Comment by pclark | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pclark | Hacker News Reader

A lot of the comments here and the actual website is devoid of any advice you'd actually find valuable if you were interested in applying to these kinds of programmes.

Here are my two cents on what to look for (I don't know the answers)

* Who are the partners behind the fund, what have they done in the past (pre-investor) and what is their core skill (tech, product, marketing, sales, operations)

* Who have you previously invested in, and where are they now?

* Who are the limited partners of the fund - did any VCs/rockstars/partners invest?

* Why are you superior to Y Combinator? Startup accelerators are very popular now. They generally have the same mentors, the same deal terms, the same investors come demo day, the same "industry connections", whats your USP? (some good answers here might be specific domain knowledge of partners, a strong alumni, and so on)

I am always bullish when sites list such an array of mentors because being a mentor is generally high upside (fame/feel good/networking/karma) and very little downside - no skin in the game, as it were.

A buddy of mine once told me that equity was "quick to give away, impossible to reclaim" - you're giving these guys a significant % of your company, be sure they're good - and there is nothing wrong in applying for dumb money. Just don't tell them that.

Hi Peter

Good to speak again. Many points well made.

1. Springboard is funded by 9 angel investors and NESTA, all of whom have invested equal sums. All are very active investors and are seeking to find more deals to invest in. We believe through the mentors involved we cover all the key areas that a startup would need to consider. Where gaps exist we will active seek to plug these gaps.

2. Red Gate ran Springboard historically in a different format. Correct me if I am wrong - since you worked alongside the teams - but of the four teams involved - one received funding and two have gone on to YC. Under Difference Engine, 5 of the 9 teams have been funded, including a team who received angel funding and has gone to SV and one who has received £750k in funding.

3. All of the investors can be found within the mentor group, but they have for personal reasons not disclose their identity. Cumulatively, the investors have had exits in excess of several billion dollars.

4. I would not be so bold as to suggest we are superior to YC - the grand-daddy of accelerator programmes. The major issue in Europe is the lack of these resources. We are seeking to address a deficiency in the market and we have a proven track record.

5. Interestingly most of my mentors are massively busy and for them to take at least a full day out of their diary is a significant commitment for them. None of my mentors get paid and give freely of their time.

6. I personally don't think that 6% is a significant %. Do we believe that we can add at least 6% value to your business by taking part. Absolutely, many times over.

It would be good for you to clarify what you mean by dumb money - working alongside the programme mentors for the 13 weeks is quite the opposite - their insight, guidance, contacts and introductions is invaluable.

Happy to discuss this further offline, if you need further information. As you know - you can get me on jon at springboard dot com.

(full disclosure - I am one of the Springboard mentors so I may not be 100% objective)

Generally a valid comment about accelerators proliferating and being built in similar way, but: * in case of the accelerators the people running them are fare more important than LPs behind; * in this particular case Jon is one of the greatest mentors/startup supporters I met (I went through Seedcamp with on of the companies I am involved with); * Jon used to run very successful TDE (see the track record from this program); * Springboard is based in Europe (Cambridge near London, one of the few important tech clusters here), so for teams from EU applying to Springboard is easier than to Y-Combinator (e.g. just because of the US Immigration stupidity)

So summing up - I agree that it might look similar to others but in nitty gritty is not. But fair point about communicating it better on the website :)!

Cheers Chris Speaking about why Spring

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