I think this is a fantastic, important project. Keep up the good work.
That said, the UI is encouraging visitors to prioritize information that isn't important. For example, % equity, $ per %, and average funding.
The equity stuff isn't important because all of them take so little that an early-stage company shouldn't be worrying about it. The mindset that "we're gonna be a $1B company, so 1% is worth $10M to me" is common and insane. New founders need to snap out of that.
I've seen tons of founders quibble over a few percent, and none of them were successful. Successful founders get past those issues and execute.
As for the average funding: the most successful company won't need to raise anything at all after going through an accelerator. So the metric of "how much was raised after leaving the accelerator" is lumping the failures along with the super successful. That makes it a useless metric.
Here's the data that would be ideal, although I'm well aware that it's not necessarily possible:
0. Reviews! Great idea. These will be absolutely vital once you get some traction. You need to have a very strict way of verifying identities though -- maybe force people to show you their certificate of incorporation for the company that went through the accelerator, even if their review is anonymous to the public. Some accelerators will act like a cabal and game the rankings if you don't do this.
1. % funded companies that either exit or survive for 5 years
2. % of mentors who have successfully exited in the past (an accelerator with investor-only mentors is just a shitty angel investment)
3. [x] alumni with highest valuations (3 would probably be enough)
Wow, great feedback! Totally agree regarding average funding (it's biased and averages don't say much about distributions), I'm working on ways to get other metrics.
Also love your suggestions for better ones. I could do 3. and 4. relatively easy, 1. and 2. are harder but definitely worth considering.
Regarding verifying identities, I'm fully focused on getting real reviews. I've been gathering more than 100 reviews already by reaching out to people I know that have actually been through accelerators. As for the reviews that come in via the website, there is a verification process to make sure they are real.
"The equity stuff isn't important because all of them take so little that an early-stage company shouldn't be worrying about it. The mindset that "we're gonna be a $1B company, so 1% is worth $10M to me" is common and insane. New founders need to snap out of that.
I've seen tons of founders quibble over a few percent, and none of them were successful. Successful founders get past those issues and execute."
Really? You only get 100% to give away. Every 1% you give away now dilutes what you give to attract future employees, investors, etc. OK, maybe the accelerator asking for 10% is better overall than the one asking for 5% for the same amount of funding - still, you want to be aware of that tradeoff, no? You don't want to be completely laissez-faire about it. It's like millionaires from traditional industries who'll split a restaurant bill to the penny - cultivating a mindset to be really, really careful with key resources.
"Successful founders get past those issues and execute." It might just be the wording, but this sounded weird on first reading. Like saying "only losers care about their own interest when entering a business deal - what are you, a loser?!?"
I agree reviews would be the most helpful. You will have a tough time getting negative reviews however, as there's a strong disincentive against making an accelerator you've gone through sound worse. Good luck I hope it gains traction.
Thanks! Indeed from experience so far we've gotten more positive than negative reviews. However, we did get plenty of negative/critical reviews too (including serious stuff like money not coming through etc).
Just trying to make sure for other readers: all reviews will be anonymously posted, so there is no disincentive for not posting because you don't want anything to backfire on you personally. Of course, the point still stands for not wanting to hurt the image of the accelerator associated with your company.
That said, the UI is encouraging visitors to prioritize information that isn't important. For example, % equity, $ per %, and average funding.
The equity stuff isn't important because all of them take so little that an early-stage company shouldn't be worrying about it. The mindset that "we're gonna be a $1B company, so 1% is worth $10M to me" is common and insane. New founders need to snap out of that.
I've seen tons of founders quibble over a few percent, and none of them were successful. Successful founders get past those issues and execute.
As for the average funding: the most successful company won't need to raise anything at all after going through an accelerator. So the metric of "how much was raised after leaving the accelerator" is lumping the failures along with the super successful. That makes it a useless metric.
Here's the data that would be ideal, although I'm well aware that it's not necessarily possible:
0. Reviews! Great idea. These will be absolutely vital once you get some traction. You need to have a very strict way of verifying identities though -- maybe force people to show you their certificate of incorporation for the company that went through the accelerator, even if their review is anonymous to the public. Some accelerators will act like a cabal and game the rankings if you don't do this.
1. % funded companies that either exit or survive for 5 years
2. % of mentors who have successfully exited in the past (an accelerator with investor-only mentors is just a shitty angel investment)
3. [x] alumni with highest valuations (3 would probably be enough)
4. Age of accelerator