Ask HN: How to get max out of an accelerator program?

[dudeofjude]

Hi All,

I have got into one of the prestigious accelerator, resident program.

I have a B2B, SaaS product, with one paying customer, and a buggy MVP. The product is sort of CRM for a niche, with inbound marketing via social promotional features etc.

I am pre-product/market fit stage.

The folks over here are very resourceful, and well connected.

What all should I do, to maximize the returns from the program.

What should be my targets for the next 3 months?

What actionable items should I define to be achieved?

Thanks for your advice.

[paulorlando]

This is a question everyone going into an accelerator program should ask themselves before, throughout and after the program. From running a startup accelerator off the beaten path (in Hong Kong), I can tell you that the startups that got the most out of it were those that were coachable, social (but not too social), kept in contact by asking for help when needed, and maintained momentum. I wrote about this here: http://startupsunplugged.com/startup-programs/four-simple-th...

There is a lot of hype out there about startup accelerators. And overall, it's really early to know how things will go with the many different programs that exist. Some of the data that's out there is just inaccurate. Here's another post on when an accelerator succeeds: http://startupsunplugged.com/startup-data/when-does-a-startu...

For me in a program that was pretty new, I judged success as all the startups finishing feeling that they had achieved multiples of what they would have done if they had not joined the accelerator. That and being noticeably stronger companies.

In any program, at some point you'll probably get feedback that you don't want to hear. You could either reject it outright and keep doing whatever you were doing before, or you could consider why you were given the feedback (whether or not you agree with it), or you could be open-minded and willing to accept that you don't know everything yet. Use the mentor network but don't fall victim to mentor whiplash (where you get pulled in 100 different directions by mentors providing opinion-based advice). You should know your business and customers better than anyone else, so take all advice with the understanding that you will have a different perspective than other people.

It's hard for me to give you really specific actionable items that you request, because everyone's situation is different. For all I know, in 3 months, you'll have changed to a B2C product in a totally different market...