May 21 – 727th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 727th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to Pitch and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback from Sramana Mitra, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to Attend to watch and learn.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be Interested.

If you’re ready for free startup mentoring, this is your chance to pitch your startup live and get direct feedback on positioning, TAM, and startup fundability from Sramana Mitra. Hosted by One Million by One Million, a leading non-equity accelerator, this global online accelerator helps founders build real traction and achieve venture capital readiness without giving up equity.

Before registering, review a recent roundtable, read our guide on startup fundability, explore the 1Mby1M Premium program, and learn why equity-free accelerators give founders a structural advantage. Then register to pitch or attend and take the next step toward becoming fundable.

Free Courses on Evaluating Startup Accelerators and Course Coupons

Not every startup accelerator is designed for every founder. Entrepreneurs across the world face very different realities depending on geography, funding access, business model, team structure, and personal financial circumstances. Choosing the wrong accelerator can waste time, create pressure to pursue the wrong strategy, and push founders toward goals that do not align with sustainable business growth. To help entrepreneurs make more informed decisions, we have launched several new FREE Udemy courses focused on evaluating startup accelerators from multiple founder perspectives.

These courses explore accelerator selection for Indian founders, African founders, solo founders, entrepreneurs bootstrapping with a paycheck, and founders seeking alternatives to Y Combinator. Each course provides practical frameworks for evaluating mentorship quality, funding expectations, equity tradeoffs, business model alignment, and long-term scalability. Whether you are building a bootstrapped company, pursuing revenue-first growth, or navigating startup ecosystems outside Silicon Valley, these courses are designed to help you identify accelerator programs that genuinely support your entrepreneurial goals.

Plus, save up to 85% on the following courses this month with limited-time coupon if you enroll by May 31, 2026.

Accelerators:

How to Evaluate an Accelerator for Indian Founders: FREE

Why Adobe’s Strong Performance Isn’t Translating Into Stock Gains

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) stock continues to take a beating despite strong quarterly results. The company has been accelerating its AI initiatives, but the market is not fully convinced that it will be able to remain relevant in the emerging AI world. Its stock fell 14% in the after-hours trading session after the result announcement.

Colors: Crevices I

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Crevices I

Crevices I | Sramana Mitra, 2019 | Watercolor, Ink, Pastel | 16 x 20, On Paper

Colors: Curtains in the Wind VII

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Curtains in the Wind VII

Curtains in the Wind VII | Sramana Mitra, 2023 | Watercolor, Ink, Pastel | 12  x 18, On Paper

Roundtable Recap: January 8 – Pre-Seed Funding Rejection Rate is 99.8%

During this week’s roundtable, we had several pre-seed entrepreneurs trying to wrap their heads around the outrageous fundability conditions of their stage.

Nokio

We first had Rohan Jacob, from Dallas, Texas, pitch Nokio. The business is not venture fundable, but seedstrapping to an exit may be a possibility.

Flocci Technologies

Next, we had Afsar Hussain from Ranchi, India, pitch Flocci Technologies, an ERP suite for Indian SMBs. Afsar is a techie coder, and has a mental block around being able to learn the nuances of becoming a well-rounded entrepreneur. He needs to get past this blockage.

You can listen to today’s recording here:

>>>

Top Startup Accelerators for Building REAL Unicorns in US Mountain states: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho

This article discusses the Velocity Mirage, and how top startup accelerators for building REAL unicorns in US Mountain States compare with 1Mby1M.

By Guest Author Vaivasvat Ramesh | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

Photo credit: meandcolors

Reintroducing the Accelerator Conundrum

The last blog I wrote covered the bedrock of The Accelerator Conundrum series– bootstrapping before blitzscaling. In that blog post, I examined various startup accelerators in US mountain states that prioritized bootstrapping over blitzscaling. Most accelerators in the mountain states are optimized for speed, signaling, and big rounds, yet very few are designed to help founders build real unicorns: resilient, capital-efficient, high-growth companies that do not crash and burn in the rush to blitzscale.

Top Virtual Startup Accelerators in the Mountain States: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho

This articles summarizes the top virtual startup accelerators for bootstrapped and solo founders in US Mountain States, comparing them to 1Mby1M.

By Guest Author Vaivasvat Ramesh | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra

Startup accelerators have long been a valuable resource in helping emerging companies grow into successful ventures. Traditionally, many accelerators emphasize rapid expansion or “blitzscaling” to prepare founders for “Demo Day,” where companies pitch in front of venture capitalists and other investors. In return, accelerators typically take a portion of the startup’s equity. While this model has become widespread, it contains a critical flaw.