When we started to look for ways to help startup companies better engage with the global cable industry, we naturally looked at the many accelerator programs that were out there in the world.
There are some amazing programs with great structure and curriculum – however, they are targeting companies that are much too young to be immediately successful in our industry. When a company graduates from a classic accelerator, they are starting a journey, but the scale and solidity required to do big deals with some of the largest global enterprises is likely still out of reach.
This presented an interesting gap in the lifecycle of a startup that we thought could be filled.
The goal of a Fiterator, is to help a company find and establish true product/market fit in an industry.
Let’s tear that apart for a minute. As we all know product/market fit can be an elusive thing. It is our belief that giving companies direct access to the potential buyers of their solution quickly and at scale, can help them figure out exactly what to build and why it is important for their future customer. At UpRamp, companies in our cohort get immediate access to all the potential buyers of their solution during the second week of the program. Imagine having the ability to talk to every potential buyer in an industry over the span of 2 days!
While we see many accelerators sponsored by enterprises out there in the world, what makes a Fiterator, is the access it affords to an entire industry. It’s cool to build and sell your solution to a company, but it’s even better to sell it to an entire market.
By necessity, this unique style of program has set a high bar to get in the door. If you have an idea and a slide deck, you are likely better off applying to one of the many startup accelerators out there. However, if you have a product that’s already built and selling in the world; have some money in the bank from either an early venture round or (better still!) customer revenue, then you might be a strong candidate for the UpRamp Fiterator.
The goal of a startup accelerator is to help you establish a company and introduce you to potential venture capital.
The goal of a Fiterator is to help you find product/market fit for an entire industry, and graduate with real deals and reference customers in that industry. Pretty cool, right?