Accelerator Prep Workshop: A free class for startups joining an accelerator
Event Information
Description
You applied to an accelerator to level up, raise money and build your startup.
Now you've been accepted! Congratulations!
You are on the path to growing your startup, and hopefully in a better position to go all the way.
So ... what are you doing to prepare for the accelerator program? How are you going to put your company in the best possible position by demo day?
- Do you know specifically what you need from the program? What you want to ask of their community of alumni, mentors, investors and experts? Do you know which members of their extended network you most need to connect with?
- Do you know how you are going to keep working the business, while you are working ON the business? Do you even know what I mean by that difference?
- What are the roles and responsibilities you and your cofounders or team members are going to fulfill while you are in the program?
- How are you going to capture and share what you learn? How are you going to involve the right team members at the right time? How will you begin to build the systems arising from your strategy and operations advancements?
These are just a few of the things that top founders need to be asking themselves, and a few of the questions we will be discussing during our 90 minutes together.
Many thanks to Josh Carter and his team at We Work Labs for hosting us in their board room at We Work Custom House - 220 NW 8th Avenue, downtown Portland.
Secure one of the limited seats at this intimate session lead by Chris Heuer, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor from Silicon Valley, who is focused on helping founders find startup success, and ensure that they don't needlessly repeat the most common mistakes made by early stage founders.
Chris doesn't want to see another startup waste their time and opportunities because they joined an accelerator program, but did not properly prepare for it. Over the years, Chris has seen too many founders and founding teams not properly advocating for their interests in their programs, or even being bold enough to hold the program accountable. There are too many sad stories about some programs, particularly lesser known brands or those outside of the startup Capitols, which were much more sizzle and promise then steak and substance.
If your company has the potential to be a unicorn, you won't lack for introductions, investor term sheets and potential partners from any legitimate accelerator. But what do you plan on doing if you are not the "favorite student"? How will you earn the respect and time of the VC Partners, the program managers, the top mentors, leading investors, and others in your new network? How will you gain their favor and get the attention you need and deserve?
You do that by being more prepared, by doing your research. You do that by knowing what you know, and acknowledging what you don't. By learning what decisions need to be made, and on what basis they will be made. By working smarter and harder than everyone else. By knowing who you are, what you really have and what you most need. By showing the smarts and confidence to ask for what you need from the right people for the right reasons.
You do that by joining an Accelerator Prep Class like this one, being offered for the first time by Mentor Bureau and being led by its founder, Chris Heuer.
Who is Chris Heuer
Chris spent the last two decades in Silicon Valley, launching startups and taking businesses overseas. He recently launched Mentor Bureau as a way to give founders a better chance by connecting them with the right wisdom and experience they need to build great startups. In addition to advising hundreds of companies over the last two+ decades, Chris had his hand in designing and leading several mentorship programs. He has served as a lead mentor in Google's Launchpad Accelerator for the past couple of years, was the Mentor in Residence for Wearable World in San Francisco, and more recently served as an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Collider Accelerator out of Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
But the startup experience, and the failures/successes of the years are just part of who he is. He is an inventor, a business strategist, a branding expert, a digital marketer, a social media pioneer, an executive coach, a creative director, a CX designer, an event producer, and so much more. Chris is the person who can listen to what you are doing and reframe it into a simple but compelling value proposition in minutes. He is also a proponent of conscious capital and is developing the next generation of heart-centered leadership.
In short, Chris is someone who can make a big impact on your startup in multiple ways while empowering you to be a better founder.
1:1 Advisory Sessions/Office Hours
SPECIAL BONUS!! Chris is offering a few FREE 45 minute mentorship/advisory sessions that will take place after the workshop. Do you have your pitch ready? A business model canvas? A clear customer/user persona? Bring it to office hours and enlist Chris' support in taking it all to the next level. Simply reserve one of the office hours time slots in addition to a space in the class.
Know Thyself!
One random participant will be chosen to receive a RallyBright Premium Personal Profile Assessment which includes a DISC, Active Resilience Quotient assessment, a Conflict Style Assessment and more. (an additional $50 value!)