About one year ago this month, my partner and I packed our bags for Cedar Rapids to take part in the Iowa Startup Accelerator’s first cohort.
At the time, we’d both just quit our summer internships and didn’t quite know what we were getting ourselves into. When we told our friends and family that we were heading to Iowa for a startup accelerator program, we got more than a few confused looks. Iowa? Startup accelerator? School? What?
Leaving school and going to Iowa was a huge decision for us. From the start, we were determined to make the most of our experience. As the Iowa Startup Accelerator’s second cohort goes into full swing, we’ve received a lot of contact from reporters and media asking about our experience.
We’ve also received a lot of requests for advice on how to make the most out of a startup accelerator. Frankly, I’m not sure we are in a position to give any advice yet; however, the following is what I learned from my experience and what I would recommend for the incoming Iowa Startup Accelerator cohort and anyone else looking to make the most out of a startup accelerator experience.
Don’t waste your time on a small idea
When we came to the Iowa Startup Accelerator, we had been working on a company called ShopTutors. ShopTutors was an online tutor management system for colleges and universities. At the time, we’d been working on the company for about 8 months and we’d already signed two contracts. When I say contracts, I don’t mean big contracts. Our contracts were tiny, no matter how you looked at them.
Thanks to our sponsor
The tutoring programs we targeted could only afford a couple thousand dollars per year. About two weeks into the program, we realized that selling to schools sucked. Even if we sold to 100 schools, we’d only be making a couple hundred thousand dollars in revenue per year. We had a nano-business. With the help of the Iowa Startup Accelerator staff, we decided that we didn’t want to waste our opportunity working on a small idea. I would advise anyone in a similar situation to do the same.
Don’t be afraid of change
On the first day of the Iowa Startup Accelerator program, we were told that one of the teams in the cohort would probably pivot. In other words, change direction. I remember my partner and I chuckling at the idea of pivoting. We had it all figured out; we had two clients.There was no way we were going to pivot.
However, two weeks into the 100-day program, we did exactly that. We scrapped our original business and decided we needed to go in a new direction. After about a week of stumbling, and even a failed acquisition, we founded LendEDU when we were on the way on home from the gym.
If you are heading into an accelerator program, don’t be afraid to change course. An accelerator is all about figuring out the right direction. Changing directions is natural and normal.
Work on the weekends
After we killed our first business, we found ourselves in last place so to speak. While the Iowa Startup Accelerator staff may not have tried to rank us, it certainly felt like we were being ranked against the rest of our cohort on a weekly basis.
In our minds, we went from first to last. We needed to catch up. In order to progress, we worked every single weekend at the Iowa Startup Accelerator’s building. To make the most out of your accelerator experience, don’t stop moving forward. We were able to use the weekends to make progress on customer discovery, development and our pitch decks by working longer hours.
If you are in an accelerator program, you’ve likely already given up quite a bit to participate. Make the most out of the opportunity and work through the weekends. Matt and I were our most productive during the weekends.
Find a hobby
Working non-stop is not possible. You should look for a hobby to take your mind off work. Matt and I went to the gym nearly every single day during the program. We found an affordable 24/7 gym near Cedar Rapids.
Treat yourself to a hobby. It will keep you relaxed and, in our case, kept us from gaining too much weight.
Don’t listen to everyone
My biggest piece of advice that I’d give to someone entering an accelerator program is to not listen to everyone. At the Iowa Startup Accelerator, we participated in a vigorous mentor-matching program where we had 100 30-minute meetings with successful entrepreneurs, executives and community members. Each and every person we met in Iowa offered some kind of advice to us.
It is easy to scramble down notes and act interested in what everyone is telling you to do. But don’t waste your energy. If you try to listen and take advice from everyone you will get overwhelmed. Find a select group of people who you want to listen to and block out the rest. On more than one occasion Matt and I found ourselves taking advice from the wrong people.
We were lucky enough to be paired with Iowa Startup Accelerator mentors Adam Ingersoll and Dan Smith. Adam and Dan are still our main sounding boards even 9 months removed from the program.
These pieces of advice are just my two cents from my own experience. Please consult a startup advisor before acting on any recommendations made in this article!
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Nate Matherson is Co-Founder and CEO of LendEDU. LendEDU is a marketplace for student loans.
