The Accelerator Conundrum: Navigating Your Path to Startup Success

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.

5 Seed Investors Discuss Trends They See in Their Dealflow in Podcasts

Entrepreneurs interested to learn more about raising funds for their startups need to keep up with what is happening with seed investors today. The seed eco-system has become a 5-stage process, spanning pre-seed, seed, post-seed, pre-Series A, small Series A, big Series A. To provide a deeper look, I’ve recently asked several seed investors what they are seeing in their current dealflow. Have a listen to the following 30-minute podcast interviews to learn what a variety of seed investors are currently looking for in startups and the types of ventures that are making their way through their offices.

Jon Staenberg, Managing Partner at Staenberg Venture Partners – Jon has been a Seed Investor in over 300 ventures over the last 30 years. Jon draws from his long background and discusses some of what interests him to invest in a startup. He also reflects on the question People or Market: Which takes priority?

Vinny Lingham, Managing Partner at Newtown Partners – Vinny, also Co-founder and CEO, Civic.com, discusses his investment thesis in B-to-C seed ventures. We also discuss the role ICOs are playing in filling the gaps in certain seed-stage ventures.

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Featured Videos

What Are Seed VCs Looking For With Sunil Bhargava, Tandem Ventures

We’re doing a deep dive into the current seed investment eco-system and talking to our investor friends about what they’re looking for. The Seed eco-system is now a 5-stage process, spanning pre-seed, seed, post-seed, pre-Series A, small Series A, big Series A.

Here, you can hear the perspective of Sunil Bhargava, Founder and Managing Partner of Tandem Ventures on all that and more:

Come talk to me to brainstorm, strategize, weigh your funding options.

375th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Vinny Lingham, Newtown Partners

Vinny Lingham, Co-founder and CEO, Civic.com, and Managing Partner of Newtown Partners, discusses his investment thesis in B-to-C seed ventures. We also discuss the role ICOs are playing in filling the gaps in certain seed-stage ventures.

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374th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Jon Staenberg, Staenberg Venture Partners

Jon Staenberg, Managing Partner at Staenberg Venture Partners, has been a Seed Investor in over 300 ventures over the last 30 years. Jon draws from his long background and discusses some of what interests him to invest in a startup. He also reflects on the question People or Market: Which takes priority?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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6 Women Investors Discuss Ventures They Find Interesting in Podcasts

As the numbers of women who are VCs and Angel Investors continue to grow, the startup ecosystem continues to evolve. Will a female perspective be an asset to your startup? Might the influence and support of a strong woman lead your venture to success? Have a listen to the following 30-minute podcast interviews with a variety of Angels and venture capitalists to learn if your business might be of interest to them.

Ann Winblad, Co-founder, Hummer Winblad – Ann is one of the most successful women VCs in our industry, and as I mentioned in my introduction, I have never heard her whining about bias against women. One of the most encouraging things she discussed today is how her firm is sourcing interesting ventures from all over the world, not just Silicon Valley. Mulesoft, one of their hot portfolio companies, had its CEO based in Malta, originally!

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Roundtable Recap: November 16 – Market Size Matters

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Ashmeet Sidana, Chief Engineer at Engineering Capital. Ashmeet shared a wonderful presentation on Market Sizing.

M2M One
As for the pitches, Krishna Guda from Auckland, New Zealand, pitched M2M One, a company that provides IoT solutions to SMEs in New Zealand and already has a nice chunk of revenue. In its quest to find the growth path, we advised Krishna to figure out what his company is actually focused on, ranging from being a distributor of SIM Cards, to offering integration services, to selling technology.

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280th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Bernard Moon, SparkLabs Global Ventures

Bernard Moon, Co-founder and Partner, SparkLabs Global Ventures, discusses their seed investing activities.

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283rd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Jake Seid, Stone Bridge Ventures

Jake Seid, Managing Director, Stone Bridge Ventures, talks about trends, AngelList Syndicates, ICOs and more.

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What are Indian VCs Looking For with Naren Gupta, Nexus Ventures

We continue our deep dive into the current seed investment eco-system and talking to our investor friends about what they’re looking for.

Here, you can hear the perspective of Naren Gupta of Nexus Venture Partners on Indian startups:

Come talk to me to brainstorm, strategize, weigh your funding options.

375th Roundtable Recording On November 9, 2017: With Vinny Lingham, Newtown Partners

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

Roundtable Recap: November 9 – What Seed Investors Look for with Vinny Lingham, Newtown Partners

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Vinny Lingham, Co-founder and CEO, Civic.com and Managing Partner of Newtown Partners, discussing his investment thesis in B-to-C seed ventures. We also discussed the role ICOs are playing in filling the gaps in certain seed-stage ventures.

Rummoli
As for the pitches, first, Scott Mayhew from Prince George, BC, Canada, pitched Rummoli, a mobile game that is a well-known Board game in Canada. The venture is still very early, but the concept of taking a known game and turning it into an online one is promising.

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373rd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Charlie O’Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures

Charlie O’Donnell, Partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, talks about his Seed investing activities and related industry trends.

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288th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Jonathan Lewy, Investo

Jonathan Lewy, Managing Partner at Investo, discusses pre-seed investment strategies and the Series A gap.

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What Are Seed VCs Looking For With Cindy Padnos, Illuminate Ventures

We’re doing a deep dive into the current seed investment eco-system and talking to our investor friends about what they’re looking for. The Seed eco-system is now a 5-stage process, spanning pre-seed, seed, post-seed, pre-Series A, small Series A, big Series A.

Here, you can hear the perspective of Cindy Padnos of Illuminate Ventures on Startups on all that and more:

Come talk to me to brainstorm, strategize, weigh your funding options.

374th Roundtable Recording On November 2, 2017: With Jon Staenberg, Staenberg Venture Partners

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