You have an idea and want to make it a reality. Accelerators and other programs like them whose stated purpose is to help startups launch and grow (incubators, startup courses, etc.) are often the first thing you’ll encounter on your startup journey and they often seem like a logical place to start.

You know nothing about startups after all and have many questions that you’d like to have answered. How do I form a company? How do I meet co-founders? How do I build a product? How do I sell a product? And what about that mysterious funding? What do I need to do next?

If done correctly, accelerators are a great thing for founders. However, they rarely actually work. I personally went through several “accelerator” like programs before attending Y Combinator’s Startup School. We made progress, but never really seemed to grow as a result of their advice. The advice from the people leading the accelerators always seemed a bit off, but being a first-time founder — who was I to say? I then heard the below statement from YC Partner Aaron Harris and realized I wasn’t crazy after all.

I think the number of accelerators is proliferating faster than the number of startups. This terrifies me because most of the people who are advising companies in accelerators have no idea what they’re doing. They’ve never worked at a startup, they’ve never started a startup, they’ve never funded a startup outside of the accelerator. You’ve got to ask yourself why on Earth should I take advice from this person who’s never done any of the things that they’re telling me I should do, never seen any of these things work?

In hindsight, it’s patently obvious. But at the time, it wasn’t. It is easy to be enamored by programs with famous university brand names, by various rankings and by people who genuinely want to help and seem to have intelligent answers to your questions.

Questions to Ask Accelerators

Who leads it? The accelerator should be led by startup founders who have had a successful exit and investors who’ve had successful exits. This is the most important question and without the right leadership, many other problems will arise. Programs led by entrepreneurs, but not focused on startups are a recipe for disaster.

Where is it located? The epicenter of startup world has been, is, and will be the Bay Area for the foreseeable future. If the accelerator is not based in the Bay Area, they should have a very strong thesis on why it isn’t.

What is their track record? Have they helped ideas become large, scalable and repeatable companies? This is your goal and if they have helped other people achieve this goal, that is a good sign. If there are crickets or excuses, it probably isn’t a good sign.

How will time be spent? There are two things you need to do as an early stage startup, build and talk to customers. Neither of those things you do in a classroom. It amazes me how many accelerators spend ample in classrooms learning things like financial modeling, pitching investors or legal mechanics.

How do they deal with charlatans? In any endeavor governed by power laws, an entire cottage industry of charlatans will emerge. A charlatan is a person who ‘pretends to have skills or knowledge that they do not have’. Accelerators have a tendency to become hives of charlatans because they are full of eager founders trying to grow their companies and willing to take risks to get there. Charlatans love to masquerade as guest speakers and often take the form of dev shops, Economic Development people, academics, UX designers, coaches and various other business services who want to use startups for their own financial, professional or reputational gain.

What is the cost/benefit? Even if the accelerator isn’t great, the cost/benefit may be worth it. Remember that your time is your most valuable resource.

Should you apply?

Erlich’s accelerator actually does quite well by these standards. It’s led by a former founder (albeit a car money exit, not boat money), they are based in Silicon Valley, and all they do is work on PiedPiper. Despite many of Erlich’s shortcomings and his incubator being a hive of charlatans (they do make great entertainment) he’s actually doing better than most accelerators.

Lastly, when evaluating accelerators it’s important to remember that YC is by far and away #1. 93 YC backed companies are valued at over $100M. No one comes close. You should try to get in and if you can’t, you should do their online Startup School and keep reapplying until you do. But, if you can’t get into YC and are evaluating other accelerators, we hope this helps.