Startup Accelerators

Introduction

In the startup world, you're either a genius or an idiot. You're never just an ordinary guy trying to get through the day.

Marc Andreessen, co-founder, Andreessen Horowitz

For every Facebook, WhatsApp, or Airbnb, a staggering number of startups don't make it. If we define “making it” as mere survival, rather than reaching the soaring heights of a Facebook or Airbnb, the numbers are still sobering. For example, up to 20% of startups don't survive the first year alone.^1,2 Up to 50% are no longer alive by year 5, and up to 90% ultimately fail.^3,4,5 If we define “making it” as achieving the level of success of a Facebook or Airbnb, the number of startups that don't make it grows dramatically. Consider, for instance, how many Facebooks emerge out of more than 6 million entrepreneurs that start a new business in the United States every year.⁶ Or consider that top venture capitalists, whose specialist job is identifying and backing the most promising companies, only invest in about 20 of every 3,000 startups they evaluate.⁷ And consider that out of these 20, only one or two ultimately earn the majority of the money that venture capital firms earn in return.⁸ Irrespective of the definition of success used, the startups that make it often do so against the odds. There is a proliferation of often conflicting opinions on why this is the case; and a number of researchers and practitioners have identified different challenges, dilemmas, and pitfalls faced by startups. Melissa ...