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Alena Arens Strategic Partnership Manager
@elarens
How to Get into a Top Accelerator Program
JFDI: who we are
#1 in Southeast Asia, JFDI is Asia’s gateway to a global community Ø JFDI was the first accelerator in Southeast Asia. Ø JFDI was recruited by TechStars as first regional member of its Global Accelerator
Network: 50 elite accelerators in 63 cities worldwide. JFDI shares insights gained creating 908 new startups across 6 continents.
Ø Worldwide, accelerators like JFDI have raised over S$3.2b funding and created $10b value in hundreds of businesses, like Airbnb, Dropbox, Sendgrid, and Heroku.
Since JFDI’s accelerator launch in 2012 till 2014: Ø 1075 startup teams from 58 countries have applied for acceleration. Ø 40 (3.7%) of applicants were accepted Ø They received S$25k pre-seed investment for 5–15% equity. Ø 63% of accelerated teams raised follow-on funding averaging S$600,000. In 3 years, JFDI has secured widespread media coverage because of its regional impact. In Singapore, its alumni already represent approximately 10% of all ICT startups funded at seed level.
What are accelerators?
Not incubators
Facing market reality in a fast and structured way:
Ø Intense 3-month mentorship program, with deliverables, milestones and metrics
Ø Meeting customers from day 1
Ø Skin in the game
Ø Cohorts
Ø DemoDay
Why enter an accelerator
Ø Structured program with milestones
Ø Mentorship: product development, scaling, fundraising
Ø Just-in-time advice
Ø Books, articles, document templates
Ø Community of investors, mentors, serial entrepreneurs
Ø Access to potential customers and partners
Ø Network of alums in many countries
Intellectual Capital Social Capital
Ø Access to a large pool of investors
Ø Smart money
Ø Pre-seed investment
Ø Zero costs for using space, web access etc.
Financial Capital
Why enter an accelerator
JFDI Applicants (not accepted) JFDI Alums
Probability to raise seed funding 4% 60%
Average seed investment $250,000-$500,000 by Ardent Capital S$600,000
Equity given N/A 18%
You do not pass Go
Ø Sole founder
Ø No technical expertise
Ø No English
Ø Unequal shareholding
Ø Not coachable
Ø Lies
Ø Not all founders are present at interview
Ø Not punctual
Ø Poor English
Ø Other commitments
Ø Not enough experience of working together
Hard red flags So6 red flags
What accelerators are looking for (JFDI’s angle)
What accelerators are looking for
Ø The team, the opportunity and whether the accelerator can bring value to the companies
Ø Compatibility between the team and the accelerator’s focus
Ø Full-time team (hacker, hustler, hipster)
Ø Ability to raise capital
Ø ‘Marketability’ of the team
Ø Team’s ability to communicate
Ø Motivation: is it money, passion or anything else?
Ø Time to market
Ø Traction: is the team attracting users or customers? Are they paying?
Ø What is the stage of product development (MVP)
Ø Market size for the product
Ø Ability to execute
Tips from TechStars: apply early, show team, show product
Investment trends
h"p://tomtunguz.com/hot-‐sectors-‐2014/
Ø Software or hardware+software
Ø “Boring startups” – enterprise solutions
Ø eCommerce
Ø Trends for hardware, IoT
Ø Solutions for multisided markets
Ø Healthcare
Don’t apply if
Ø You just need money
Ø You have it all sorted out (or you believe you do)
Ø No scalable business model (e.g. service, brick-and-mortar stores)
Ø You are afraid someone will steal your idea
Ø You are not committed
Ø You are not interested in building a large business
If in doubt, go into a pre-accelerator program
And read this:
Increase your chances to be accepted
Ø Understand yourself and your team
Ø Understand your customers
Ø Understand your market
Ø Understand your competition
Ø Make sure you have a business model. Know what you know and what you don’t, be honest about it
Ø Do due diligence on the accelerators
Ø Learn basics: lean canvas, customer discovery, early adopters, traction, MVP, CAC, LTV, launch pages
Structure of Pitch
Gentle caution
If you believe that all you need is just money, read about Clinkle
General Accelerator to Vertical?
Ø Access to distribution
Ø Access to expertise
Ø Access to labs
Ø Better access to funding
Ø Faster exit
Ø Equi-hire in case of failure
Ø Hardly global business
Ø Often very limited expertise in early stage businesses
Ø Long decision making
Ø No control over corporate partners
Pros Cons
For businesses focused on specific industries a vertical accelerator might be a good choice
Advice: choose a vertical accelerator powered by a general accelerator
Useful links and resources
Effectual Logic: Saras Sarasvathy on the way entrepreneurs think:
http://bit.ly/1zJwgWn
http://bit.ly/1DZTRbI
http://bit.ly/1CBSb6p
How to do Customer interviews: http://bit.ly/1vQOSZM
Customer Development defined by the boss, Steve Blank: http://slidesha.re/17jeUZv
Free Lean LaunchPad course on Udacity, by Steve Blank: http://bit.ly/IEFkIX
Personae by Tristan Kromer: http://bit.ly/1DzLPWz
Personae by Luxr: http://bit.ly/1Msi2mQ
Prioritizing Customer Segments with Justin Wilcox: http://bit.ly/17css9B
Ray Wu's Framework: http://bit.ly/17css9B
