The Trouble with Startup Accelerators

[ogarten]

Basically, the ODX accelerator was a startup itself.

Startup should thoroughly vet accelerator programs they apply to, because most are a waste of time in the best case or kill your company in the worst case.

One needs to understand the business model and the KPIs of each accelerator (just like with investors and customers) to figure out if there is a fit.

[markmaglana]

To expand on your assertion, I’m sharing a link to a framework that I drafted a few years back for evaluating an accelerator (referred to as an incubator in the paper):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B75fn5jlTYO3ODQ5X0NhM0txQ2M...

[nailer]

> While charging fees to startups has historically been seen as predatory (or gauche perhaps), that perception might be changing.

> “My take is it’s totally transparent and fine,” said a former insider of 500 Global, which currently charges $37,500 for its flagship accelerator.

No it’s still predatory and gauche.

[dotxlem]

I'd say, no accelerator on earth is giving anyone almost $40k worth of value

[ilrwbwrkhv]

Most VCs and most accelerators are bad. Nearly all of them are pile ons. Hope the downturn wipes a lot of them out. Randos became "VC"s in the bull market.

[rdlecler1]

Remind me, what exactly is the benefit of taking capital and competition out of the market?

Founders should be doing due diligence on their investors, and if they have better options it’s theirs to take.

[niccolop]

I don't see that this is necessarily a critique of accelerators, seems to focus mostly in a rather ephemeral way on ODX.

[FooBarBizBazz]

They prey on people with delusions of grandeur who need the identity of "entrepreneur", since "unemployed since you quit your first job out of college after two years" doesn't have quite the same prestige. "The others, you see, they just don't get it. This is about scale, Zero to One! I'm my own boss!" It's really sad to watch.