Empowering founders to lead in accelerators.
Over the last couple of years I’ve noticed an interesting difference in being hired to participate in an accelerator vs. designing it ourselves.
When we get hired as an “external” expert to talk or facilitate a workshop on everything from business model design to validation techniques pitch training or whatever…
I’m the one expected to perform. After all I need to prove my worth for the client.
But this is counterproductive as the accelerator should be designed for the founder – therefore they should be the ones to perform!
When we design accelerators, we do this by “flipping the classroom”.’ Meaning we hold the founders accountable for “doing their homework” and come prepared.
They present – we give feedback.
The benefits of this is manyfold.
- For instance, we don’t waste time explaining what business model canvas [or whatever tool] is. Instead, the founder applies it to her company and explains how the business work.
- Thus, we are spending time talking about generic tools instead of talking about how the startups work.
- The sessions become much more focused and applicable for the founders.
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