Advice for Corporate Accelerator Mentors

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

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxx

MY WEAKNESSES AS A MENTOR

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxx

WHAT “I” WANT OUT OF THIS PROGRAM

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxx

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…