Error teams in the accelerator: how to attract the next round of investment

The accelerator gets the most powerful projects, which, as a rule, pass through several stages of selection. And the project seems to have everything - a strong team, a viable idea, a market, competitors, thoughts on how to develop the project. But then something goes wrong, and the project fails, never having received the next round of investment.
In this post we will try to make out what went wrong, and give tips on how to avoid mistakes and better prepare for work in the accelerator. We will consider our personal victory if our post saves at least a few teams from mistakes, allows them to successfully complete the acceleration program and attract the next round of investments.

So what went wrong?


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Error 1. Schedule Entrepreneur

Accelerator is not only about money, but about the intensive development of projects. And this, in turn, is impossible without constant master classes, discussions and consultations with cool experts.

And in general, at some point you need to make a choice for yourself - work on the main job or work on the project and focus on it. It is impossible to be an entrepreneur on a schedule, from 9 to 5 working at work, and from 6 to 9 engaged in a project.

In our opinion, getting into the accelerator is just that point of reference when you need to choose on which axis you go - hired or entrepreneurial. First, when the project founders work on the main job, they, as a rule, miss a significant part of master classes and consultations, and as a result do not receive the key value of the accelerator. Secondly, competitors are not asleep either, and laying out 100% will most likely overtake you, while it’s very difficult for working founders to develop their project intensively, they can work on it only in the background.

Morality:
If you are not ready to fully focus on the project, then you should not go into the accelerator, but rather develop the project in the background quiet mode, and then go for the investments, if possible.

Error 2. Care of the product

Very often, project teams fall in love with their projects and lick them to the smallest detail, rather than fleeing to the market and asking their consumers whether the product / service has any value and selling.

Often the second mistake is related to the first one: it seems to the founders that it is enough to find cool developers and write good TK, and you can safely deal with other projects or work. But the product is not equal to the code. Look around you - not a single project failed, because they had a bad code, but problems with consumers, competitors, logistics and product values ​​have always been and will always be. That they will have to be addressed non-stop every day.

Moral: Product is not technology or code. Constantly test and improve your product, the main thing is to find your target audience and hypotheses as soon as possible on the value your product carries.

Error 3. "I know everything!"

Often, project teams decide to “score” on educational workshops and meetings with experts, because “as we already know / read it, we’ll better drink the product”. (For example, at the beginning of the QIWI Universe program, project teams often complained to us that due to intensive training they did not have time to work on a project).

In this case, the teams miss the important features of the educational process in the accelerator.

First, it is the exclusivity and practice-orientedness of all classes. It’s one thing to sit at a lecture next to a hundred other similar listeners, it’s quite another to have access to a cool expert for a few hours, who parses exactly your project.

Secondly, all classes in the accelerator are usually interconnected and complementary. For example, it is pointless to spend advertising budget when you have problems with usability. That is why you should not “hammer” on some kind of master class just because “we don’t need this topic yet”. In business, many processes are connected and it is better to understand this sooner rather than later.

Thirdly, as a rule, the accelerators, through their friendly channels, manage to invite well-known experts and entrepreneurs, who in the future can be very helpful to the teams with their extensive contacts. And this chance can not be missed!

Moral: If you go to the accelerator for a multiple growth of your business, then you need to go to all the master classes and meetings with experts, and not just sit and saw the product (this can be done successfully at home without giving a share in the project). We noticed that in Russia as a whole, a rather arrogant attitude towards education as something divorced from reality, and often this plume comes from the institute years. However, practice shows the opposite - the best results are shown by those entrepreneurs who are trying to absorb the maximum amount of useful knowledge and skills from the educational program.

Mistake 4. “Kick me!”

Many teams, hitting the accelerator, think that the accelerator team will constantly walk on their heels and constantly offer them something (introduce them to the right people, go to a conference, etc.).

On the one hand, this is true - at the special traction meeting, which take place every week, the accelerator team discusses all the plans and achievements of each team. For many teams, this is a reason to get together and accelerate.

But this does not mean that the accelerator becomes your nanny. Just because the team itself knows best its product and its consumer, which means it must be active and say what it lacks and with whom to introduce it.

Moral: The accelerator team usually has the opportunity to solve many of your questions through your experience, connections and expertise, much faster than if you would deal with these issues yourself. But in order to get this help, you need to formulate your questions and tasks and not be afraid to ask them.

Mistake 5. Neighbors are only dirty dishes and useless chatter.

Accelerator is a unique place where many talented guys with promising ideas gather at once.

But, as a rule, teams are too focused on their product, and do not take advantage of the opportunities offered by the accelerator ecosystem.

First, other accelerator commands can become the first users of the product and give the team an honest feedback, which ultimately can save the team from wasting time.

Secondly, accelerator projects can perfectly complement each other both in terms of competencies and in terms of products. For example, share your experiences, how to tune or do something.

Thirdly, other projects are also connections - contacts of customers, developers, contractors. Many coworking neighbors have experience in companies whose contacts you may be looking for.

Moral: Spend time discussing your project with other accelerator teams, don't be afraid to ask for help from them. In general, be more social :)

Error 6. "I did not hear the alarm"

The acceleration program is a marathon for the project team and, above all, for the founders. If your project received an investment, you hit the accelerator - this is not the finish line, which is worth relaxing, but just the start, after which you need to start working even more intensively and not slow down.

Unfortunately, many teams are relaxed by a free work schedule and instead of speeding up, they believe that the most difficult thing is over, and then they wonder why competitors overtook them and received investments, but their project did not survive.

Moral: If you made a decision to go into the accelerator, prepare yourself in advance, that you have to work a lot. Think at what time you comfortably start working (for example, from 11 am) and make it a rule not to deviate from it. This technique perfectly disciplines in terms of free work schedule.