Top Insights on Getting Into an Accelerator Program
"Show first, tell later", "Be a cockroach", "Making a kickass fax machine is not going to excite anyone".
These are a few of the insights from our new book, Accelerate: Founders Insights Into Accelerator Programs.
Pre-order the book here- http://fgpress.com/accelerate/
2. A C C E L E R AT E
Founder Insights Into Accelerator Programs
WRITTEN BY
LUKE DEERING
CO-WRITTEN BY
MATT CARTAGENA &
CHRIS DOWDESWELL
FOREWORD BY
BRAD FELD
CO-CREATED BY
150 ENTREPRENEURS
QUOTES FEATURED IN:
3. A NEW TITLE FROM
making authors royalty
fgpress.com/accelerate
4. “Start with a clear one-
liner, as it allows me to
quickly understand what
your company does. Then,
show me your progress.
Show me user adoption.
Show me how people
actually use your product.
Or, if your product isn’t
in the market yet, tell me
how you think people
are going to use your
product.”
Alex Iskold
Managing Director of Techstars NYC
SHOW FIRST, TELL LATER
BUY
NOW
5. “I was ruthlessly honest in our Y
Combinator application: we are
scrappy as hell, we had fanatically
loyal users, and we were going
to build this into a big f***ing
business regardless of whether
they funded us or not.”
Kathryn Minshew
CEO and Co-founder of The Daily Muse
BE HONEST
BUY
NOW
6. “Have a single killer
answer to this one
question: why will we
succeed?”
Ev Kontesevoy
CEO and Co-founder of Mailgun
“WHY WILL YOU SUCCEED?”
BUY
NOW
7. “Don’t apply because
it’s a popular program,
apply because it will get
you to where you need
to be.”
Diane Bisgeier Tate
Manager of Mozilla WebFWD
APPLY INTELLIGENTLY
BUY
NOW
8. “Be a cockroach. Basically
have the attitude that you
can’t be killed, regardless
of this accelerator or
that accelerator, and that
you’re going to get there
and build a successful
company.”
Ricky Yean
Co-founder of Crowdbooster
PERSISTENCE IS KEY
BUY
NOW
9. “Making a kickass fax
machine is not going to
excite anyone.”
Mike Lewis
President and Co-founder of Kapost
DON’T BEAT A DEAD HORSE
BUY
NOW
10. “Your idea has to be something worth
accelerating.”
Christian Nkurunziza
Co-founder of Tenscores
FIND YOUR WORTH
BUY
NOW
12. “Trust me, you get into programs,
pitching events, and others much
much more by networking than by
mere applications.”
Simone Pozzobon
CEO and Co-founder of Moku
NETWORK!
BUY
NOW
13. “Quit your job and start your
company before you send in
your application. Accelerator
programs fund nascent startup
founders, not wantrepreneurs.”
Steve Krenzel and Brandon Bloom
Co-founders of Thinkfuse
DON’T BE A WANTRAPRENEUR
BUY
NOW
14. “Don’t try to enter with an idea,
enter with a product and actual
paying customers.”
John De Goes
Founder of Precog
TRACTION IS KEY
BUY
NOW