What have we learned from accelerating 142 startups?

Hi it's Wojciech,

In December 2015, we announced the launch of Space3ac, the first acceleration program in Europe aimed at startups operating in the space industry; in our wildest dreams, we never thought we would make it this far. Supported by the city of Gdansk, Black Pearls VC, POLSA, and PSSE, we have started a new era in accelerating technology startups.?

We built a completely new model based on our previous experience as startups, participants of acceleration programs, and their creators. We focused on a specific industry, high dynamics of work, and providing startups with proper tools. We also added a component that was missing in the eight previous editions of other acceleration programs, in which we worked with over 100 startups from several countries around the world.?This component was the cooperation of startups with huge businesses. And this has been the case from the very beginning of the acceleration.

It's been 2197 days since the day Space3ac launched. A few days ago we celebrated our 6th birthday. Gosh, time flies ?? So far, we managed to accelerate 142 startups from 15 countries worldwide. We started from the space industry, but we escalated it into new areas like artificial intelligence, smart cities, data science, fintech or transportation and logistics. Our great graduates had the opportunity to work with more than 20 industry and corporate partners and lots of extraordinary mentors. After the acceleration, many of them continued these collaborations commercially or brought the created products to market.?

It has been significant when it comes to the amount of funding we've put into developing startups.?From the start of the program, we have invested an average of €3538 per day in accelerating technology companies' growth. For six years! That's a total of nearly €7.8 million. Has this money been put to good use? Our graduates have managed to raise over €80 million.?That's a pretty nice return on investment.

We are just starting the 10th edition of the program, to which we will accept another dozen or so startups from different parts of the world. As always, it is a challenge and an exciting adventure for us. This little anniversary made me draw some conclusions and summarize what we have learned over the past six years:

1. You must like to help others.?It's an essential part. If you don't have the heart to do it, it's not worth getting into this business. If you don't want to be friends with startups and their teams, nothing will come of it. I've seen many people treat acceleration as a project rather than a process in my dozen years in the tech industry. Today, many of them are no longer in the market. What's left are those who want to pursue the mission of helping others and accelerating their growth. The best are those who enjoy doing it.

2. To attract talent,?you have to stand out and be good at what you do. When we launched in 2015, our competition was at least 300 other established accelerator programs. To compete with them, we had to be different from everyone else. We managed to stand out with our themes and create the first space industry accelerator in Europe. The media and the industry picked it up. It allowed us to attract the capital needed to work on the first projects. There are several thousand acceleration programs today, so standing out is even more difficult. But if you're good at what you do, you won't have a problem.

3. You need to have a goal.?And know why you want to do it. Other than to help others, of course. It will allow you to see where you are going and check if you are on the right track. Accelerating won't make much sense without a specific, measurable, ambitious, time-bound goal.?

4. Choose the proper framework.?Acceleration can be very different indeed. Focused on a topic or on a business model. Done onsite, online or hybrid. Offering funding or just mentoring support. Targeting projects in a particular region or in a specific stage of development. In exchange for shares or without taking them. There are many mixes. Before we started the program, we tested many different models. Then, knowing the advantages and disadvantages, we could choose the type of framework that proved to be effective.

5. People are the most important.?It applies to the talent on the startup side and the team that will work with the startups and organizes the whole program. It's a good idea to have people on your side who are not afraid of hard work and can follow you into the fire. With such a team, no challenge will be a problem.?

6. Your network shows how much you are worth.?Take care of your network of business partners, acceleration support organizations, technical and business mentors, VC and CVC funds that want to work with startups. Take care of helping alumni and allow them to get involved themselves. It will all translate into reaching out to promising projects, helping them develop their competencies, creating new business opportunities, and the funding they will get. Your startups will quickly spread their wings by surrounding yourself with valuable partners.

7. Lessons learned, and optimization will allow you to work more efficiently.?After each completed scouting stage, evaluation, pre-acceleration, acceleration, and the team, we conclude. And we improved things that did not work well. It allows us to work even more efficiently and avoid simple mistakes that happened to us in the past.

8. Don't be afraid of difficult decisions.?Startups and their motivation can vary. Some will be firmly committed throughout the program and achieve great results. Others will need to be encouraged to be more active. There will always be someone who cannot cope with the acceleration program. It is not worth making such people happy by force.?

9. Quality vs. quantity.?We have done editions with six startups as well as 34 at the same time. Each edition is different, and you need to take care of them differently. Working with a large number of startups showed that quantity is more important. Sometimes it's better to do a little less, but with well-aligned and motivated teams than a lot with people, you won't have the opportunity to get to know them well. Because of this, you won't have the chance to help well either.

10. Pay it forward. If you do your job well, people will return to you with new and better projects. They will also recommend your team to their friends and business contacts.?

There are, of course, many more thoughts. Nevertheless, these, in our opinion, are the most important and allow us to attract promising startups and attractive cooperation partners effectively. In the meantime, we go back to work because over 170 startups are waiting to decide whether they can enter the latest edition. Could you keep your fingers crossed for them?

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When:?10-12.12.2021

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1-min read - Space3ac's 6th birthday!?The best gift is another application record! ???Read full story >>

*** Book of the week ***

?? Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail. ?From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes-and to offer practical advice on how to navigate them well.

What you will find in that book:

• A general roadmap for the future
• Practical tips on how to run a successful business
• The biggest reasons nations win in the global economic and political arenas

We are glad that you are a part of our Business Development Club and?we hope that the following information will help you grow.?Feel free to share this newsletter with your community and invite your friends to subscribe!