Day One: We didn't know what we were in for
AngelPad is the top-ranked accelerator for good reason. We went through the program last fall, and it was a game-changing experience for us.
We would like to share some of the details of our journey to and through the program. And BTW, applications for AngelPad #10 are now open.
May 29, 2015
Two days before the AngelPad application deadline, we applied to the program as Astronomer, which was then a 23-day old idea. The AngelPad application was straightforward, including a mandatory video.
July 7th, 2015
We hadn't heard anything, so we emailed a progress update to Thomas and Carine, and they must have liked what they read. In a quick reply, we were invited to NYC for an in-person interview.
July 8th, 2015
From the beginning, it was apparent the interview wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Over the course of our interview, we covered a long list of topics. Product, market, traction, compensation, pay/equity philosophy, decision-making structure, co-founder relationship dynamics, and team experience. They asked us to answer 3–4 follow-up questions via email, and then the interview was over.
It was tough—exactly what we expected from the top accelerator.
July 9th, 2015
The next day we sent a carefully-crafted follow-up email, and published a blog post about our interview experience. We found out later that the promptness and thoroughness of our follow-up email was a big factor in our acceptance.
July 16th, 2015
We got this email:
Guys, if you receive this email it means good news. Stay tuned and expect a call sometime tomorrow.
July 21, 2015
He didn't call the next day, which honestly had us a little worried… the question went through our minds… "Did he accidentally email us an acceptance?" But we did finally get him on the phone, and got a verbal confirmation that we were in.
September 8, 2015 (Day One)
We showed up to the AngelPad office @ 9am sharp, and the program began.
AngePad #9 consisted of 13 teams, all from NY + SF except us. Later we found out we were quite the anomaly, the first Midwest team in any cohort.
The teams were impressive, all top pedigree—great schools (Stanford, Harvard, MIT, etc.), great companies Amazon/FB/Google/Accenture/E&Y. Honestly, we were a fascinating anomaly.
Once we got upstairs, we gathered around the two AngelPad operators, and learned what we had gotten ourselves into. It would be Thomas and Carine. That's it. No other staff. Taking care of the office was a shared responsibility. We take out the garbage. We order the food, get the beer, etc.
In the afternoon of that first day, everyone pitched—and no punches were pulled. Everyone had a lot of work to do.
Remainder of week one
We spent an hour with each of of the other 12 teams. It was incredibly grueling to talk with smart founders about our business, and vice versa. But it was effective in setting the stage for what was to come, which was a relentless rhythm to uncover the most venture-backable version of ourselves.
We learned a lot through the program. Here are a few more details:
The early weeks
- There are no formal mentors beyond Thomas and Carine. This is a good thing! With fewer cooks in the kitchen, it's easier for them to dig in and develop a vision for what the demo day pitch should be.
- Weekly cadence — Monday AM was all hands meeting, afternoon was individual team meetings where we reviewed previous week's homework and got new assignments, and in the evening was beer & pizza with a guest or a session with Thomas. Then we spent the rest of the week on the homework assignments, checking in as necessary.
- Back-to-business-basics — we rapidly ran through every aspect of the business, customer profiles, business model, target market, competitive landscape, and strategy for differentiation.
- During the early weeks, we were asked to focus on this process exclusively—no sales, fundraising, product or marketing. To get value out of the program, we needed to work with them to refine or even reinvent. We changed Astronomer drastically during the program, BTW.
- Once we had the basics figured out, it was time to work on our presentation — starting by getting good at talking about our Team, Market, Product, and Traction.
Demo day
- Then it was time to build a clear, concise, and compelling demo day pitch. We iterated on this EVERY DAY for a while, it was amazing to see all the teams rise to the challenge.
- Demo day was a sight to behold — the investors absolutely loved it — 45 min total (13 presentations + opening remarks). Investors only, about 200 total that Thomas personally invited.
INTENSITY
- The intensity was brutal — extreme hours, with fear a primary motivator. Fear of failure, competition, or even being called out in front of the group for a weak effort.
- While exhausting, several pro's emerged from the intensity as well: foxhole mentality amongst the teams: teams were eager to help each other, and still are. We still communicate not just with our cohort, but we have a common bond now with the 100 previous AngelPad companies. And the extreme focus and effort also required us to scale back and/or kill other commitments, which is a blessing.
- AngelPad will give you a realistic (though sobering) view of your competition. Truth is, there are a lot of high quality startups tackling every new problem around the world and we were given an insight into how hard some of them are working…building a successful business, winning a market, at the scale we desire is an extraordinary challenge that requires extraordinary effort.
- AngelPad was unabashed in it's pure focus on preparing companies for raising seed capital. In retrospect though, the fundamentals required for preparing to raise a round from sophisticated investors is the same thing as laying the foundation for a great growth-oriented tech company.
And one funny story…
We were in SF with the whole cohort, and we had a meeting setup in the afternoon with a potential investor. Then we learned about a surprise scavenger hunt event. "Cancel your meetings" we were told.
At the end of the scavenger hunt, there was another surprise — a ferry ride to Sausalito, beers with the cohort, etc.
But we had a dilemma… Do we stay with the group, or sneak off to our investor meeting…
You won't find us in the photo, but we did get a check from the investor ;)
Astronomer is proudly an AngelPad company, and Tim and I will always proudly wear the badge of having gone through the program. And we've discovered how powerful it can be, opening doors to top tier investors, who universally commend AngelPad for high quality startups it turns out.
Highly Recommended.
— Ry
