Are Startup Accelerators Worth It?

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--
In this video, we are going to look into: What startup accelerators are, choosing a program that is worth it for you (or deciding if you should skip them altogether), and finally how to get in.
This video was NOT sponsored by Startup Chile, DreamIt Ventures, or 500 Startups. Not directly, at least. But all three of them invested in Slidebean and helped us get our company to where it is today.
› What is a Startup Accelerator? 00:37
› Choosing a Startup Accelerator Program
- Startup Chile: 02:35
- DreamIt: 03:52
- 500 Startups: 05:37
-Platinum Accelerators (Ycombinator): 07:40
› How to Get in
- Elizabeth Yin Interview 08:14
› Q&A: 10:46
#startups #accelerators #fundraising
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---- Follow Caya: / cayahere and / caya_here

[@IbukunOluwaShotubo]

Man! Your content is so premium! I love that as much as it is greatly useful content, it also is so so visually appealing.

[@slidebean]

Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for watching!

[@dennislin303]

I totally agree 👍👍

[@hustlerdiary1]

Hello IBK. I’m looking for a tech person in Nigeria

[@IbukunOluwaShotubo]

@@hustlerdiary1 Salutes Collins, trust you're doing very well. Thanks for reaching out. If you don't mind, we can start by a chat on LinkedIn or Twitter: IbukunOluwa Shotubo on both platforms. Looking forward. Cheers.

[@uiopuiop3472]

collins is technically chatting right now, like w

[@mickyjagah]

Everything I know about startups I've learnt from watching Slidebaen videos. Keep up the good work team!

[@rjayeguia3619]

All your content in all of your channels are gold! Keep it coming !

[@gfocaraccio]

Thank you for telling it like it is. Inspirational while sobering!

[@justthatpm]

I'd love to have you on my founders podcast, Caya!

[@sivakumar-anirudhan]

Getting lot of insights from your videos. Glad that you are saving lot of my time with great value for my further planning.

[@slidebean]

Yay! Glad to read that. Thank you!

[@girlsondesign357]

Useful to get a clear explanation of the difference between an incubator and an accelerator, thank you!

[@tronicbasez1814]

Most of the time, startup accelerators (or incubators) tend to pump out motivational speakers, and social entrepreneur. Very few time a real entrepreneur come out of those activities.

[@ryansumbele7161]

True

[@ryansumbele7161]

Steve jobs n elon musk didn't come out from an accelerator so there's no reason I should go there

[@alixnight5318]

What’s wrong with social entrepreneurship?

[@HyunAYuchi]

How about for us, developing backyard compostable bioplastics for packaging of consumer items. We need funding to get to scale up from lab scale (grams to ~1 kilogram) to ~10 kilogram amounts. Buying fermentation tanks, glassware, equipment, and other stuff can get very expensive $_$ Would startup accelerators be right for us if it would take like 'Maybe' 2 years to optimize the process? Then scale up to ~100 kilogram amounts... who can we turn to?

[@shray_dhingra]

Yoo i follow up with everything you guys post and me and my team from india loves you keep up the good work! ❤️

[@slidebean]

Thank you for your support!

[@caenterprisellc6922]

This is a good idea. I will definitely look into it. Thanks!

[@sanjaysoni6515]

Well, in my case accelerators proves to be useless. Because I have an Automotive based startup company and there is not a single accelerator help with these kinds of startups in India. Right now struggling to meet investors and convincing about the work plan. But nothing seems to be working. I also made the pitch deck after watching all of your videos and tips, it was awesome. The pitch deck also comes out good but yet cannot find the right person who can Invest in us.

[@Franck-mj1vt]

just subscribed!! I've been looking all over the web and this is the only place I have found that gives useful technical information entrepreneurs need to know. On a side note, do you know of any books or the like targeted towards entrepreneurs and start ups that give the technical need to know information they all need to know? keep making the videos

[@Apexzy]

The Lean Startup by Eric.

[@waileonglum2738]

Thank you once again Caya and team! Any possibility to talk about the ways to find a mentor. Also, your experiences with them (when would be the right time to get a mentor, how important is mentoring etc.).

[@cayahere]

Wai Leong Lum will look into this for future videos. There are some notes on mentors on our video next week.

[@erakor9]

If you had 15000 users and they were paying 5$ per month wouldn’t you be making 75000$ per month as opposed to 1500$?

[@alaeddinemenai5380]

I'm struggling with these issues [ We are in phase of building our MVP ] : 1-How I can generate a solid revenue and profit model ? 2-Should I FOCUS on the top cases of business model canvas ( problem , solution , customer segments ) or the bottom side ( revenue ,cost , channels ) in this phase. 3-Should I have RICE SCORE plan for our mvp and the release product right now. 4-Is there a strategy to prioritize channels before launch our mvp 5-How I can select our MVP potential users. 6-Should I HAVE alpha test beta test plan in this phase. 7-Should I have a marketing strategy where we build our MVP. Thank you.

[@michaelpemberton7411]

Rtpark accelerator in the USVI is also great

[@epaglimited2879]

Next time cover VCs'/Angel Investors that undertake pre-seed projects with no MVP and traction records...just an awesome large scale business ideas...Your market expertise can offer referrals to good VCs' (their T&Cs') for funding...😊

[@kidzeus2433]

I just watched a video from y combinator.... They don't really worry about traction when a startup is at a very early stage. Because I think it is pretty possible that you can have a great idea/startup but to get your customers I think depends on HOW you are getting your traction

[@michaeljand3050]

Love your content. Thank you

[@DrLSJones]

For anyone interested, Y-Combinator is accepting applications right now. See what they say, worst thing that will happen is they say no. Next term begins on January 22.

[@slidebean]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@chan90s]

Can you please make a video on pre incubators like EF and Antler ?

[@LemonPIEGamer]

Como siempre, excelente contenido! Caya me parece una persona genial también, quizá lleguemos a conocernos en algún momento, cuando vaya a Costa Rica o Usa 🙌

[@cayahere]

Lemon PIE Gamer 🙌 gracias por el comentario! Bienvenida en CR :)

[@fabiangonzalez7555]

Hola, alguno sabe de un startup company aquí en CR?

[@arnabkumarpan5615]

please write a book on startups! bro ur contents are smooth and classy!

[@slidebean]

Maybe someday! Thank you!

[@MohsenEshraghi]

Informative 💎

[@cherryme1903]

In the video you states early revenues were $15k were they driven by seo or adword..? Since all we hear is traction to proof for investors VCs prior considering Appreciate your reply

[@AvastarBin]

of course accelarators are the next step after incubators : now they spend way less upfront to have equity on those startup. Instead of keeping those employes in their offices for months or even for years, they keep it for 2 or 3 months and get the same equity. Smart for the investors maybe not that advantageous for the startup founders though But he can't admit to that since he's (not technically) sponsored by some

[@jolibrero]

This content is gold!

[@sriramvenkateshakadebutjou8074]

What about arch grants, parallel 18..

[@Sara-wb2bs]

Slidebean is the greatest!!

[@trungtamketnoiaihoc-doanhn4275]

English subtitles have lost synchronization after the movie clip insertion at the beginning of your video. Annoying for non native English speakers, but the video is still great and I appreciate it.

[@slidebean]

Thank you for the heads up and your kind comments! The subtitles have been fixed 🙌

[@crisnkayilu6310]

Hey caya ur videos are very helpful keep it up amigo

[@cayahere]

Cris Nkayilu 👍🏽

[@HomamAlghorani]

Can I know which accelerator you mentioned at 7:22 invest in foreign startups or unlikely startups that overlooked by other VCs?

[@rawcondances]

Heya Caya! Awesome video as always! I'll bite - how exactly does one go about doing a polo swap with you? ;)

[@slidebean]

Hi, Robert! Thanks for the feedback! You can apply for the t-shirt swap here: bit.ly/2MJRxAM Looking forward to it!

[@nbafl]

Wait PBR is making a comeback! A true Blast from the past! Success All

[@abhishekdev258]

Not related to this video but where will you guys put "Beyond meat" a startup or a small business (assuming beyond meat is founded now) ?

[@alejovinueza]

Hello, What is your point of view of newchip accelerator?

[@eduardoluisrl]

First of all, congratulations for this original concept you have in your channel, really good and very very professional ! Caya, i have one single and big question i would like you to help me to answer; i believe i have a business idea that has the potential to become a really good startup, and I'm planning to find a venture capital group or any government organization to help me to materialize this idea, as the only thing i currently have is the idea, nothing more. So my question is: for people like me, with business ideas, what we should do in order to protect our ideas, before presenting them to investors? I have the idea, but at the same time i feel like nothing will stop those investors from copying my idea and do the company by their own. I'm living in Taiwan, they have several programs for startups and i would really like to pitch my idea, and who knows if getting started soon. I'm from the Dominican Republic, i have watched all your videos and I'm really looking forward to get started this business idea. Thanks in advance and Pura Vida!

[@slidebean]

Thanks, Edu! ¡Pura vida! Caya is answering all of these questions on Discord. Make sure you join us there. Slidebean.com/Live. In the meantime, you can check out this video. There's a common mistake that's made when looking for investors and that's requesting an NDA kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnXUhKiYf7l5qJo

[@eduardoluisrl]

@@slidebean thank you so much!!!!!!!

[@Leoninhk]

awesome video as usual! Question! If two co-founders of an app startup are non-technical, and they are already funded US$100k. What would be their challenges? and if any, advantages?

[@cayahere]

Tin Shing Lee I don’t believe an app/tech startup can succeed if the CTO is not in co-founder level.

[@Michael_H_Nielsen]

lovely ad transition :)

[@dashkta]

5:29 They claim $15,000 MRR at the beginning of 500 Startups, 8:33 they claim $1,500 MRR

[@mikeusubyan140]

Bro yea.

[@angieperez3864]

He and she said 1,500 both times , Im assuming the graphics person had a typo

[@The28studio]

@@mikeusubyan140 looks luke a typo

[@alexypolivany7148]

There are Poland and the Ukrainian government's startup programs. Poland works well some years and Ukrainian starts this, 2019, year. Both programs give about $20K-75K in grands, no equity in return. But you have to move to this country’s.

[@cayahere]

Aleksey Polivaniy very useful, thanks!!

[@Va1iant]

why in the world is there a single person dislike this video??

[@gameof7]

Unfortunately, we don't have that initial grant program in Israel. Here the only option is friends and family.

[@slidebean]

It works differently in every country, yes. Depending on the product and the market, you may be able to find international investors, though! Here's a resource that may help: founderhub.io/investor-list

[@gameof7]

@@slidebean Thank you!

[@cherryme1903]

Valuation is only based on ARR I mean revenues? Or discount cash flow is considered for early seed startups thanks lot

[@cayahere]

cherry me certainly relevant as well!

[@DearHunter]

Hello Slide bean: How did you plan your marketing strategy to get to your Target users?

[@cayahere]

Deer Hunter in a nutshell: trial and error

[@thaime6132]

I am at the stage that run out of money! My team and I we have a great project in tech and we need to move forward. We need to get an investment and we are thinking to join an accelerator program. What will be the most important things to improve in our presentation and pitch when we approach investors instead of going to avoid the accelerator program?(personally I think from what I understand that incubators makes you skip steps)

[@slidebean]

Welcome to discuss on Discord slidebean.com/startup-cafe

[@imranahmed-gt8ct]

Hi Caya . I have funds for first 2 years of my startup . Should i still apply to an accelerator ? I feel need of a mentor or advisor often

[@slidebean]

Hi, Imran! This question seems perfect for Startup Café, on Discord... you can discuss that with Caya and other founders there! slidebean.com/startup-cafe

[@alexklein30]

I noticed that in your most recent video, you talk about DreamIt and 500SU, but you don't even mention Start-up Chile at all anymore. Having just completed their program, I can see why... not something we actually care to put on our resume. Quite a horrible experience in fact, and they almost killed our startup (we still haven't received any funds from them after more than 4 months in Chile). Maybe Start-up Chile changed a lot in the last 6 years? Care to comment more on your specific experiences with startup Chile?

[@slidebean]

Welcome to discuss with Caya and other founders on Discord! slidebean.com/startup-cafe

[@majestinostario1341]

I can feel your feelings ...most of this grants programs are similar selling fake dreams to people!

[@antoinelb8509]

would you mind giving more details on what happened to you with Startup Chile? I'm very curious

[@alexklein30]

@@antoinelb8509 all of the staff at SUC are totally incompetent and have no actual startup experience, they are just government bureaucrats. Generally they treat the founders in the batches as "naughty children" (i.e. with hostile suspicion, rather than supportive encouragement). They lie and obfuscate about pretty much everything, and the funds you (may or may not eventually) receive are not what you expect. As for advice or mentoring, actual business or growth-related things: nada. Doesn't exist. But the worst thing about them is that they bog you down with incessant paperwork, weekly "account" meetings (taking up hours and hours) where you are supposed to justify your expenses and provide receipts and forms, multiple formal quotes from vendors, officially notarized documents from your rental agreements, and on and on. All expenses have to be "approved" first, and you need to fill out an application for every expense to be approved by your "account manager" ( clown). I honestly cannot recommend against this program enough, we still can't really believe what they put us through... all for for ~$14k which basically covered our relocation expenses and which only came through 6 months after we landed in Chile, the "program" was long over. Warning: you are dealing with a truly insane bunch of clowns and incompetents at Startup Chile. Hope this helps!

[@angelv.5281]

Hey Caya! Mike here... How worried should you be in showing your Idea-concept-prototype to all the people you meet through these processes like accelerator, incubators, investors, the longer you take I guess the more worried you should be cause you idea is out there and it may be executable by some else with more acces to capital and human talent. What do you think about that? does anyone sign any type of NDA or similar to protect the potential startup from anyone taking the idea? Thank you.

[@slidebean]

Good Q! Welcome to discuss with other founders or Caya on Discord slidebean.com/startup-cafe

[@ethanhalf]

Applying to Start Up Chile now!

[@slidebean]

Best of luck! If you need any help with your deck, check out our app!

[@ethanhalf]

@@slidebean I think the deadline has passed. Do you guys have a list of international incubators/accelerators with the same mission/model of Start Up Chile? And yes I am currently a member on your site lol

[@XsmaelTheBest7]

Why do u say incubators are outdated?

[@madhusudan995]

"An Incubator like Erlich" ... Hahaha

[@majestinostario1341]

Hello please any idea of America/European bodies will to give grant/invest in Cameroon(African) StartUps, Thanks!

[@alejandroaguilar1297]

I’m about to apply to an accelerator program here in NJ. Wish me luck Caya🤞🏼!

[@thomas-sinkala]

Can you share the name of the accelerator?

[@alejandroaguilar1297]

Obieze Ikenna paschal sure it’s called Newark Venture Partners

[@thomas-sinkala]

Consider ERA(eranyc.com) too, held in NY. I believe they accelerate B2B too and an initial $100k upon acceptance. Deadline is Oct. 28

[@alejandroaguilar1297]

Obieze Ikenna paschal when we apply are we required to submit our pitch deck as well?

[@thomas-sinkala]

@@alejandroaguilar1297 It require basic information and also an optional pitch video. I spoke with a folk who said they have a huge network and hence hundreds of thousands of applications. So try make yours as good as possible.

[@R34l1ty4U]

This channel is awesome but I am running out of hope. I have spent 12 years on a concept that when it was presented to the public it felt way ahead of its time. I had been unsuccessful for years trying to find worthy co-funders, and the initial project idea has morphed. Since all have been done by myself alone, I am exhausted. Not sure if it will be worthy to try markets on other languages or stick to presenting it in English. Finding a good mentor is also extremely hard. BTW how do you protect discussing your idea with anyone without risking it to be stolen? when an NDA may kick people away? :( Besides stressing, it is depressing.

[@slidebean]

Hi, Erick! Thanks for sharing. On the NDA, you may want to watch this video: slidebean.com/blog/startups-startup-mistakes-when-finding-investors Also, we believe you can go to our Discord so you can discuss and get feedback/advice from our founder community: slidebean.com/startup-cafe Last, if you want to connect with Caya, here are some options: slidebean.com/caya Good luck and keep it up!

[@davidsonokafor2408]

Hey caya, i am david from Nigeria, Please i have start up that belongs solely to me though i got fundings from my family but i am the only one that knows what the start up is about and the vision so how do i get to meet a new co-founder since i paid a developer for the product and i handle the marketing myself

[@slidebean]

Maybe you can check this video out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqmcpaqmns55a7c :) Hope it helps!

[@Manishsharma-nb1qw]

How to incorporate a startup without cofounder i.e. being solo equity holder at time of first round of raising fund...

[@andik70]

Easy. Step one: get a cofounder. Reason (Graham stated once I think): if you cannot even convince one person to start with you, you wouldnt be able to convince the fundraisers. (and they like the risk to be controlled)

[@Manishsharma-nb1qw]

@@andik70 and if I don’t need to introduce any cofounder...

[@majestinostario1341]

@@andik70 Hmm 🤔

[@jolibrero]

I am building content involving accelerators, incubators, startups, and development. I am looking at having you as a guest. Is it possible?

[@slidebean]

Thanks, Jo! Please address your request to our marketing team: [e-mail] :)

[@emmanguyen3808]

Got a feeling someone trying to sell YC to me again

[@cayahere]

Emma Phượng Nguyễn not really

[@n1ghtcoder]

I have the same t-shirt 😅

[@slidebean]

😂

[@barz7377]

Facebooks startup is good to

[@roysampson182]

What movie is this? 0:56

[@reese9585]

Thank you for a very informmative video, however, I have a question. What's the cycle that startups usually encounter when they join startup accelerators. Thank you again ^ ~ ^

[@ismaileee]

@startupdhaka

[@daveking4229]

Y-Combinator big name actually rather useless as IT Is only directed to push you into thier partners or methods and nothing outside of that very narrow and fairly useless box outside of the rarified air of silicone valley. And yes I took the so called courses.

[@arifulislamleeton]

Introduce myself I'm Arif Khan harry I'm Software Engineer and software development and website development and investors and celebrate United States and students funding United States

[@heatsingh2205]

Waste of time just bouncing here and there .I think most of accelerators are cashing in on the entrepreneurs sutuations

[@cayahere]

Satveer Singh disagree

[@heartysailorman5719]

Pabst Blue Ribbon beer?! Lost all credibility.