What’s it really like in a startup accelerator program?
I’ve just completed my first month in the muru-D accelerator and my brain is exploding. Happy to report that muru-D does what it says on the box; we have definitely been accelerated. Everything is moving faster, particularly my heart rate. Here are some things I’ve learned in our first 30 days.
1. If you thought you were running hard before, you were wrong.
We started Catalyser two years ago. We were bootstrapped and grew as we brought in revenue. We had a measured, sensible approach to growing our company. We had a product, we had customers and we were figuring out the journey one step at a time. We were working our hardest and making good progress. Or so I thought.
Enter muru-D. muru-D is like kerosene. The culture here is about no excuses, and just getting it done. The team of entrepreneurs in residence, mentors and all-round cheerleaders offer a safe environment to try and indeed, possibly fail. As it turns out, feeling uncomfortable is a good place to be. We’ve found ourselves trying everything, and all at once: new conversations with customers, new approaches to marketing, new strategies for selling, new ways of working as a team. We’re still understanding what works and what doesn’t but one this is clear – as you try, you learn. The reason accelerators make you run harder is because they help you learn faster.
2. Founders are a special breed of human
At times on this founder journey, I have felt lonely. Lonely because the typical founder conversation is so often about #startuplyfe – startup wins, startup fails, startup everything. It is very rarely about how being a founder fits in with the rest of life. And yet, this is where I have found many of my real challenges.
Being part of an accelerator allows you to share the journey with a family of founders who get it. Founders are a special breed. Founders are people with the courage to pursue an idea they are passionate about by giving up the one thing most people crave – certainty. Every single founder has so many balls in the air – some they talk about, many they don’t. It has been so encouraging to see that I am not alone in the daily dance of trying to keep it all together.
3. Your founder journey is special, but not unique.
What has become increasingly evident is that every startup is on the same, well-trodden path. Every mistake has already been made. The secret is to find that person and to learn from them, before you launch head-long into the same mess. But how do you find them?
An accelerator is only as valuable as the people in it. muru-D has allowed us to find people to help with so many of our potential mistakes. These people are everywhere – in Australia, Asia and the States. We are getting the opportunity to learn from people who have walked this path many times over and have more war stories and unicorn tales than we can digest. It has only been a month, but I suspect it is this very network of wisdom, experience and support that is muru-D’s secret sauce.
From the heart, mind and fingers of Aivee Robinson, Co-Founder, Catalyser