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.

368th Roundtable Recording On September 21, 2017: With Cindy Padnos, Illuminate Ventures

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

Featured Videos

Roundtable Recap: September 21 – Cindy Padnos of Illuminate Ventures on Multi-phase Seed Funding

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Cindy Padnos, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Ventures. Cindy spoke on a topic that we’ve been highlighting recently: the need for multiple seed rounds as a way to bridge the Series A gap.

OLB Tech
As for the pitches, first up, we had Miguel Ortiz and
Amarilis Ortiz from Atlanta, Georgia, pitching OLB Tech. This team has a nailpolish dispenser that applies and dries polish rapidly. Looks to me like a perfect Kickstarter campaign!

iCustomMadeIt
Next, 1Mby1M premium member Raj Iyer pitched iCustomMadeIt, a 2-sided marketplace for custom merchandise. We went over Raj’s investor pitch, and how to revise it. The company already has revenue and a significant channel partner through 1Mby1M.

>>>

6 Podcast Interviews with Seed Investors

There are shifts happening in the world of seed investing. Some questions are emerging:

How do you process the current investment climate where capital is moving further and further upstream? How does an angel investor (or an entrepreneur, for that matter) mitigate the Series A gap? How do you parse Unicorn mania? As an angel investor, you could get buried under later stage liquidation preferences. How do you protect yourself?

>>>

365th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Venktesh Shukla, TiE Angels

Venktesh Shukla, founder of TiE Angels and General Partner Monta Vista Capital, discusses some shifts happening in the world of seed investing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS

364th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Greg Besner, CultureIQ

Greg Besner, Founder and CEO at CultureIQ, is a serial entrepreneur and an angel investor. We discuss both his journey as an entrepreneur, lessons thereof, as well as his methodology and philosophy of angel investing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS

363rd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Swati Chaturvedi, Propel(x)

Swati Chaturvedi is Co-founder and CEO at Propel(x), an online platform where entrepreneurs are connected to angels. Swati and I discussed some of the key trends of the seed financing eco-system as viewed from Propel(x).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS

310th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With T.M. Ravi, The Hive

T.M. Ravi is Managing Director and Co-founder of The Hive, a venture studio. The discussion touches upon a couple of key issues: the prevalent incubator/accelerator model of 3-month classes, we agreed, is bogus; and the Future of Work: Utopia or Dystopia?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS

365th Roundtable Recording on August 31, 2017: With Venktesh Shukla, TiE Angels

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here [interview begins at 1:09:55]:

Roundtable Recap: August 31 – What Seed Investors Are Looking For with Venk Shukla of Monta Vista Capital and TiE Angels

There are shifts happening in the world of seed investing.

Questions are emerging:

How do you process the current investment climate where capital is moving further and further upstream? How does an angel investor (or an entrepreneur, for that matter) mitigate the Series A gap? How do you parse Unicorn mania? As an angel investor, you could get buried under later stage liquidation preferences. How do you protect yourself?

>>>

364th Roundtable Recording on August 24, 2017: With Greg Besner, CultureIQ

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

Roundtable Recap: August 24 – How A Serial Entrepreneur cum Angel Investor Thinks About Startups

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Greg Besner, Founder and CEO at CultureIQ. Greg is a serial entrepreneur and an angel investor. We discussed both his journey as an entrepreneur, lessons thereof, as well as his methodology and philosophy of angel investing.

WT InfoTech
As for the pitches, up first, Tarun Sainani from Lancaster, UK, pitched WT InfoTech. Tarun has a mobile app that has been live on Android and iOS for five years. While the app has a good number of downloads, it needs to monetize a lot better. We discussed the strategy.
>>>

355th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Daniel Gulati, Comcast Ventures

Daniel Gulati, Principal and Head of Seed Investment Practice at Comcast Ventures, discusses e-commerce startup trends and what can and cannot be venture financed at this stage, and why.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS

363rd Roundtable Recording On August 10, 2017: With Swati Chaturvedi, Propel(x)

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

Roundtable Recap: August 10 – What Angels Are Looking For At Propel(x)

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Swati Chaturvedi, Co-founder and CEO at Propel(x), an online platform where entrepreneurs are connected to angels. Swati and I discussed some of the key trends of the seed financing eco-system as viewed from Propel(x).

One of my observations is that we’re in 2017. Lots of stuff has already been built. Nowadays, there aren’t so many wide, open opportunities out there. But there are many, many niche opportunities. Some of these businesses need to be built with very small amounts of capital – $1-2 Million, and sold for $10-15M. I asked Swati if there is appetite in the Propel(x) community for this type of investment? And what about a notch smaller? Invest $250k-$500k and sell for $5-$10M?

>>>

287th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast With Ashmeet Sidana, Engineering Capital

Ashmeet Sidana, Founder of Engineering Capital, a seed-stage venture fund focusing on infrastructure technology, had a lot of insights to offer, and delivered one particular piece of wisdom that is close to my heart. He says, funding is like candy. Don’t eat too much candy. Whole wheat bread and proteins are customers and revenues. That’s what you should focus on. Brilliant analogy, don’t you think?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS