Incubators and Accelerators FAQs

This post answers some commonly asked questions about incubators and accelerators. I have answered these questions on Quora as well.

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How Hard Is Entrepreneurship Really?

There’s a really good story on Inc. on the dark realities of entrepreneurship. Not the rah rah, everything is so wonderful kind, but the brutal emotional truth: The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship. Read it.

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What are the Most Common Ways Startups Destroy Themselves?

Chasing investors instead of customers is the most common way startups destroy themselves. It is a perfectly avoidable path to destruction.

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Why is Peter Thiel NOT a Fan of the Lean Startup Movement?

This question was recently discussed on Quora. I wrote an answer there, which I have expanded on for this post.

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Who Makes More Money: A Bootstrapped Entrepreneur Or One Who Raises A Lot Of VC Money?

The answer is, it depends.

There are some off the charts success stories like Facebook, Google, and some others where the entrepreneurs raised huge amounts of VC money and also ended up creating huge amounts of personal wealth.

In the cases where the exits are modest, it is generally the case that peopole who bootstrap end up creating a lot more personal wealth than those who raise a lot of VC money.

Here’s a cartoon video that explains the latter case:

Cartoon: Book by Sramana Mitra and Irina Patterson. Art by Mike Varouhas.

Dealing with the Anxiety, Fear, Self-doubt And Frustration of Building a Startup

Startups are extremely difficult, so if you venture into this world, please assume that these challenges will come, no matter what. You will feel anxious, there will be moments of fear, self-doubt, frustration.

I can share a few tools from my own experience both as an entrepreneur, as well as from running the 1M/1M global virtual accelerator where we nurture and mentor numerous entrepreneurs.

First, I suggest you create a set of clear goals that you can follow step by step. This must include small milestones, small action items, and hence, opportunities to win small victories on a daily / weekly basis. This keeps you going, with a positive energy, and a sense that you are making progress.
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How to Transform a Region’s Economy

Can the success of only a few startups revitalize an entire region? And, if it can, what can local governments do to foster such game changing entrepreneurship?

Yes. Here is the example of Greg Gianforte.

On this recording he discusses what the success of his company RightNow did for Montana, where there was no technology entrepreneurship to speak of.

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Good, Bad and Ugly

You’ve heard me and others comment on the issue of artificially bloated up Unicorns and their questionable exit paths into the public market, or even into the arms of private suiters. In this post, I want to highlight some really good Unicorns, lest you think all Unicorns are artificially bloated. And, I will also point out the at risk ones.

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