Getting into an (our) accelerator

I’m writing this post after the tough process of making decisions for Launch Pad Ignition and communicating the good and bad news to the companies that applied.  It was a very competitive process and we had a lot of great applicants, which made the decisions hard.  This year we added an advisory board to Ignition made up of investors – 2 NOLA, 2 NY, 2 SV.  They provided very valuable guidance and feedback and ultimately we made the decisions.

While its fresh, I want to share some thoughts on why some companies did or didn’t get in, so you can be better prepared to apply next year or to another accelerator.

You need:

  • Shovel-ready product development - even if you don’t have product yet, we need to have confidence you’re ready to hit the ground running.  If you’re not building or ready to build, you’re not ready.
  • Hustle and drive - the best way to communicate how good you are is to show that you are building this company anyway, with or without Ignition.  We had a founder who went from talking about his idea at our info session in December to having a prototype built before he finished interviewing. It was clear he was building this company with or without us, and this communicated a lot about his drive.

Deal breakers:

  • All founders not able to attend the whole program - last year we flexed on this a bit and learned why its so important for all founders to attend the entire program.  If you we’re able to commit to being in New Orleans for the whole program, we didn’t let you in.  The value of an accelerator is in being part of it, and if only one founder attends, it leads to companies not being calibrated.
  • Uncommitted founders – founders who still are working full-time or have a second company were a deal-breaker.  You may be able to bootstrap a company or self-fund it this way, but its not an appropriate structure for an accelerator or attractive to investors.  You may see it as a safety net, but we need you all-in.
  • Unable to communicate vision – several companies left us scratching our heads as to what they did or wanted to do, even after multiple interviews. You need to be able to communicate your vision succinctly.  Practice this with regular people. If they don’t understand it, simplify and refine.
  • Kitchen sink approach – take your core value proposition and then layer on everything else you might possibly build. Not a good approach.  Refine your core value to its core functionality. You can build up later. But you must have something core that makes people want to use your product.

We’re excited to be announcing our class Feb 13.  Hopefully this feedback is helpful to applicants who didn’t get in and to those who will be applying next year.

The value of mentors

This morning, as we are about to embark on the first class of Launch Pad Ignition, I got to thinking about the mentors who are helping to get me to the finish line with Ignition, which is a startup itself.

I’ve had many mentors in my life, and now more than ever as we move into uncharted territory, I’m leaning on them, and they are responding.  A mentor is a person who:

  • sends you an email, asking “how’s it going?” out of the blue
  • shows up when its a big day for you, at a talk, a presentation or a pitch
  • responds to your email within minutes, not weeks
  • introduces you to people they think you should know, without you asking
  • and most of all… genuinely cares about your success

At SXSW and over the last week as Ignition is hitting its stride and the pressure & stress level rising, I felt my network kick in.

  • Schlaf was making connections to StartupBus folks, and making sure I got into the AOL Ventures party at SXSW
  • Jann Schwartz took me under his wing at SXSW, making great intros and being an advocate for what we are doing
  • Brad Feld emailing me at 10:30pm last night engaging me in Startup America
  • Leslie Jacobs helped us work through our term sheet
  • Elon Boms said “let’s make this happen in New Orleans”
  • Tony Ciaccio and Big Sam drove all the way from NOLA to make sure our party was a hit
  • Taylor Davidson swung by the NOLA party, shared where he was personally, and his excitement about engaging our founders
  • Eric Marcoullier pinged me to ask “how’s Ignition going?”  to which I replied “great! when are you coming down?”
  • Andrew Hyde made sure my core convo at SXSW went well, from the iPod tunes to start to keeping the convo flowing
  • John Barnett & Brent McCrossen hanging at Capdeville with Pete, constantly checking in with us

So, thank you to all of you. I feel the value of mentors.  People rooting for you to succeed, and making sure they are taking an active, not passive role in it.

I can’t wait to personally play this role and see the impact of it next week when Ignition kicks off.