HACKER Q&A
📣 diceduckmonk

Thoughts on No Equity “Accelerator”?


I saw a new Google branded “startup accelerator” without equity or funding involved. https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/entrepreneurs/a-new-accelerator-for-circular-economy-startups-and-nonprofits/

My partner is in the fashion business so a “circular economy” themed accelerator seems relevant but I’m a little skeptical when there are no financial commitment involved.

  👤 Gaessaki Accepted Answer ✓
IMHO as someone who participated in a lot of these non-equity corporate accelerators, both as a startup and as part of the technical teams supporting the initiatives (at two different companies), it’s primarily cheap PR for both the parent company and the startups. There are some perks like the product and service credits as well as the opportunity to network with relevant teams at ParentCo, but I find the experience hardly comparable to a more traditional accelerator like YC. It’s a question of incentives.

If your partner has the bandwidth, I would consider applying for the perks, but I would be mindful of getting distracted by things that don’t entail building product/solving the core problem and selling to clients.

👤 jd_illa
Hi I've done two of these and generally think they are worth it if the time commitment is manageable:

Pros: Community (always good to connect with other founders), some value in "brand" of parent company (if it's Google), PR opportunities, opportunities to network with folks in Google

Cons: No equity --> no stake --> limited incentive for the accelerator to provide you with tailored advice/mentorship, can be very time-consuming (and that's time you could be spending on your product), the "one size fits all" approach can lead to bad advice

Overall, I still think pros > cons, so long as the time is manageable. I think it would be great to have a Google stamp and meet other founders in the same space. I would also look into what the program commitments are (i.e. can you miss out on program talks/sessions without consequences?)

👤 brudgers
The general doesn't matter here. The specifics of the relationship between a particular business and the accelerator are the only thing that matters.

But...getting into an accelerator is often just a form of playing house.

Customers/users/clients don't care about the resume.

They care about the product and price and things like that.

To cut distraction, consider your 'maybe' a 'no.'

Good luck.