{"id":33606,"date":"2017-01-02T05:00:31","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T12:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tested-neuron.flywheelsites.com\/?p=33606"},"modified":"2017-01-01T19:08:04","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T02:08:04","slug":"values-of-an-accelerator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator"},"content":{"rendered":"

As someone who has advised<\/strong>, built and ran accelerators (full disclosure\u2014in all cases, I did this together with an amazing team that contributed\/contributes way more to the cause than I ever could), I surely have opinions on what makes a good accelerator program.<\/p>\n

As much as accelerators often tout themselves as the place to learn everything about entrepreneurship, I believe that this is actually not the most important part (by far).<\/p>\n

We live in a world where information is not only plentiful but also (mostly) free.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today, we live in a world where information is not only plentiful but also (mostly) free. I honestly doubt that any accelerator program can teach you anything you couldn\u2019t also learn by yourself. Starting\u2014check<\/a> and check<\/a>. Design Thinking\u2014check<\/a>. Lean Startup\u2013check<\/a>. Business Model Canvas\u2014check<\/a>. Fundraising\u2014check<\/a> and check<\/a>. Metrics\u2014check<\/a>. Traction\u2014check<\/a>. Scaling\u2014check<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Truly the list is endless, and Google is your friend.<\/p>\n

Of course, there is a difference in learning on your own and being in a class environment with an expert\/instructor and a group of peers. But would that be worth giving up precious equity? Maybe not.<\/p>\n

The other thing people often say about accelerators is that they provide a positive pressure cooker environment. A space (both physically as well as in time) where you focus solely on your startup and are driven and motivated by racing against the ticking clock.<\/p>\n

The real value an accelerator can and should bring in my opinion is network.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again\u2014maybe. I know plenty of people who simply recreated this environment for themselves by moving their team to a different location for a specific period of time, working out of co-working spaces, and putting deadlines against their deliverables. Friends of mine moved their team from Berlin to Barcelona for three months and rented a nice AirBnB. They worked their butts off during the day, had fun in the evenings, and hit the beach on Sundays for some well deserved rest. In many ways, this sounds better to me than attending an accelerator program.<\/p>\n

Which leaves us with the real value an accelerator can and should bring (in my opinion)\u2014network.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, a single deep and meaningful interaction with one mentor can make all the difference for a startup.<\/i> Tweet This Quote<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The best accelerators wrap their founders into a carefully crafted and arranged web of mentors, advisors, and partners who truly have the capacity to take startups to the next level. I have seen countless times how sometimes a single deep and meaningful interaction with one mentor can make all the difference for a startup.<\/p>\n

With all that being said, when you apply for an accelerator, spend time asking yourself what you really want to get out of the experience. What are your needs, and how will this particular accelerator fulfills them? Ask previous participants (most accelerators list their portfolio companies) what their experience was, and ask specifically how a particular accelerator delivers on the network piece.<\/p>\n

And if you happen to be in an accelerator or went through one, why don\u2019t you share your experience (good and bad) in our Facebook Group<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\n

This originally published on Pascal’s blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it’s not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":33622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3529,476,3530,1516],"tags":[1600,2712,3385,3289,350,2852,1400,690,1941,2122],"class_list":["post-33606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accelerators","category-article","category-design-thinking","category-starting-up","tag-accelerator","tag-accelerators","tag-business-model-canvas","tag-design-thinking","tag-fundraising","tag-lean-startup","tag-metrics","tag-finette","tag-startups","tag-traction"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat You Should Look For In An Accelerator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it's not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it's not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unreasonable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-02T12:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pascal Finette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/pfinette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pascal Finette\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pascal Finette\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/7366a9154d4679625f0369d071410492\"},\"headline\":\"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-02T12:00:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"commentCount\":9,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"accelerator\",\"accelerators\",\"business model canvas\",\"design thinking\",\"Fundraising\",\"lean startup\",\"Metrics\",\"Pascal Finette\",\"startups\",\"traction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Accelerators\",\"Article\",\"Design Thinking\",\"Starting Up\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\",\"name\":\"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-02T12:00:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/7366a9154d4679625f0369d071410492\"},\"description\":\"What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it's not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Entrepreneurs: What You Should Look for in an Accelerator\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"Unreasonable\",\"description\":\"We believe in the power of business to drive lasting, scalable change.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/7366a9154d4679625f0369d071410492\",\"name\":\"Pascal Finette\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/64707a7afafae97680afd451f49df2ca3c35f3bd9d75cc691ea621c978e6951e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/64707a7afafae97680afd451f49df2ca3c35f3bd9d75cc691ea621c978e6951e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pascal Finette\"},\"description\":\"Pascal is the Managing Director of Singularity University's Startup Lab. He is also an entrepreneur, coach, and speaker who has worked in Internet powerhouses, such as eBay, Mozilla, and Google, and Venture Capital\u2014starting both a VC firm and accelerator program.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/finette.com\/\",\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pfinette\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/pfinette\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator","description":"What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it's not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator","og_description":"What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it's not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.","og_url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/","og_site_name":"Unreasonable","article_published_time":"2017-01-02T12:00:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Pascal Finette","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/pfinette","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pascal Finette","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/"},"author":{"name":"Pascal Finette","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/7366a9154d4679625f0369d071410492"},"headline":"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator","datePublished":"2017-01-02T12:00:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/"},"wordCount":546,"commentCount":9,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg","keywords":["accelerator","accelerators","business model canvas","design thinking","Fundraising","lean startup","Metrics","Pascal Finette","startups","traction"],"articleSection":["Accelerators","Article","Design Thinking","Starting Up"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/","url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/","name":"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg","datePublished":"2017-01-02T12:00:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/7366a9154d4679625f0369d071410492"},"description":"What to look for in an accelerator? This VP at Singularity University, says it's not learning environment or freedom from distraction, but something else.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg","width":1400,"height":500,"caption":"Entrepreneurs: What You Should Look for in an Accelerator"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/values-of-an-accelerator\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What You Should Look For In An Accelerator"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/","name":"Unreasonable","description":"We believe in the power of business to drive lasting, scalable change.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/7366a9154d4679625f0369d071410492","name":"Pascal Finette","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/64707a7afafae97680afd451f49df2ca3c35f3bd9d75cc691ea621c978e6951e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/64707a7afafae97680afd451f49df2ca3c35f3bd9d75cc691ea621c978e6951e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Pascal Finette"},"description":"Pascal is the Managing Director of Singularity University's Startup Lab. He is also an entrepreneur, coach, and speaker who has worked in Internet powerhouses, such as eBay, Mozilla, and Google, and Venture Capital\u2014starting both a VC firm and accelerator program.","sameAs":["http:\/\/finette.com\/","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pfinette","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/pfinette"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/FinetteP_17.01.01_f.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33606"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33631,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33606\/revisions\/33631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unreasonablegroup.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}