What is a startup accelerator?

In looking to understand accelerators better, in my PhD I researched what a startup accelerator is by looking at the underlying social networks that form them. In the business I set up, EyeFocus Accelerator, I also experimented with how to build accelerators with an eye on the social network function driving them.

It may at first seem like an obvious statement, or not, that a startup accelerator is ultimately a social network, being a group of people linked together through social ties. However, accelerators are often seen primarily as business incubation programs, which happen also to be social networks. I would argue that they are primarily social networks, which when structured correctly achieve business incubation outcomes.

In this essay I will explain some of the social network dynamics in a good startup accelerator, and why these very specific dynamics support innovation and incubation. In doing so, I will also explain what accelerators are, along with the associated concepts like startups, mentors, and ecosystems.

What is an accelerator?

In 2005 Paul Graham, an American entrepreneur and investor, established the first accelerator program, Y Combinator. He decided to invest small sums of money in a cohort of tech entrepreneurs and support them as a group to develop their concepts. His…