4 ms·
A simple way of thinking about this is that acceleration only helps if you are pointed in the right direction! One of the common problems with many accelerator
by paul 11y ago
A simple way of thinking about this is that acceleration only helps if you are pointed in the right direction!
One of the common problems with many accelerator programs is that they are run by people who are not themselves experienced founders. Not surprisingly, their advice is often counterproductive.
- pcmaffey 11y agoI'm curious how YC would rate the benefits of the program? My guess (from most to least): 1. Networking 2. Urgency 3. Capital 4. Advice Advice IMO is the least valuable benefit of an accelerator. There's no shortage of advice out there, and founders who take bad advice only have themselves to blame (poor judgement). The negative impact of bad advice IMO is far outweighed by the potential impact of an expanded network, the momentum gained from "rising to the challenge" of an accelerator, and the capital infusion.
- tomasien 11y agoI would guess that you have it in reverse. Best guess would be Advice, Urgency, Capital, and Networking so I guess not strictly reverse.
- tptacek 11y agoFor example...? (I 100% believe you)
- graphene 11y agoyes, it would be really helpful to get some examples of the counterproductive advice.
- paul 11y agoMost common is just wasting their time with low-ROI things such as meeting with a large number of low-value mentors. We try to keep startups focused on talking to customers and building product. A crazy one I remember was telling a pre-product startup that they needed to focus on defining their brand.
- patio11 11y ago"Hello, pre-product pre-revenue startup. You know what you should be working on right now? Your overseas expansion plan. The $COUNTRY market is too small to sustain the gigantic company which you will inevitably turn into. Here, let's spend two weeks working on PowerPoint decks." (For avoidance of doubt: this wasn't an accelerator I have or had a formal relationship with, and -- thankfully -- won't be on the short list for almost anyone reading HN. For further avoidance of doubt: if you ever have coffee with me in Tokyo and ask for accelerator recommendations I am likely to observe that plane tickets are cheap.)