Have you ever dreamed of getting your company accepted to a startup accelerator?
For many founders, getting picked by a top accelerator program feels like the holy grail of early stage entrepreneurship.
Overnight, you and your team are given access to world-class mentorship, tight accountability, educational events, and primetime pitching opps.
In short – all things needed to get you to the next level – FAST.
But the popularity of accelerators is a double-edged sword… leading to intense competition between you and your fellow founders.
Acceptance rate hovers around 3-5%.
For the more popular ones (Y Combinator and TechStars) that number is actually closer 1%.
But my message for you today is simple, .
You… and ONLY you, get to dictate the success of your startup.
And if you’re part of the majority of founders who DON’T get picked by a startup accelerator, not only am I going to show you the 5 ways to create your OWN…
… but also why doing so can actually lead to bigger outcomes than the traditional route.
As you can see from the video, there’s nothing contained within even the world’s most elite programs that you can’t create on your own.Mentorship…
Education…
Pitching…
Deadlines…They’re all within grasp once you put these 5 strategies into play.
In fact, I’ll argue all day that doing so is even more powerful than landing in an accelerator program.
Because when you claim personal ownership across these areas, you also make massive upgrades to your Founder’s Operating System.
You build up the self-reliance muscles that will serve you throughout your ENTIRE entrepreneurial journey… not just the short-term track that an accelerator would’ve led you through.
So that’s my message for you today.
Give it a watch and let me know in the comments which of these 5 strategies you plan to implement this week.
(Number 1 and 4 can be done in as little as 10 minutes a day).
And as always, please share it with anyone you know who’s considered going down the accelerator route.
To driving your own success (and pushing it full throttle),
– Dan
P.S. After advising over a dozen of the world’s top accelerator programs, I can confidently say that if you have the discipline to follow these 5 strategies, you’ll get just as much out of the experience (if not more) than you would’ve as part of a program.
P.P.S. Finding a mentor is undoubtedly one of the most crucial areas for any founder to focus on. Here’s my best advice on how to land a TOP mentor (without being part of an accelerator).
