FIND YOUR SOULMATE! PART 2: ACCELERATORS
Accelerate Your Business With Us!
As a first time entrepreneur I had a lot of problems understanding what was necessary and what not for my business. I had to decide what would make sense for the future of my startup, when I only had an idea and nothing more.
I had to face some tough decisions when not so long after I decided to quit my job to make my dream happen, my co-founder told me that he didn’t have enough money and he was starting looking for a job.
Now, let’s put the pieces in the right place, so that you get an idea.
Two months before this happened, I had convinced my tech co-founder to jump on board. He was out of job at the time and excited about starting something new. After 8 weekends spent on working and meeting with him (plus the nights afterwork), I decided it was about time to take things to the next step and quit my job and do what a successful entrepreneur should do.
Focus on my startup and nothing else!
Let’s get back to that moment when I heard my tech co-founder was thinking to look for a job. I literally thought “F$&K!”. I quit my job to focus on OUR dream and he looks for a job, AWESOME!
I had few moments in which I thought perhaps I should take a break from him and find another co-founder. However, I was too excited and too convinced I could make it, to stop right there. If I would have showed him I was awesome he would follow, I thought. So, I did what every normal person could do in a situation like this. Look for money!
The hunt for accelerators-soulmate began!
If you are new to the startup world, meaning your dad is not a famous entrepreneur, you didn’t study at Stanford, Oxford or wherever else other rich people go to study so that they can then drop out and fund a startup, you don’t know many other founders; perhaps, the best shot you’ve got in your gun is to look for accelerators.
Money, network and great mentors is their promise! How could I turn this down!?
We are based in a cool startup city with quite few accelerators. We had difficulties at the beginning because we applied for the famous ones and we got most of the time the same nice answer “Please, show us traction and then we can take you in consideration” (If I had traction, I would have talked with VCs, not accelerators, anyways…)
After 4/5 unsuccessful tries, we decided to shoot a little bit outside of our nest. Go for the unknown and look for money (remember my tech co-founder was looking for jobs). Another 2 tries and we got called to a lesser known startup accelerator in another city. The deal was also better than others we could have got from well-known accelerators…
I was happy to go and show the world I could make it!
The experience lasted for 3 months. We had to move to another city, away from friends and girlfriends; but we were not scared (maybe worried), we were making our dream come true, after all!
We were moving to a new city for startups, slowly raising to the international spotlights. Exciting times ahead, we thought!
It all started with great intention and awesome programs, such as: weekly meetings, mentoring with super people, meet-ups with other founders to exchange ideas, and much, much more. It was all planned, then the program started.
Here are few numbers for you:
How many times did we have a “CEO” meeting in 3 months? Once
How many times was there a “tech” meeting in 3 months? Once
How many times have we met as a team with these persons from the accelerator (let’s remember they are part of the board)? Once (after 2 weeks in the program and not all of them were at the meeting)
How many times have these people actually checked our product? NONE
How many times have these people given us feedback on tech/business decisions? NONE
Instead, they spent 3 months creating a barrier between all founders in the batch and themselves. Their attitude was flat towards us, as if we didn’t existed. However, they didn’t miss a chance to tell us “Release as fast as you can! Now!” (the mantra of every startup). They softly threatened us, saying that they would not invest further if we didn’t do as they wanted. Yes, there was this option. To some, they were even rude and pushy with no real reasons.
I was not looking for a school and kind people to tell me where to go. I was looking, however, for experienced and professional people to mentor me through my first months in the startup. This didn’t happen. These persons focus their energy on the wrong things, mocking us rather than helping us; creating unhappy founders working long hours and talking bad about them during cigarette breaks.
F#@K, it was like being employed!AGAIN!
The worst (and perhaps the lowest) moment we reached was at the final meeting, discussing what we had done and what they thought, and what was going to happen next.
They spent more than half of the time telling us we spent too much money on useless things (they didn’t know exactly on what). They also felt in the position to suggest things such as I should have had my partner (in life) paying everything for me, after all she loved me!
The best (in the worst), however, was the attitude. The boss attitude. Judging our work with no real idea of what we had done.
Did I fail at my startup? No. They failed me.
Perhaps one day, when my startup will not be alive anymore, I will write down names and everything, but for now the key point for everybody looking at accelerators is: look for professional people; look for partners; meet with them beforehand if you can; talk with them and talk with other startups who joined their program (perhaps best with those who failed); do not underestimate the damage that unprofessional people can do to your startup; do not let bossy unprofessional people push you towards something it’s not yours!
Remember, accelerators, like co-founders, are soulmate. They will stay with you till the end of your business. Make sure you don’t make stupid mistakes at the beginning, nothing good can come out of that.
