What do startup accelerators need to accelerate? We’ve become jaded by some of the cut and paste programs, and I wanted to flush that out in my essay, Do we still need startup accelerators? The generated threads included valuable insights that I encourage you to read on Twitter and LinkedIn. What does an accelerator today need to deliver? …

Do we still need startup accelerators? Were they for a point in time that has now passed? I have been designing and running accelerator programs since 2010 and believe they have been a significant contribution to the innovation system we have today. Ten years ago, few people aspired to start…

A common job for us at Main Sequence is finding leaders for the deep tech companies that we are founding or helping spin out of research organisations. These people need to be impossibly experienced — probably as a business leader in a sector (such as the food industry or energy)…

You have just heard the first pitch from a founder. Or perhaps you are coming to the end of an interview with a candidate for a role in your company. It’s feeling like a ‘No’. Look at your notes? What is your private, uncomfortable feedback? I didn’t understand a word…

In all of its minutiae, every project that I take on myself contributes to something that will now take too long. This lesson is coming late to me. I preach it to our CEOs, but I am terrible at it myself. I think: “I’ll get this done myself. …

You have thought about this topic a lot. You have had experiences that are valuable input. We need you to express what you believe in. Even though that can be frightening. I understand that people may disagree with you. And some people are clumsy or nasty in their response. But…

Projects were the last part of my work operating system to be solved. I tracked companies, pitches, dates and hundreds of tasks, but I hadn’t found a way to collect all this into project objectives. Projects are collections of tasks that happen within a specific period and are bound by…

The key to a calm mind is to know everything I need to think about or do is captured. No open loops in my mind. All open loops are captured and stored so that I can step into them at a good time to address them adequately. I use Roam…

My calendar shows me that the work of an investor involves lots of conversations. Every week is packed from 8 am to 6 pm with conversation. Time is precious and how it is allocated is key to success. Calendly gets the job done. Calendly is an app that allows easy scheduling of meetings without the…