Some Things to Consider Before Accelerating
My company, Inscope Medical Solutions, was recently accepted to a very highly-regarded startup accelerator that I can’t publicly mention until they announce it. However, this won’t be our first time in an accelerator, as we’ve previously completed two local accelerators (XLerateHealth and the Vogt Awards). We’re pretty stoked about this new opportunity and I want to share some of the items we considered before applying to this new accelerator. Maybe it will help you and your company get into the accelerator that best fits your needs.
Look at that, a perfect segue into the first point I want to make… Make sure the program fits your needs and not the opposite way around.
Startup accelerators, especially the big ones, are super sexy. Who wouldn’t want three to four months of access to top-tier mentorship, big partners, and the chance to build in a new city? The lure can make you overlook details that matter, such as; how available are your mentors going to be, how well-connected to your specific niche is the accelerator, what partnerships are ready and waiting for you (and not just possible through introductions), who else is likely to be in your cohort?
These questions are critical, especially for companies in industries outside of the very saturated “tech accelerator” group. If you’re making medical devices like Inscope Medical is, you’re not going to benefit as much from a tech accelerator as you would from a general healthcare accelerator (or a medical device one, if it ever shows up). If your company doesn’t look like the program’s alumni, keep looking until you find an alumni group that looks like your company.
Earlier, you may have wondered why we’d go through a third accelerator program. To answer that question, I’ll extend the first point: Make sure the timing is right for the accelerator you’re applying to.
The accelerators we previously participated in were great for us, at the time. We were still a very young company and needed a specific type of help that XLH and Vogt provided — training wheels while we narrowed our initial customer segmentation and floundered through prototype development. Now we’re in a totally different place and the time is right for the growth we expect out of this new opportunity.
Going right to the bigger-name accelerator would have been a waste of both our time and the managing director’s time, so I’d strongly encourage you to have a full understanding of how the accelerator fits into your short and long-term vision for your company’s growth.
When submitting your application, be sure to show evidence of what you’ve done so far and how hard you’ll work if accepted. But perhaps more importantly, make sure you identify how the accelerator and/or partners can help you move forward during the program.
What hypotheses do you need to test? What development do you need to do with partners? What roles do you need to fill? It is critical to set these goals early for two reasons.
First, it shows the accelerator that you’ve thought through and prioritized goals for your time in the accelerator, which will help you get in. If you can’t adequately state your goals for the program when you apply, you’re almost certainly not getting selected. If you’ve got no goals but still get selected, go back to point #1; you probably shouldn’t accept the invite.
Second reason: going into an accelerator without firm goals that you, your team, and your program directors agree upon would be similar to flying blind — it might work, but you’re likely to hit some strong headwinds (mentor/partner opinions) and have no clue which way is up. Make your goals measurable; give them deadlines; prioritize so you’re not biting off more than you can chew.
Lastly, and this might be the most critical, aggressively seek input from program alumni. Who knows the program you’re about to jump into and can tell you what to expect better than its last few cohorts? Can’t find any in your town? Cold-email them. Still no luck? Read blogs about accelerators.
Your job here is to push (hard) for reasons why you shouldn’t join the program. Your brain will almost certainly have the most rose-tinted glasses on while you consider your accelerator of choice, so you owe it to yourself to seek out the potential negatives so you can see a full picture of the task in front of you.
Some people say that the startup accelerator is overhyped, that they aren’t worth the time/energy/equity. There may be some truth to that, but I’d argue that, as with most things in life, the value gained from joining an accelerator is entirely dependent on the effort you put into it. Our previous accelerator experiences weren’t perfect, but we don’t regret them. I doubt we’ll regret this one. Take the time to consider the questions above and I bet you’ll make the right choice for your company.
If you enjoyed this, follow me for more. I’ll be writing a weekly recap of lessons learned during this new program, along with some occasional more general posts about medical devices, startups, healthcare, etc.
