You can read this post and future parts in this series here on Libboo: www.libboo.com/read/the-road-to-masschallenge-part-1/chrishoward
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MassChallenge 2012 applications have now begun. I personally know of around 12 teams who are vying for one of the 125 finalist places at the world’s largest startup accelerator and start-up competition – fighting ultimatey for a slice of a $1m prize (plus extras).
Being MassChallenge alumni, and part of Techstars Boston, I feel it only right to help others in a way that my mentors had helped me. I will share my thoughts on how to conquer what was and is – at least for me – a daunting and seemingly impossible process to be considered one of Massachusetts’ elite young entrepreneurs within MassChallenge 2012.
MassChallenge (MC) prides itself as a start-up accelerator having ‘no-strings-attached’. What this means – compared to most other accelerators – is that MC take no equity from your company in exchange for what they are offer (which is considerable). I’m not here to get into a debate about whether taking equity is good or bad – all accelerators/incubators need to support themselves somehow – and having these organisations well supported can only really be in the interests of the entrepreneur anyway. In MC, the 125 finalist teams will receive free office space, legal support, millions of $ worth of in-kind services, and most importantly mentorship.
With an anticipated 1,000+ teams applying for the 2012 class, the odds of success rest in the 10-12% range. Good luck!
Who should apply?
MassChallenge supports entrepreneurs with big visions but have very little idea how to realize them. These entrepreneurs need to be malleable, have controlled egos, and importantly understand where they are in the start-up process (usually at the very very start). Some of these entrepreneurs may have had funding already – but if so, it’s usually very little compared to what funding they eventually need. These entrepreneurs also have enough self-awareness to understand they do not yet have the experience or know-how to make their startup a reality but they do have the guts and smarts to absorb information like a sponge and want to take every opportunity to make themselves and their team realize their goals.
The above isn’t to say that more advanced entrepreneurs will not benefit from MassChallenge nor would MC prohibit more advanced start-ups from applying. These more advanced start-ups are usually critical to the community and provide a spectrum of experience to the core audience MC provides for.
If you feel you have a great set of advisors already – advisors that connect you to opportunities and can guide you through the murky road of a startup – you should focus your energies on those advisors and not on applying to what will become an incredibly competitive and time-consuming process.
But most importantly, the types of entrepreneurs that get the most out of the MassChallenge process are those entrepreneurs who value community – a community where fellow entrepreneurs are willing to go out of their way to help one-another. A community where entrepreneurs and their team members find true value in partnerships and shared experiences. If you are not one of these entrepreneurs, you will not be a successful MC alumni. That, in my view, is absolute.
Getting in.
Applying for MassChallenge is broken down into 3 key components – ‘The Application’, ‘Validation’, and ‘The Interview’. Each has its nuances and relative importance and – in my view – a great entrepreneur will master each component and not just focus their energies on what may at first glance seem the most important. Being an entrepreneur has taught me that it’s usually those things you feel are not so important that lead to the greatest successes.
The Application
There are very few things I can say about the application without knowledge of the applying business. However the few things I can say are – in my view – pivotal. The primary thing I would say is you must convince MC that you aim to change the world – or as David Cohen of Techstars fame would say: “Think big or go home” – what I’ve now come to say as “Think massive or f**k off”. MassChallenge loves those entrepreneurs who want to hit-one-out-of-the-park and I believe is part of the reason they accept relatively so many entrants. For example, my start-up – Libboo – is a publishing platform for talented aspiring writers vying for an alternative to the (painfully inefficient) traditional publishing model. Here is a bad example of how I could describe what Libboo is:
A website that allows people to create books online then publish it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Why is this bad? Well – many reasons. A good description should indicate who your people are (those you are trying to help – not necessarily your customer), the scale at which you would like to help them, and why it is you want to help them. This translates to this example about Libboo:
A platform that fundamentally transforms the way those millions of potentially best-selling authors break away from the existing painful & inefficient publishing model to realize their dreams and gain the audience & success they deserve.
Who are my people? ‘… potentially best-selling authors …’
At what scale? ‘… fundamentally transforms …’
And why? ‘… gain the audience they deserve …’ or ‘… painful & inefficient publishing model …’
Remember… change the world and ensure on paper you can convince the judges you have the right team to do it (that doesn’t mean experience, it means support/attitude/passion).
Validation
On MassChallenge’s website, they indicate ‘public voting’ and ‘references’ may have up to a 10% impact on your chances of success. This may seem minimal, however it is not. Public voting is in my mind a bit of a necessary gimmick - as a non-profit, it allows MassChallenge to promote their potential applicants and associate itself as a force-for-good in the start-up world.
The real crux in validation are the references. These matter. Fact. Masschallenge is a network of relationships and trust. If someone MC trusts says “hey, that start-up there there has the team, the brains and the attitude to really succeed in your program” then MC will view all words, all interviews and all votes in that light. I cannot stress enough how important references are.
Don’t know where to start with this? Well go to events in the Boston/Cambridge area. Some great ones are the MC events themselves, or open-nights at the MIT e-center, or the thursday afternoon-evening sessions at the Venture Cafe in Cambridge. You can also hang out at co-working spaces like Dogpatch or the Boston Work-Bar. One of the best ways however is to see who the key movers/mentors at MassChallenge are (I won’t name them here -they’ll get flooded otherwise) and use LinkedIn to get an introduction to them.
The Interview
So this means you will now be in the top 300 applicants for MC. Congrats! The interview will likely be in front of 6-8 judges who will have had only 5 minutes to review your notes prior to the nervous CEO walking into the room ready to turn on Microsoft ‘PowerFail’. These judges will likely be tired, mildly institutional investors/executives, and have very little patience or compassion for stumbling & ill-prepared entrepreneurs. Here are some tips to a successful interview with judges:
- If you go in as a team, only have 1 person present (the CEO). The others may chime in during Q&A.
- Make it memorable. Have something in your interview which a judge can latch on to and remember (I have been known on occasions to sing my pitch, or dress in a gorilla suit).
- With the above, match your presentation to your personality.
- Prove the problem you are trying to solve exists.
- Ensure the judges can connect with the people you are trying to help.
- People will not believe your financial forecast! It doesn’t matter how seasoned you are – they simply will not believe it. It’s your understanding of your costs that matter.
- Convince them you have some idea of the opportunity size (i.e. market size, and importantly what part of that market you have access to).
- Have appendix slides. This is incredibly useful in Q&A – it shows you are prepared for questions and helps you understand your potential business better.
- Do not be afraid to say “I don’t know” – but be sure to have something relevant to say on the topic regardless.
- Look into the judge’s eyes! If they cannot connect with you, they won’t believe you.
- Celebrate your team. A good team = a good chance at beating the odds.
- Be sure you tell them what you hope to get out of MassChallenge.
Some of the above are obvious, but many people forget it. This is *not* an investor pitch, however there may be investors in the room that may find it difficult to judge any other way. Be sure to be passionate and believe in what you are doing.
Closing
Well, I could go on – I could describe why I became a finalist. I can even describe why my team didn’t ultimately win – but I won’t. I’ll save all this for another blog post once MassChallenge starts in the early summer. You can however leave me questions in the comments and I will do my best to get back to you.
Good luck.
Chris Howard
CEO & Co-Founder Libboo.com