Tulsa Business Accelerator FAQ

If you look online there are so many different, and conflicting, definitions of “business incubator” and “business accelerator.” Both incubators and accelerators offer help to entrepreneurs however there are key differences between the two. In the mid-west, if you hear “business incubator” that if often defined as a co-working space for entrepreneurs to purchase a membership to have their own desk and access to generalized workshops and classes.

Whereas a “business accelerators” are very personalized and structured. Accelerator programs have a set schedule, from weeks to months, to take an entrepreneur’s business idea and quickly guide it through all necessary stages to reach minimum viable product and start making revenue. Accelerator programs, like iStart, don’t typically offer office space but do have partnerships with co-working spaces so entrepreneurs have the desk space if they need it.

The companies accepted into iStart will be required to provide a percentage of equity ownership in their company (we are talking a small percentage.) We don’t charge consulting fees, education fees, special event costs, or anything else included in the program.

The end game is that you will go public and be acquired by a strategic buyer or pay out dividends. You won’t pay us anything until you find yourself at that point or are making a livable wage of $80K-$100K annually. We won’t exchange any money until you become successful.

The accelerator program is 4 months long, but the mentorship with iStart will be for the life of the business. We aren’t going to lie, the program and fast and requires a lot of personal motivation and drive to succeed. All program participants will have weekly or bi-weekly meetings with their mentor – with established goals set for each meeting. Along with the mentor meetings, you will be required to attend bi-weekly classes based on our core curriculum. The goal is to quickly drive your idea to sustainable revenue generation.

There are a number of different schools of thought about what defines a company’s minimal viable product, most often shortened to “MVP.” Coined by well-known American entrepreneur Eric Ries, the term essentially refers to the most pared-down example of a product that can possibly be offered to users that provides them some value. In other words, an MVP is far more than an idea—it’s a working example of that idea (or set of ideas) that’s just functional and far enough into its design to show proof of concept.

Think of it like this: Your company has a niche concept for a product with a ton of potential for funding and investment opportunities. The problem, however, is that investors don’t invest in ideas—they need something tangible to work with before blindly throwing money toward a concept that may never take off. The extent of what your product may be capable of has yet to be realized, however, and it may take funding/time/research/additional factors to get there.

The solution? Release a product that speaks to what you’re attempting to achieve in its most basic, functional form—this is your MVP.

The iStart Business Accelerator does not provide immediate funding. Often entrepreneurs think they need money to get successful. While this is the case sometimes, it is rare when large funding is needed to get an idea off the ground. We will work with you through the stages to get to the point where your business is ready to be funded, meaning you have a minimum viable product (MVP.) Once you reach MVP, we will publish your business onto our investment page for seed funders and investors to find, we will also work with you on obtaining funding from various mediums. (which is apart of our core curriculum)

The core curriculum covers a variety of business topics and some specialty strategies that iStart follows. Check out our Document that covers each topic within our curriculum.