Ask HN: Do I really need an incubator/accelerator? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do I really need an incubator/accelerator?

6 pointsnotastartup4 comments

There are some accelerators and incubators that are advertised around Vancouver, BC. I was filling out an application form for GrowLabs but stopped just shy of submitting it because I hadn't fully answered the question, "is this really necessary?". I filled out the form half heart because I felt like I was just doing this because "everyone else was doing it".

I've spent the last 8 months or so building an MVP for http://scrape.ly. Bootstrapped and getting ready to launch very soon.

What are some reasons for joining such incubators or accelerator programs? Is real value provided for giving away 10% of your equity?

My original plan was to get to about 20 or so customers, get a small shared office.

Your experiences of joining such accelerators or other stories would be interesting.

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It is far from necessary, and Vancouver has a good enough community of start-ups and industry people that you can probably get much of the aid you need/want without going the incubator route.

If you're looking to bootstrap, you may not be an ideal candidate for an incubator. Their 10% equity is based on the idea that you likely want to bring in investors and sell your company for 100x total investments.

Incubators and accelerators are very good at getting you ready to take investment. That's what they're all about. Sure, there is some stuff in there about helping you make a product, but I think you'll find a lot of that direction is often about "it will show investor x,y,z".

If you aren't thinking about bringing on investors in the first two years of the company, I'd say you don't want to do it. If you want to bring in investors, then I'd say incubators are an option.

I know the guys at Mover.io went through GrowLabs after Start-up Chile. Great bunch of really smart guys, and Mike Edwards (GrowLabs Founder & Principal) is also a great guy. They've got a solid team in there, so if you're going with anybody in the neighbourhood, they're the right ones to pitch.

Different incubators have different focuses. If you need something one of these incubators focuses on, it can be extremely helpful. If you don't need it, then it is a waste of time and your company's equity.

Some incubators focus on teaching you how to market your product (TechStars, 500 startups).

Some incubators focus more on just hooking you up with top advice while giving you no structured program (Y Combinator).

Many really only provide an investor network.

Some startups need an incubator because they need help with one of the above things. Some startups are just fine without it.

If you're having fun just bootstrapping scrape.ly, then just continue with that! If at some point you're thinking "damn I wish I had some people that really knew how early startups worked and could give me advice on _____" then an incubator is helpful.

tl;dr - they don't magically make you grow and you don't always need one. Incubators can provide advice on specific topics due to their experience, and often get you in contact investors.

BTW, is scrape.ly different from kimonolabs's product? Either way, good luck and keep at it!!

No you don't. Tons of people want that. Just finish it and sell it. There's no need to let others stick their fingers in your golden goose. Your idea was one that could easily be bootstrapped, and you did it, so don't give it away for free to "investors".

Are you actually using scrapy[1] or scrapely[2]?

[1] http://scrapy.org/

[2] https://github.com/scrapy/scrapely

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