In September 2016 Apparier joined the Techstar program in Berlin – founders / entrepreneurs / eternal optimists… coiled springs of business acumen and risk embraced all gathered, harmonising sweetly in the German capita and on one of many popular programs that now exist – run by Angel Pad, Mucker Lab, NVC, Amplify and many more…

6 full months on, with my now heightened awareness of the existence and promotion of accelerator programs, incubators, Tech hubs, pressure cookers and start up labs and any other variant – I wonder if I would do it all again or perhaps more importantly, if I would be the word of mouth ambassador that would encourage others to step up and enter the cauldron of opportunity.

There is a consistent and increasingly frenetic scrabble for heavily promoted, but limited places on these Accelerators – demand outstripping supply from Cape Town to Colorado – despite the increase in courses run worldwide. Seemingly there are more people who are willing to back their own boss-less ingenuity and pull out of the peaceful pleasure of PAYE – and about face on the dullness of a safe career progression with silver level dental cover. All to share in the £6.7 billion of PE and VC deals that funded the UK alone in 2016…

So what did I take out of it all? Well, I met some great people… from a range of backgrounds, nationalities, perspectives and talent. What I conclude from my UX, is that prolonged exposure to extreme diversity makes you broader and better, simply by osmosis. You certainly start to step up to and absorb from your surroundings. By definition, presumably if I played golf with Phil Michelson every Thursday, I would have to improve…wouldn’t I?

What else? Well, you can’t be good at everything – but you can understand what “good” is supposed to look and feel like… which means you can place the best people into your company when the time and money comes in, because you know enough about Marketing, Sales and all the other functions in your business, to be pretty dangerously savvy…

You learn how to deconstruct, evaluate and reconstruct your product – what are you selling – does somebody actually want it? You lose objectivity and perspective in something you have stood right up against and created – and this is really crucial – An Accelerator is an exposure to a massive theatre full of experts who place their astute eyes on you, your people and your offering in a £$ ruthlessly direct criticism – And so you have to hear it all, good or bad and you have to decide – pivot, forge forward or die on the vine, right there, right then.

Pitch – because ultimately you need money to build a business that is far quicker than slow and measured Organic Growth. You have to enhance and scale the business whether you are still on concept and wireframes or you are out to market with a credible MVP. Your pitch, is your route to the investor, its your hook and you need to know how to tell that story… and strike fear into the listener that they are about to miss out on the next Alibaba…

The accelerator program gives you a crystalised plan – why are you in this? why did you get into this and why will you keep on doing this? If you haven’t heard the world Scalability a thousand times in the first week of your program, then you haven’t been attending…

So – for me – it’s a resounding YES! – we were lucky to be on the Metro sponsored Techstar program, in Berlin – the people you meet, the network you fall into, the skills you hone and the clarity of vision it affords you are simply unparalleled – but I am reminded – getting into the band is half the battle – if you can’t play for sh1t – you won’t last long… In the end, its down to you.