Learn the startup acceleration process from Unicorn Ventures. The methodology for accelerating a startup at www.UnicornVentures.org #startup #startups #accelerator

1. UNICORN VENTURES
STARTUP ACCELERATION PROCESS
WWW.UNICORNVENTURES.ORG

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Startup Acceleration Process
II. Organization
III. Vision, Values & Virtues
IV. Market Model
V. Platform
VI. Evergreen Content
VII. Content Distribution
VIII. Domain Authority Process
IX. Product/Market Fit Test
X. List Development & Customer Interviews
XI. Customer Development
XII. Team
XIII. Financing
www.UnicornVentures.org

3. I. ORGANIZATION
• The first key is organizing and foldering according to a taxonomy of what you
will need to bring your startup forward. One cannot underestimate the
importance of organization/foldering to structure your thinking and your
process. Use Google docs to share with your team and create a parent folder
for your portfolio or individual startup. Within this folder, you will create
subfolders for each stage of the acceleration process detailed below.
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4. II. VISION, VALUES & VIRTUES
• What will the organization look like when it is at $100M in revenue? The key
here is to understand exactly what you are building and work backwards
from the desired end state to tangible actions today (virtues). We determine
exactly what it is that we want which is called the values and then determine
which virtues you will need to embody to get you there.
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5. III. MARKET MODEL
• Based upon the nature of the startup, that is going to determine the market
model necessary to get to $100M in annual revenue and a $1bn valuation.
The market method is going to determine the primary method for acquiring
users and customers.
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6. IV. PLATFORM
• The features that you need in your MVP are most likely already built in a Wordpress
plugin. Don't waste thousands of dollars and weeks and months on your MVP. It
allows you to test assumptions and find product market fit with your solution. The
platform should be built using lean principles. One does not need to reinvent the
wheel to get to an MVP and cost is the primary factor here. That is why we utilize a
white label strategy with a wordpress theme. It is likely that your solution already
exists in a Wordpress theme or plugin. Start with just a website in your MVP stage
and don't worry about an app. The cheaper and sooner you can get to an MVP, the
better off you will be.
www.UnicornVentures.org

7. V. EVERGREEN CONTENT CREATION
• Now that we know we have something of value for the consumer, we can now create
the content that will make up the offer that we use for our list building. Content
creation starts with analyzing the keywords that people are searching for. This is
going to tell us the main value themes associated with our startup. Create 3 to 5
evergreen pieces of content as blog post tutorials. Evergreen content is content that
doesn't lose value and actually generates more and more traffic over time. This can
be a how to, a list, a problem solved. Once this evergreen content is created it can
be turned into an infographic.
www.UnicornVentures.org

8. VI. CONTENT DISTRIBUTION
• We are trying to increase our domain authority to get more free traffic from
Google and other sources. We do so by taking our content and distributing it
into different platforms. Social media is really just list building and content
distribution platforms so use them as such.
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9. VII. DOMAIN AUTHORITY PROCESS
• Domain authority is scored on a scale of 1 to 100 (1 being the worst, 100
being the best) using an algorithm designed by Moz. Domain authority
between 40 and 50 is considered average, between 50 and 60 is considered
good and over 60 is considered excellent.
• The key is going to be to become an authority within your niche. This can only
be done by creating great content and engaging with your followers and
consumers on social media.
www.UnicornVentures.org

10. VIII. FUNNEL CREATION & PRODUCT/MARKET FIT
TESTING
• Product/market tests can be run through Facebook ads to determine what sort
of click through rate you are getting for signups on your Facebook page vs.
the number of times your ad has been shown (impressions). The smaller number
of impressions to the number of signups indicates that your offer/content has
a strong fit with the market. If it is larger, then this indicates that you may be
targeting the wrong demographics or have the wrong content.
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11. IX. LIST DEVELOPMENT & CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS
• Your first list will be with social media follows (Twitter, IG, and FB). Your goal is
not to drive immediate website clicks but follows since this is a list that you will
nurture over time through a content drip through these platforms.
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12. X. CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
• Customer development takes the list that you have built in social media and
emails and then attempts to convert these followers into users and then
customers. This is accomplished via a content drip process on the platform and
direct messaging to introduce yourself.
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13. XI. TEAM
• Minimum viable team:
• Technical co-founder or technical teammate (Wordpress professional) for MVP
customization and custom mod
• At least one community manager/AE for Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter list building
• Gig-based freelancers for deliverables
• Local figurehead to meet with press, attend conferences etc.
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14. XII. FINANCING
• Pre-Seed Accelerator (i.e. Unicorn Ventures) - Digital acceleration to get to MVP,
evergreen content, content distribution, SEO/PR and list-building.
• Job/Career - $10k to $100k in list building through FB ads to build list via likes/follows
on page and perform content drip to facilitate customer development.
• Seed Accelerator - $50k to $100k to validate yourself to next round of VCs and build
relationships with local or regional VCs that will provide your Series A round.
• Venture Capital Series A Round - $2M-10M to focus on driving ads to website to get
users and revenue. Unit economics begins to kick in and cash flow positive.
www.UnicornVentures.org