
1Mby1M Founder Sramana Mitra wants entrepreneurs to not waste their time and money.
The waste stems from a widespread misunderstanding of how investors think.
Over 99% of founders chase funding before they are fundable.
Here, Sramana teaches how to build with customer money (otherwise known as revenue) until a startup reaches that fundable stage.
Once fundable, a startup can go to investors like a king, not a beggar.

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.
Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.
Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis.
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The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!
Alright, let’s cut through the noise and get to the brutal truth of the startup accelerator world. Many entrepreneurs, starry-eyed and naive, leap headfirst into 3-month accelerator programs without truly understanding the long-term implications. It’s time for an incisive commentary, a necessary dissection.
>>>Entrepreneurs are invited to the 735th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, July 23, 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.
In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:
The global entrepreneurial landscape is undergoing a structural transformation. For two decades, startup accelerators have operated under the monolithic narrative that entrepreneurship requires full-time founding teams, physical cohort-based programs, and a blitzscaling mandate fueled by venture capital.
This article summarizes the top virtual accelerators in New Mexico and compares them with 1Mby1M.
By Guest Author Ruth Munyoki | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra
It’s common for entrepreneurs to believe that the only way to be a successful entrepreneur is to participate in a traditional startup accelerator. There are plenty of accelerators offering support to new and inventive companies, but they tend to have a short-term, cohort approach and can demand a stake in the firm in return for the benefits of the program.
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>>>This article summarizes the top virtual accelerators in Madison, Wisconsin, and compares them to 1Mby1M.
By Guest Author Md Rumman Ali | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra
The traditional venture capital ecosystem has long perpetuated a rigid orthodoxy: founders must relocate to coastal tech hubs, surrender early equity, and aggressively “blitzscale” right out of the gate. However, this paradigm is fundamentally challenged in The Accelerator Conundrum, an incisive multipart series by 1Mby1M founder Sramana Mitra.
>>>This article explores the top startup accelerators for entrepreneurs bootstrapping with a paycheck in the Horn of Africa, and compares them with 1Mby1M based on flexibility, mentorship, long-term support, and their ability to accommodate founders building businesses while maintaining full-time employment.
By Guest Author Nura Abdilahi | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra
One of the biggest myths in entrepreneurship is that founders must quit their jobs before launching a company. That advice may work for a small number of venture-backed startups, but it doesn’t reflect the reality for most entrepreneurs around the world. In the Horn of Africa, where access to startup funding is limited and stable employment can be difficult to replace, leaving a reliable source of income is often an unnecessary risk.
>>>This article reviews the top startup accelerators for solo founders in the Horn of Africa and compares them with 1Mby1M based on accessibility, mentorship, equity, and support for bootstrapped founders.
By Guest Author Nura Abdilahi | Reviewed by Sramana Mitra
The Horn of Africa is witnessing a new generation of entrepreneurs who are building businesses with fewer resources, smaller teams, and increasingly, no co-founder at all.
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