Introduction to the panel discussion on high-tech startup acceleration at Entrepreneuria Salon, held 24.X.2013. The slides cover problems such as: financing startups, types of startup accelerators, top startup accelerators, innovation funding instruments, societal aspects of startup acceleration and innovation rush, innovative entrepreneurship rush, brief presentation of accelerator cases.

1. ACCELERATING STARTUPS
intro
Entrepreneuria Salon, 24.X.2013, @ PROPAGANDA
jkaczmarek@most-program.org

2. MOTIVATION
● pure pleasure
● entrepreneuria startup
academy (summer 2013)
● the 3 mega trends

3. THE 3 MEGATRENDS
1. the innovative entrepreneurship (gold?) rush
2. begging for the next wave of innovation
3. talent wanted!

4. THE RUSH
Innovative
Entrepreneurship?
natural resources
debt
the hype cycle by: Jackie Fenn & Mark Raskino, Gartner Inc.

5. TROUBLE IS...
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innovation needs $$$$$$$$$$$$$
innovation needs time
high risk (but must be balanced against not innovating)
risk that cannot be mitigated, must be accepted
lack of adequate performance measures
lack of reliable risk assessment measures
global competition is fierce

6. 2# FUNDING GAP
Global problem:
plummeting VC
performance

7. BEGGING for...
● VC not adequate for long term investment (currently average
seed->IPO cycle = ~10 years)
● Unstable: boom or bust cycles (uneven funds commitment )
● EU problem: fragmented private equity, poor syndication, few
pan-European investors, local focus.
● change of paradigm: no more technology push, customer crowds
reign EU: fragmented markets
● Silicon Valley model not replicable?
● other means emerging: crowd funding (e.g. kickstarter.com)

8. BRIDGING THE FUNDING GAP
corporate/public VC
accelerators
crowdfunding
the hype cycle by: Jackie Fenn & Mark Raskino, Gartner Inc.
private VC
loans/stock/bonds

9. 3# TALENT WANTED
EU problem: “a long tail of poor performance enterprises operating in
fragmented uncompetitive markets.” ,
UK problem: “increasing the supply of VC has had a limited impact.”
Technopolis report to ERAB on VC and Yollies, Oct. 2011
CEE problem: “Funding outstrips quality ideas”, “Investors are
desperately seeking innovation”
Financial Times, Sept 2013

10. WHAT IS A START-UP ACCELERATOR?
a modern intensified startup incubator
open application process
intensive ( ~ 3 months)
mentoring, training and networking opportunities,
space, seed funding
● in exchange for equity
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11. TOP PROGRAMMES:
ranking source: Seed-DB & Forbes

12. WHAT’S SO SPECIAL?
The pool of :
● talent (participants)
● experience (mentors/trainers)
● network (space/meetings/feedback)
● money (seed investment)
+ a clear goal

13. ARE THERE ACCELERATORS KINDS?
4 models
A. talent farm (investor driven)
B. next gen school (edu driven)
C. employment catalyst (gov/ngo driven)
D. business development (corporate driven)

14. TALENT FARM - Y Combinator
● funded: 2005
● 550 startups funded
(AirBnB, Dropbox, Scribd)
● total investment $7.78 bln,
● average $45.2 m per
company
● top 20 worth $ 4.7 bln

15. EDU PROGRAM
● Rock Accelerator Award Program
● INSEAD Centre for Entrepreneurship (ICE)
Entrepreneurship Accelerator

16. CASE - INCUBATORS PROGRAMME by CSO, IL
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funded: 1991, by 2012 > 1,700 startups, $650M
24 technology incubators… by 2009, 22 privatized !!!
70- 80 new startups every year
~ 1 gov $ attracted further 5-6 of private $
~40% of the graduates still up and running
100 Israeli start-ups gone NASDAQ in past 10 yrs
key sf: strict quality & performance control
key criterion: too risky to get private investor

17. CORPORATE
● Nike +
● Sanoma (Helsinki based publisher)

18. BENEFITS
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risk transfer
risk mitigation (pre-seed, seed)
intensive
better filtering
competitive (in attracting talents)
branding
hands-on
direct access to investors
builds entrepreneurship culture

19. CHALLENGES
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mainly ICT so far
shortage of talent
competition
still high risk (are we in a
bubble?)
● lack of standards
● shortage of tutors
● mental barriers
● too slow
● shortage of personnel
● culture incompatibilities
● culture clash
● lack of measures
● siloing

20. SOLUTIONS...
shorten the exit cycle
corporate/government VCs, oh… really? (cultural clash)
VC syndication (including corporate VCs?)
focus on the small proportion of exceptional young firms that
grow fast to become large firms.
● seek complementarities with public funding (highest risk/max
gain)
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21. SOLUTIONS...
● do not mitigate risk, accept it, transfer/optimise
● involve crowds (filtering/feedback/funding)
● invest in technologies that make innovation cheaper (in silico
modelling, 3D printing)
● offshore innovation ? :P

22. PRECAUTIONS!
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not only entrepreneurship
watch out with public money!
next wave of interventionism?
overloaded entrepreneurs
match supply of funds with the demand

23. LET’S DISCUSS
1. Challenges confronted by current acceleration programmes in
Poland. What can still be learnt from foreign experience?
2. The role of accelerators, costs and benefits, weaknesses to
overcome and strengths to build upon.
3. Startup acceleration and creation of entrepreneurship culture.
4. Financing models of acceleration programmes and their long term
financial viability.

24. 1. Challenges confronted by current acceleration programmes in
Poland. What can still be learnt from foreign experience?
2. The role of accelerators, costs and benefits, weaknesses to
overcome and strengths to build upon.
3. Startup acceleration and creation of entrepreneurship culture.
4. Financing models of acceleration programmes and their long term
financial viability.
5. Acceleration kinds: private, non-profit, public, hybrid?
6. Can accelerators provide for the next wave of innovation? (critical
approach welcome!)
7. Acceleration programmes and technology transfer policies.
8. Beyond acceleration - can the trend be leapfrogged?