Not All Accelerators are Accelerators
Accelerators/incubators, we love you. We really do. We wouldn’t have built Outset if we didn’t fundamentally believe in the model you’ve chosen. But there’s a problem. Certainly not everyone is guilty of this, but some are and it’s not a benefit to the industry. Chances are you are already aware of what the problem is.
STOP TREATING YOUR COHORTS LIKE COLLEGE CLASSES!
When a program revolves around making sure teams do homework and turn in assignments as opposed to tracking quantifiable metrics and milestones that model is not an accelerator or an incubator. STOP calling it one. An accelerator is not an alternative to a college course. Does it share some similarities? Yes, but in reality how does a team move rapidly through product market fit if they aren’t measuring key metrics at each stage? THEY CAN’T!
Outset is not the only one that feels this way, our customers echo this same sentiment. It is imperative to know the numbers, to follow the data at every stage of a business if it’s going to succeed. Nobody changed the world by making sure their homework was done or by doing what their handlers told them to. The way companies are going to change the world and, make you a bunch of money, is by executing on crazy ideas. Ideas that everyone else thinks are stupid, including you. But how are they going to know if their crazy ideas are working if they have to spend a bunch of time completing homework assignments? For the good of the early stage investment industry, it’s time to take a hard look at what is considered an accelerator or incubator and get realistic.
We know this sounds standoffish. IT IS! We are unapologetic in our belief that accelerators and incubators must track data throughout a program and beyond. This is because we know the model can be one of the largest initial facilitators of technological and human advancement, but we also know it won’t happen through course work and being a “good” student. It will happen through constant monitoring of the data and iterating based on the numbers.
We’ve talked with a ton of accelerators & incubators as well as a fair number of those who call themselves something similar and we’ve noticed a stark trend which must be addressed. We’ll step off our soapbox now, but we will continue to beat this drum for the benefit of the industry.
