. Tell us about you. Tell us about 7 Gate Ventures. What kind of investment strategy are you following? >>>

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Sumner Douglas of BoomStartup (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 George Spencer was recorded in January 2019.

Sumner Douglas is Managing Director and Venture Partner at BoomStartup, a Utah-based accelerator that offers pre-seed funding.

Sramana Mitra: Tell us what you’ve been up to. Tell us a bit about yourself as well about BoomStartup. >>>

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Susan Stone of Sierra Wasatch Capital (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 Susan Stone was recorded in January 2019.

Susan Stone, Founder and Managing Partner at Sierra Wasatch Capital, discusses their investment thesis around media technology.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s get acquainted. Tell us about you. Tell us about the fund. What’s your investing focus? Let’s get to know one another. >>>

430th Roundtable Recording on January 31, 2019: With Nandini Mansinghka, Mumbai Angels Network

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

191st 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Frank Malek, Impacteo

Frank Malek is General Partner at Impacteo, an impact investment fund that invests in companies in the US and in Europe. This includes companies in digital health, climate change, fintech, etc.

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192nd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Navid Alipour, Analytics Ventures

Navid Alipour, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Analytics Ventures, talks about their AI-focused venture studio in San Diego.

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Jason Cahill of McCune Capital (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 Jason Cahill was recorded in January 2019.

Jason Cahill is Managing Partner at McCune Capital, a NY-based firm. He talks about the pros and cons of chasing Unicorns, as well as his firm’s investment philosophy. >>>

426th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Sumner Douglas, BoomStartup

Sumner Douglas is Managing Director and Venture Partner at BoomStartup, a Utah-based accelerator that offers pre-seed funding.

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425th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Alireza Rahnema, 7 Gate Ventures

Alireza Rahnema, Principal and General Partner at 7 Gate Ventures, talks about the Vancouver startup eco-system and his firm’s investment thesis.

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429th Roundtable Recording on January 24, 2019: With Preeti Rathi, Ignition Partners

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

Roundtable Recap: January 24 – The Changing Dynamics of Seed Investing

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Preeti Rathi, Partner at Ignition Partners. We discussed the changing dynamics of Seed Investing.

Kitchens On Rent
As for pitches, first up, we had Mohit Walia, from Noida, India, pitch Kitchens On Rent, an innovative concept for leveraging spare capacity in restaurant kitchens. Mohit is a Zomato alum and has just launched his business.

T2India
Next, we had Sutanu Banerjee from New Delhi, India, pitch T2India, a BPO service catering to tour operators. The company is doing over a million dollars in annual revenue, and is looking for growth strategies.

>>>

420th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Susan Stone of Sierra Wasatch Capital

Susan Stone, Founder and Managing Partner at Sierra Wasatch Capital, discusses their investment thesis around Media Technology.

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416th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Jason Cahill, McCune Capital

Jason Cahill is Managing Partner at McCune Capital, a NY-based firm. He talks about the pros and cons of chasing Unicorns, as well as his firm’s investment philosophy.

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