By Wil Benton, Venture & Ecosystem Director at ATI Boeing Accelerator
Accelerators are a great way for companies to get their first start.
By joining a programme, startups can refine the product they are developing, get exposure, and build important relationships that might help them forge the future of their businesses. But what happens after the programme is over?
Before joining ATI Boeing Accelerator as its Venture & Ecosystem Director I was a founder too and going through an accelerator changed the course of my company. I’ve spent 12 incredible, life-changing weeks on an Ignite accelerator programme with Chew in Newcastle back in 2014/15. This gave me a whole new perspective when the time came for me to be on the other side of the table, designing and delivering programmes as a Programme Director over the last three years.
The first thing to keep in mind when leaving an accelerator programme is to get your information right. Talk to other founders who have been through programmes and other programme teams to learn about their experiences before coming up with your own plan of action.
So with that out the way, here are a few top tips for great post-programme accelerator success.
Network
You grow your network exponentially over the course of a programme. Mentors, other founders, investors – you build relationships with these stakeholders on what feels like a minute-by-minute basis as the days fly by.
Each stakeholder I was introduced to during our 12 weeks on Ignite added some value to the business (and to me personally, then and now). Fresh perspective, introductions, investment offers, and more. It was all invaluable – even if we didn’t realise it, or it didn’t feel like it, at the time.
Network, therefore would be the number one thing to maintain post-programme.
Outside of the enforced n+1 structure on an accelerator, sustaining this relationship-building – or simply keeping your new relationships engaged and/or informed – can be quite challenging. I found the easiest way to keep people up to speed with what we were up to as a team, or what issues we needed support on, was a fortnightly ‘update’ email.
It was a really efficient way of staying top of inbox and top of mind for prospective investors, clients, journalists and the business’s wider advisory and investment networks. And it didn’t cost me anything financially – just 15 minutes every two weeks to update the email template with our latest metrics, news and asks for help.
There are lots of tips online for how to structure this sort of thing, but for me the three Ps worked the best: Progress (what you have done; i.e. traction), Plans (what you’re going to be working on; i.e. what’s coming up), Problems (what you need help with; i.e. what you can ask recipients for).
Remember to keep it short, simple and actionable and share the good, bad and the ugly. Good news only is always a red flag.
As an aside to keeping the network warm, one of the things a few founders I’ve spoken to over the years do after finishing a programme is going back over the programme content. You’re lost in the depths of an accelerator during the process itself, so you might not always fully engage with content – or it might not be suitable or directly applicable when you go through a specific workshop, for example. Keep good notes, get the speakers’ contact details, try to stay on top of the presentation material. This all makes it easier to revisit programme content after the fact.
Lastly, the cohort of the other founders and companies you’ve hopefully built close relationships with over your time on the programme are an invaluable support structure and network to have access to.
Do what you can to keep in contact with everyone – they’re all going through the daily ups and downs you are, so it’s a good opportunity for sharing wins, losses and the journey with.
Life at accelerator pace
As you’d expect, given they do what they say on the tin, accelerators speed things up. Relationships, product, traction, knowledge etc. They all expand up and to the right over the course of a programme.
Graduating back into the ‘real world’ takes you out of this enforced pace. Trying to sustain this core focus on building your business as efficiently as possible, while learning from your failures and avoiding breaking down can be tricky.
Work/ life harmony on an accelerator is tough – as a founder, it’s pretty challenging to have a balance between the two. So take time to reconnect with friends and family post-programme and take time to reflect on your time there. What’s worked, what’s been useful, what’s been less useful?
A decompression session with your co-founders and team, the rest of your cohort, and then your personal friends and family is always useful in reconnecting you after such a whirlwind of activity.
Don’t lose sight of what you can do to keep up the day-to-day pressure of making the needle move. I’m not saying you should be working 24/7 365, far from it, that does no one any favours. But take time to build a routine or structure that works for you and your team, and don’t lose the programme edge!
If you’ve built routine around growth during the programme, try to keep to that framework – working the metrics for your weekly check-ins with the programme team, for example. Keep up your network-building activities, communicate with your investors, and maintain your relationships.
Good luck!