5 reasons why your startup get refused from accelerators

Every year we, at Nordic Startup School, see a lot of startups. It seems that most startups have some pretty big flaws that decrease their odds of success. Nordic Startup School aims to fix most of them in our accelerator program, but there are some fundamental things that make us, unfortunately, decline you.

So, here are the TOP 5 reasons why we are not accepting your startup!

1. You fucked up your cap table

Many startups give out their shares too easily early on.

If you raise funding pre-seed, try to give out as few shares as possible.

A good rule of thumb is that you give out 10–20% during the first financing round.

Also, make those Shareholder agreements. Getting rid of old founders can be a pain in the ass if you don’t have signed SHA.

So, keep your cap table as CLEAN as possible

2. Know it All -syndrome

If you are a founder and think that you have everything figured out, you are probably experiencing Know it All-syndrome.

You will NEVER have everything clear. Even if you do, things are going to change constantly, and eventually, you are lost.

Getting help when needed is hard if you have already acted like an arrogant piece of shit earlier.

3. “Our idea is so great that we can´t fail!”

Ideas are worth nothing, execution is the king!

In Finland, people have a lot of great ideas but still, most startups fail.

Most businesses are going to do a small pivot before they eventually succeed. You should not fall in love with your idea.

4. “We have a few paying customers, we have validated our business!”

Wrong again. If you have a few paying customers,

that still doesn’t say that your business is validated.

Skilled salespeople are great at making sales, but you should make it top-priority to also keep those customers.

Measure and ask your customers are they actually using the service, product, or app and check how they respond.

5. “We are taking it slow and trying to avoid risks”

In our experience, most Nordic startups are lacking pace.

We see a lot of startups that have been working on their idea for 3–5 years and they still have not validated their idea 100%.

You should really push during the first 1–2 years and either make it or break it.

Momentum is really hard to build if you don’t have the right pace early on. Move fast, learn faster and if necessary, kill it as well, fast.

Check our website and follow us on Linkedin to get more update on our programmes and activities for startups, mentors and investors!