Graduating From An Accelerator

...What's Next?

September 24, 2020

 

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Recently, MassChallenge Texas hosted an event for founders and startups who are about to graduate from an early-stage accelerator or thinking about joining one. Before a startup leaves, they often wonder what to do next. Typically, many startups follow at least one or more of the four paths:

  1. Join another accelerator
  2. Search for investment
  3. Shut down
  4. Bootstrap

The conversation was led by panelists:

  • Victoria Oldridge: Journalist + Founder of Truffld
  • Rochelle Keyhan: CEO of Collective Liberty + MCTX19 in Austin Winner
  • Brian Borack: Founder of Relay IQ Acquired by Astreya + MCTX19 In Austin Finalist 
  • Mandeep Patel:  Founder + CEO of ElecTrip + MCTX19 in Houston Finalist
  • Farhaj Mayan: Co-Founder of Kanna + MCTX18/19 in Austin Finalist
  • Adam Lipman: Co-Founder of Ecliptic Capital + Investor

During the conversation, our panelist's insights shared the paths they chose for their businesses, and the lessons they learned along the way. The take aways from this conversation included:

  • How startups and investors have navigated COVID-19 by pivoting and broadening their business. 
  • How to raise funds in the ever evolving startup-ecosystem.
  • What an investor is searching for in an early-stage startup.
  • How to adjust to traction and growth as a founder.

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THE PANEL

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MODERATOR | VICTORIA OLDRIDGE

Victoria’s insatiable penchant for innovation, global affairs,
entrepreneurship, travel and uncovering the depths of the
human spirit, merely scratch the surface of her unquenchable thirst for growth and challenge.


As one of only three journalists selected to attend the Diane von Furstenberg Awards at the United Nations in 2015, Victoria reports top stories and high-profile interviews for: BBC News, NBC’s TODAY, Maria Shriver, Yahoo, Huffington Post, and Thrive Global (an Arianna Huffington venture).


Recent interviewees include: Politician, Stacey Abrams, Astronaut Scott Kelly, Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Barbara Corcoran, Gary Diane von Furstenberg, Bill Nye, Donna Karan, Zia Yousafzai, Dr. Jane Goodall, Bobbi Brown, Amy Purdy, Steve Zakuani, Buzz Aldrin, Meredith Vieira, Dara Torres, Gabrielle Bernstein, Curtis Stone, Lyndsey Dyer, Felix Baumgartner, and Donna Brazile.

Learn more about Victoria here.

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PANELIST | ROCHELLE KEYHAN | CEO

Collective Liberty + MCTX19 in Austin Winner

Rochelle Keyhan is the Chief Executive Officer of Collective Liberty and the 2018 Thomson Reuters Foundation Stop Slavery Hero. She develops and executes the organization’s strategic direction and collaborations focused on disrupting specific types of human trafficking, including recruiting and maintaining robust collaborative networks of law enforcement, agency stakeholders, and service providers. Solutions are all guided by collaboration with survivors of human trafficking, and stakeholders within the systems the work is trying to shift. Her team analyzes national trends and best practices, creating comprehensive trainings and resources to help facilitate the effective and systemic eradication of trafficking in the United States.

Learn more about Rochelle here.

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PANELIST | BRIAN BORACK | CSO

Relay IQ Acquired by Astreya + MCTX19 In Austin Finalist  

Brian has 20+ years in enterprise technology products and services from startups to large enterprises. He was the co-founder RelayiQ, a BI automation startup, exited at the end of 2019 to Astreya where he is now the Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, He was the co-founder of as startup as part of Austin Ventures (Lane15 Software), then moved to Enterasys Networks responsible for resellers, then onto BMC Software running global R&D Operations and finally to SoftServe where Brian was COO until the end of 2016. Brian holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from University of Texas in Austin

Learn more about Brian here.

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PANELIST | MANDEEP PATEL | FOUNDER + CEO

ElecTrip + MCTX19 in Houston Finalist

Mandeep is the founder of ElecTrip: an EV transportation company; and the founder of Sun Co. Tracking: developing solar panel tracking systems. He is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in accounting.
He is a Houston native, and loves the city. Reach out if you want further info on bootstrapping your company, low cost marketing techniques, or you want to hear why Tesla is the greatest company in the world.

Learn more about Mandeep here

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PANELIST | FARHAJ MAYAN | CO-FOUNDER

Kanna + MCTX18/19 in Austin Finalist

Farhaj is the CEO of Kanna, an integrated hiring and training platform for the legal cannabis industry. He's a marketplace, and future of work/learning geek, who is very passionate about building infrastructure to help early stage founders in the OK & TX startup ecosystems. Prior to Kanna, Farhaj was an early employee at 3 startups (VR, Drone-tech, experiential marketing) and founded Fade, a personalized barber booking marketplace.

Learn more about Farhaj here.

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PANELIST | ADAM LIPMAN | CO-FOUNDER 

Ecliptic Capital, Investor

Adam Lipman is a senior executive with decades of experience directing operations in the biotechnology, software, and software services verticals. Over the course of his career, Mr. Lipman has held nearly a dozen advisory and board observer roles. Currently, Mr. Lipman serves as a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ecliptic Capital, LLC where his leadership in implementing portfolio management practices has been integral to the success of Ecliptic Capital’s investments to date. Mr. Lipman specializes in developing and managing startup operations for companies that are positioned to scale.

Learn more about Adam here.

MASSCHALLENGE TEXAS 2020 CIVIC AND CORPORATE PARTNERS

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MASSCHALLENGE CODE OF CONDUCT

  • Be excellent to each otherMC is dedicated to providing a safe, inclusive and welcoming experience for everyone.
  • Share your questions: Type your questions into the chat booth when connecting with startups.
  • ConnectFeel free to connect with fellow attendees using the chat box.
  • Share your experience: Tag us on Twitter at @MassChallenge

MassChallenge does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, even virtually. To learn more about our policies, please see our Code of Conduct.

MEET THE MC20 COHORT

Three reasons to attend this event

  1. Learn what to expect after graduating from an accelerator.
  2. Get tips from top startups.
  3. Hear from an investor's point of view.

Upcoming Events
Pease refer to the MassChallenge website for the most up-to-date RSVP information. 

2020 MC Virtual US Awards-1

October 22
2020 MassChallenge Virtual U.S Awards

MassChallenge will host our first-ever Virtual Awards ceremony this October. This event is broadcast celebration of all the startups from this year’s Austin, Boston, Houston, and Rhode Island programs and includes top startup awards up to $2M in equity-free cash and prizes

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Questions? Reach Out.
Reach out directly with questions by emailing: community@masschallenge.org