advice for corporate accelerator mentors
TRANSCRIPT
BEING AN ACCELERATOR MENTORTIPS AND TRICKS FROM MANY MISTAKES
PART ONEAN INTRODUCTION TO START-UP
ACCELERATOR MENTORSHIP
ACTIVITY ONEWHY ARE MENTORS SO IMPORTANT
IN AN ACCELERATOR PROGRAM?Individually, in 3 minutes, and
without talking to others, write down as many benefits of advisors as you can on post-its. ONE IDEA PER POST-
IT PLEASE
ACTIVITY TWOSHARING UNIQUE IDEAS
Let’s go one by one through our lists. First person posts post-its to the wall
and explains. If you have the same idea, bin your post-it. Let’s keep
posting until we have all the unique ideas
BIG IDEAMENTORS ARE KEY
Teams need someone who….1. is practical and results focused2. has an experience earned gut-feel of what
is right3. will smack them around when needed4. can bring domain expertise and industry
contacts5. will be there when they need you (within
reason)
ACTIVITY THREEKNOWING YOURSELF
Each of you tape some flip chart paper to the wall & use post-its to fill out this grid. 20 minutes then we discuss a few
MY STRENGTHS AS A MENTOR
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MY WEAKNESSES AS A MENTOR
xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx
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WHAT “I” WANT OUT OF THIS PROGRAM
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PART TWOUSING THE 7V FRAMEWORK TO
QUICKLY IDENTIFY PROBLEM AREAS
Q: What is a value proposition?
The value that your product has for your customer!
NOPE!!!
Fine for marketing class, but not sufficient
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
URGENT
INTENSE
URGENT
INTENSE
YES!
NO!
MAYBE!
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
VALUABLE The # of customers willing to pay is sufficiently large to fund your company & your segmentation strategy gets you access to them effectively
women
women who like nerdsWomen
who like me
START WITH TOP DOWN
TOTAL SHARE
TOTAL ADDRESSABLE MARKET
TOTAL SEGMENT SIZE
START WITH TOP DOWN
Customers who would buy from me
Customers who I can reach
Customers I have capacity to sell & deliver to
SANITY CHECK WITH BOTTOM UP
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
VALUABLE The # of customers willing to pay is sufficiently large to fund your company & your segmentation strategy gets you access to them effectively
VALID Your product works, is compliant as required, and has the right features
1TO1MAP PAIN POINTS TO PRODUCT
FEATURES
PROOF
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
VALUABLE The # of customers willing to pay is sufficiently large to fund your company & your segmentation strategy gets you access to them effectively
VALID Your product works, is compliant as required, and has the right features
VALUNIQUE You have a sustainable & defensible competitive advantage and are competing on the right vectors of differentiation
No Competitors = No Hope
ONE BARRIER-TO-ENTRY PER POINT IN THE VALUE CHAIN
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
VALUABLE The # of customers willing to pay is sufficiently large to fund your company & your segmentation strategy gets you access to them effectively
VALID Your product works, is compliant as required, and has the right features
VALUNIQUE You have a sustainable & defensible competitive advantage and are competing on the right vectors of differentiation
VALUE CHAIN
You can deliver the product promises across the value chain and scale with growth
WIIFM
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
VALUABLE The # of customers willing to pay is sufficiently large to fund your company & your segmentation strategy gets you access to them effectively
VALID Your product works, is compliant as required, and has the right features
VALUNIQUE You have a sustainable & defensible competitive advantage and are competing on the right vectors of differentiation
VALUE CHAIN
You can deliver the product promises across the value chain and scale with growth
VALENCE You have a strongly-bonded team with all the right skills to pull this off
formfollowsfunction
ASPECT DESCRIPTIONVALUED Customer will pay money to buy what you are selling
because it addresses a real urgent & intense need/pain/opportunity
VALUABLE The # of customers willing to pay is sufficiently large to fund your company & your segmentation strategy gets you access to them effectively
VALID Your product works, is compliant as required, and has the right features
VALUNIQUE You have a sustainable & defensible competitive advantage and are competing on the right vectors of differentiation
VALUE CHAIN
You can deliver the product promises across the value chain and scale with growth
VALENCE You have a strongly-bonded team with all the right skills to pull this off
VALUATION Your cost and revenue models lead to profit and the profit potential is attractive enough for shareholders and investors
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/basic-start-up-valuation-how-much-r-u-worth
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/99-questions-winning-entrepreneurs-must-answer-the-minimum-viable-business-plan
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/barriers-to-entry-cheat-your-way-to-success
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol/handling-presentation-qa
PART THREEALL THE STUPID SH!T THEY DO
ONEMake sure they do not settle too quickly or too
firmly into an idea/business model.
Keep challenging. The first model is often not the best model
EXAMPLE: SUGARDROPTechnology that uses genetically modified yeasts to
100% naturally reduce the calorie count in juice, without reducing the sweetness
QUESTIONHow many business models can we come up with for
this one technology?
• Manufacture, package and sell juice at 7-11• Sell licenses to juice brands who will setup their own
process for their own SKUs• Sell machines and bottles of secret sauce to juice
brands to integrate into their plants• Provide a service where brands ship juice to you and
you send them back reduced-calorie juice• Create a home-based machine (like a coffee maker) and
sell retail. Insert any juice and our packet into the machine and enjoy half-calorie juice
• Why did we focus on juice? Would it be better to apply the same technology to soda?
TWOKeep them focused. A start-up does not have the resources to simultaneously tackle more than one segment, more than one customer, or more than
one product.
THREEMake them validate all their assumptions. Any time
they say X is true, make them to prove it to you.
“I’m on your side. I intuitively agree with you that vacation travelers want a simpler discovery process to find cheaper flights,
but until you prove that hypothesis is true with data points, I’m taking it as false!”
FOURMake sure they practice their pitch and do several
rounds of Q&A well before the last-minute
FIVEThere is no excuse for lame, bullet-ridden slides –
packaging is often as important as content
SIXMake sure that they treat your time like gold
plan, and stick to, an engagement calendarprep for all meeting with you
follow-up with minutes and actionsdo not become a grammar checker
SEVENMake sure they know when they are allowed to
contact you, your general SLA to get back to them, and by what media you prefer.
EIGHTDon’t let them expect all the answers from you
(don’t become a crutch and don’t let yourself show off)
NINEIf you give them networking leads, don’t assume they
understand how to protect your brand
questions…