Pre-Incubation For Sustained Deal Flow

By guest author Irina Patterson

Last week we talked about private investors – the so-called friends, family, and fools. Known as the 3 Fs, they usually invest a few thousands here and there. But as scrappy as we are, we still recommend the 1M/1M education  first and any capital injection second, even if the investment is only $5,000.

But what about seed funds or business accelerators? Their business models often dictate putting in $100,000 to $500,000 in a startup, and losses can be significant if a fledgling business doesn’t reach its potential.

So, here at 1M/1M, we have a suggestion. Instead of giving $100,000 to one startup, give $1,000 each to 100 startups, and put a larger number of entrepreneurs in your community through 1M/1M. Second, they announce that the top five entrepreneurs who complete the 60 hours of 1M/1M Curriculum and demonstrate utmost intellectual curiosity and resilience in two months will be awarded $100,000 equity financing.

If this 1M/1M pre-incubation is successful, you will create a sustained deal flow for your accelerator or fund year after year from those entrepreneurs in your region that are currently underserved.

Want to discuss this? Please attend our next FREE roundtable on any Thursday and we can talk about it there.

Note: The 1M/1M team has invested significant resources to engage with and understand the challenges of the incubator industry around the globe. You can sign up for our opt-in mailing list to get this information via email on an ongoing basis.