Learn about the role of accelerators. how they help startups. The different types of accelerators. What to expect, and how to get in.

2. GOAL OF THE BREAKFAST SERIES
To help entrepreneurs in various
areas of entrepreneurship by
teaching, coaching and engaging
in topics that are relevant to their
businesses.

3. ENTREPRENEUR’S JOURNEY
 Is not easy!
 It is a long journey!
 Your first contact with customers will
invalidate your business plan!
 Time commitments!
“WORK LIKE THERE IS SOMEONE WORKING
24-HOURS A DAY TO TAKE IT ALL AWAY FROM
YOU.” Mark Cuban

4. Incubator
vs.
Accelerator

5. WHAT IS AN ACCELERATOR?
 Highly selective (2-5%)
 Micro-investment ($15k-$40k)
 Structured program (mentor vs. milestone)
 Seed investment, office space, services (totals
to $100k+)
 Specialized mentors with lots of 1-on-1.
 Networking events
 Culminates in Demo/Pitch Day for customers
& capital

6. STAGES OF A STARTUP
Problem/
Solution
Validation
Product/
Market Fit
One Metric
That
Matters
BEFOR YOU PICK AN ACCELERATOR, UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE
IN YOUR STARTUP. THIS WILL GIVE YOU WHERE YOU NEED HELP
IDEA

7. THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN SELECTING…
 Mentor vs. Milestone driven
 The goal of every startup is to discover how to build a
sustainable business around that vision
 Create repeatable and scalable business model
 Qualitative vs. Quantitative
 One metric that matters
 Hypotheses vs. evidences
 Educate investors
 Investment Readiness Level (IRL) vs. Business plans

8. WHAT TO EXPECT OR NOT EXPECT FROM
ACCELERATORS?
Expect
- Grow by learning and
shared experiences
- Industry specific mentors
- Structured programming
- Coach how to pitch to
investors
- PR
- Program to help you
accelerate your business
- Help identify partners
No-No’s!
- Funding focus
- No structured
programming
- Lack of good(!)
mentors
- Open doors with
customers
- To have all the
answers

9. WHAT IS CVAP?
 3-month data and milestone driven early stage
program
 Scientific approach for building startups,
based on lean (no waste), agile (iterative)
principles
 Strong customer discovery and validation focus
 Access to an exclusive network of mentors
 Founded by entrepreneurs with proven
record of success in building tech startups

10. GOALS OF THE PROGRAM
 Fail Fast. Succeed Faster!
 if you cannot fail, you cannot learn!
 Evidenced-Based Entrepreneurship
 Get out of the Building!
 Validate! Validate! Validate!
 Focus on IRL…that’s where your investment
is also going to come from ($$$)
 Build a solid startup ecosystem…everyone
benefits!

11. MONEYBALL: THE ART OF WINNING AN
UNFAIR GAME

12. A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH FOR
ACCELERATORS
“In God we trust; all others must
bring data.”
- W. Edwards Deming

13. SCIENTIFIC METHOD ACCORDING TO
WIKIPEDIA
"Scientific Method 3" by Whatiguana - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scientific_Method_3.jpg#/media/File:Scientific_Method_3.jpg

14. HOW SCIENCE CAN DO BETTER IN
ACCELERATORS
Hypotheses
Experiment
Metrics/Data
Learning
Actions
Insights
Deliverables

15. SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND STARTUP
MENTORS
Scientific Method
 Validate your own
hypothesis from
actual customers
 Make decisions
based on hard facts,
and not assumptions
Startup Mentors
 Get help from subject
matter experts to
solve specific issues
 Learn from other
entrepreneurs past
experiences/mistakes
When properly mixed, it gives
superpowers to your startup 

16. A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH FOR
ACCELERATORS
“Any organization that is not a math house
now or is unable to become one soon is
already a legacy company.”
- Ram Charan, The Attacker’s Advantage

17. OUR SELECTION PROCESS
 Complete the Application (less than 5%
acceptance)
 Finalists are called for an in-person interview
 Look for:
 Strong IDEA,
 Exceptional and dedicated TEAM, and
 MARKET SIZE
 Acceptance are announced shortly after the
interviews

18. Discussion with
Haley Hougen
CEO of MagikHelp
(www.magikhelp.co)

19. Q&A

20. Next Breakfast Series topic
Are you working on the right startup idea?
Finding a better solution for a problem
worth solving… the untold secrets about
problem/solution validation.

21. Thank you
collidevillage.com
If you have liked today’s session, kindly
send us your complements on Twitter using
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