If you had an idea and wanted to start a business, what would you think would be the optimal way to do it?

A lot of experienced people in my field, would say things like:

1. Start by talking to the customer, before you create the value you think they want and get verification that they want your business
2. Make sure there is actually an existing problem, and that the solution you will build or create will ‘fix that problem’, ‘be the antidote the customer needs etc.’

While these comments are good, you will soon find out that you have a million other problems like:

• Your overall business model?
• Are the answers you are getting from mentors and on asking sites like Quora good enough leads?
• If you go through all this work at building that startup, will it actually pay off in the end to the point you have enough customers base to make a profit, sustainable startup or go through the work with an experienced fail that will lead to a variety of pros and cons in life.

If experienced, you also know that you don’t know ‘anything’ about your business (even if you did get your MBA at Harvard). You will probably have to pivot your model at least a dozen times, take ‘gut-feeling’ field trips on leads, sales trips, network building and hoping for them to turn out well with all the time and money invested in your venture.

Knowing and agreeing to all of this will surely make you more likely to succeed then others who don’t, but it still doesn’t change the fact that you know that you don’t know if the business is going to be what you thought it would or wished it would be.

All the points mentioned above explains why you should apply for a seed accelerator.

In a short amount of time, 10-14 weeks, you get an amazing platform to run a marathon of hypothesis on your business. You get direct access to experienced mentors who can debate about your model and pivot options as well as linking you to a variety of great leads of network options. You also get a small amount of capital, which is enough to sustain you and your team, which gives you plenty of R&D time to develop your Business model and product without constant worries of income throughout the program time limit.

Which accelerator to pick? There is variety of fantastic incubators with different kinds of mentors, types of companies and great locations. Check out the Global Acceleration Network, with dozens of approved incubators with different deadlines.

The closest deadline is StartupReykjavik May 7th, 2012, and the program starts June 10th. Have you applied?

‍