YES! YES YES YES! You talk like a true craftsman founder.
So many founders seem to think they have to do incubators because it is what is done. They treat it like traction. And they are completely indiscriminate. "I just got into the podunk incubator! #win #retire #done"
Thinking like this is dumb. I really hope people don't think like this.
Incubators/accelerators are, like anything else, tools. You should do them if they provide value to you and your business, and create more value than equity they require. For us, that was decidedly true; we moved to the valley with a very small network, and I can directly trace many of the early successes we had (not that we're a success yet) to someone I met through the network at 500s.
Do people really do incubators because they're the 'thing du jour?' I really hope not. It's a lot of equity to give up for just a name. We went in with the goal of completely blowing everything out of the water, being smart about what we used it for, and using it to learn and build our network. In that, I believe we were successful. Nobody should do it because of the name or because they think they can't do it on their own.
I know we could have done it on our own, but this...ahem...accelerated us along that path.
"They treat it like traction." Agreed! Just got an email tonight from a guy who is so pumped to get into an incubator and I was like... ummmm... You are being pimped. I sent him your post.
So many founders seem to think they have to do incubators because it is what is done. They treat it like traction. And they are completely indiscriminate. "I just got into the podunk incubator! #win #retire #done"