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.

584th Roundtable Recording with Bhaskar Ghosh, 8VC

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

Featured Videos

583rd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Pawel Maj, Warsaw Equity Group

Pawel Maj, Investment Director, Warsaw Equity Group, discusses post-seed and pre-series A funding in Eastern and Central Europe in the context of his firm’s investment thesis.

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583rd Roundtable Recording with Pawel Maj, Warsaw Equity Group

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

Roundtable Recap: July 21 – Spotlight on Post-Seed and Pre-Series A Funding in Europe

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Pawel Maj, Investment Director, Warsaw Equity Group. We discussed post-seed and pre-series A funding in Eastern and Central Europe in the context of his firm’s investment thesis.

Matomela Group

For our entrepreneur pitches, we first had Mthetho Phakathi, from Pretoria, South Africa, pitch Matomela Group, a manufacturing venture.

Interlpure

Next, Rigdha Banerjee from Jersey City, New Jersey, pitched Intelpure, a clothing rental marketplace concept.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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580th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Anup Jain, Orios Venture Partners

Anup Jain, Managing Partner at Orios Venture Partners, discusses the Indian startup ecosystem and its trends and nuances.

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582nd 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Cameron Kramlich, Angelneers

Cameron Kramlich, General Partner at Angelneers, offers a rare perspective in support of solo entrepreneurs.

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582nd Roundtable Recording with Cameron Kramlich, Angelneers

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

Roundtable Recap: July 7 – Rare VC in Support of Solo Entrepreneurs

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Cameron Kramlich, General Partner at Angelneers. Cameron offers a rare perspective in support of solo entrepreneurs.

Ecleia

For our entrepreneur pitch, we had Tania Jose Maria from Bengaluru, India, pitch Ecleia, a travel portal that would use affiliate commissions as a core monetization strategy.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Chandrashekar Kupperi, General Partner of Peaceful Progress Fund (Part 1)

Chandrashekar Kupperi is General Partner at Peaceful Progress Fund, an angel fund in India. We have some very interesting discussions on consumer startups in India, especially the ones targeting lower economic strata consumers.

Sramana Mitra: Tell us a bit about your background as well as what you’re doing with Peaceful Progress Fund.

580th Roundtable Recording with Anup Jain, Orios Venture Partners

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

Roundtable Recap: June 23 – The Changing Dynamics of India’s Startup Scene

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Anup Jain, Managing Partner at Orios
Venture Partners, discussing the Indian startup ecosystem and its trends and nuances.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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579th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Evan Zimmerman, Jovono

Evan Zimmerman, Chairman of Jovono, discusses his fund’s investment philosophy, especially around pre-seed and seed.

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579th Roundtable Recording with Evan Zimmerman, Jovono

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

Roundtable Recap: June 16 – Proof Points Reign in Pre-Seed and Seed

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Evan Zimmerman, Chairman of Jovono, discuss his fund’s investment philosophy, especially around pre-seed and seed.

AdCreative.ai

As for our entrepreneur pitch, we had Gaurav Henry from Bursa, Turkey, pitching AdCreative.ai, an excellent revenue generating business that automates the production of ad creatives for digital marketing.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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578th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Janam Mehta, Campus Fund and JSW Ventures

Janam Mehta, Partner at Campus Fund and Venture Investments at JSW Ventures, discusses the progress of the Indian startup ecosystem.

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