

The Best Companies Don’t Do Accelerator Programs - Ataub24
http://alexstechthoughts.com/post/58333512078/the-best-companies-dont-do-accelerators-programs

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onion2k
The companies listed might not have attended accelerator programs, but they
did everything companies on accelerators do - build an MVP, raise a small
amount of finance off the back of it, iterate, iterate, iterate, get a mentor
or several, iterate, network like crazy, etc, etc. Oh, and iterate. The idea,
execution, timing, and luck necessary to build a company are the most critical
factors regardless of where you take your first steps, but having those other
things certainly helps. Accelerators put them on a plate. The founders still
have to take them.

However...

<small rant>

Defining success for a business as "being a billion dollar company" is
ludicrous. Those aren't the "best" companies, merely the biggest. The majority
of companies aren't that size and never will be. The delusion that your new
cat photo sharing app is going to propel you to startup stardom is useful at
the beginning, it drives you forwards, but pragmatism is equally useful.
Building a $5m company is just as much a success if it changes lives.
Billionaire worship, where a company isn't a success if they don't have the
potential to scale to the size of Facebook, is a dangerous thing that will,
frankly, hold humanity back in the long term if accelerators take hold too
much. Not every important idea is a huge world-changing event. Sometimes
building a small company that makes a big difference to a small number of
people is more important.

</small rant>

~~~
hello_newman
"Not every important idea is a huge world-changing event. Sometimes building a
small company that makes a big difference to a small number of people is more
important."

Totally agree. DHH actually gave a talk about this subject at Start-Up School
back in 2008. Definitely worth watching
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY)

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the_watcher
The title would be more accurate if he included something like - YC excluded.
I bet a lot of people on HN are going to be irritated by this until they read
the link.

~~~
Ataub24
I thought it might engage them first :) - we shall see.

~~~
the_watcher
I did click. But generally, HN is not a fan of link bait.

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andykmaguire
Have you done an accelerator program?

We did 500 Startups and while some startups obviously don't make it - I think
that if you ask the founders on the whole there will be overwhelming consensus
that it was extremely helpful. Any good entrepreneur needs to develop a filter
and learn how to cut through the noise. If they fail for that reason at an
accelerator, they would have failed regardless.

It's still a great mashup of talent, timing, and LUCK. A lot of companies will
take years to hit their stride (500S is only 3 years old).

This article reads a bit like it was written by somebody who is unable to
speak from first hand experience.

------
hga
Note the first paragraph of exposition starts with:

" _Now before I continue, I should note that I don’t believe YCombinator falls
into this category._ "

~~~
bcent
I did find that a little bit funny.

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Grovara123
How did this make it on the front-page... You have no basis here for making
any argument.

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adventured
I like how the graphic at the top lists the top 15 accelerator programs, with
YC first, and then the author goes on to explain how conveniently he doesn't
count YC as an accelerator. Not off to a great start on presenting the
article.

The author provided no great support for the idea that YC is not an
accelerator. YC is clearly an accelerator, in my opinion. And there's
absolutely nothing wrong with that. The author had to leave YC out because it
would have blown his premise apart. As far and away the most successful
accelerator, it has had countless hits. It's not surprising that a few
accelerators would dominate when it comes to producing homeruns, it tends to
happen in most things (including VC). I think a similarly flawed argument
would be to say that Andreessen Horowitz isn't a venture capital company,
because they're just too different from the pack and too good.

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hack_edu
Please refrain from self submissions. :)

If people like it, they'll submit it for you.

~~~
thatswrong0
Question: if you just started writing, you might not have many if any readers.
How do you give people the opportunity to read your writing without self
submissions?

~~~
hack_edu
"Show HN: My thoughts on companies that don't do accelerator programs."

