An In-Depth Look Into PSL’s Founded In Philly MVP-Stage Accelerator
About Founded In Philly
The Founded in Philly accelerators create opportunities for entrepreneurs to gain skills, expand their network, and access resources while growing a business in Philadelphia. Series I, our idea-stage program (February - May), is designed to teach new founders the mindset, skills, and endurance needed to pursue entrepreneurship. Series II, our MVP-stage accelerator (September-December), equips early-stage startups with the mentorship, knowledge, and network needed to prepare for growth.
Over the last few months, we worked with 10 incredibly inspiring companies, providing a (virtual) space for them to experience the rollercoaster that is entrepreneurship, together. Despite the pandemic, the founders rose to the occasion of a virtual accelerator and dedicated themselves to achieving the goals they set at the beginning of the program.
It has been a pleasure to witness their growth, and we are excited to see these founders transition smoothly into Philly’s startup community. Keep reading to learn more about our MVP-stage program and our recent graduates.
“It is impossible to say how much longer it would have taken us to be ready for investment without PSL. Prior to our participation in the accelerator, we were learning by trial and error and our process was slow because we didn’t know where to look. Our meetings with leading software engineers, established through PSL introductions helped us formulate a concrete, actionable plan to scale and expand our software.”
Meet the Founders
Out of 70+ applicants, 10 were selected to participate in the program. Participants range from all walks of life and represent a variety of industries. About 40% consider themselves solo founders, and about 20% are pre-revenue. Many of them balance full-time jobs and the responsibilities of family life, yet on average they find about 37 hours a week to dedicate to their business. Additionally, they operate across many verticals but generally fit within the following categories:
30% Health & Wellness
20% Food and Beverage
20% Data/Tech
20% Consumer Products
10% Gaming/Entertainment
Founders & CEOs include:
JumpButton Studio
Nicodemus Madehdou & Calbert Warner
Solving underrepresentation in entertainment through a diverse workforce.
Katika
Jason Coles
Marketplace and directory discovery platform for black-owned businesses helps conscious consumers discover products and services from black brands using a platform solely driven to connecting people to black brands.
Modern Mouth
Juliette Mann, Cole Bender, & Ryan Peffers
ModernMouth is developing 3D presentation software to help lecturers, professors, and teachers revolutionize learning using 3D software designed by students for students.
Pure OrganiKs
Ayana Swanson
Pure OrganiKs curates plant based products to help combat dermatitis with all natural and organic ingredients.
Quarbon
Justin Slusarski, Derek Sheehan, & Syd del Sid
The Environmental and Social Impact Scorecard, connecting consumers with businesses actually making a positive impact.
Rae’s Roots
Joanna Linton
We create adaptogen-based foods to help protect mom's body from the harms of stress.
Roux
Judy Ni & Ryan Schumacher
Transforming healthcare, one bite at a time.
Swiv
Victoria Fishman, Jenna Borges, & Kevin Paroda
By reducing the complexity of tooth brushing, both physically and mentally, the Swiv toothbrush gives confidence to caregivers that their loved ones will be able to brush independently and effectively.
Transparency in Politics (TiP)
Nick Langese & Aakanksh Jaikumar
TiP connects voters and politicians through opinion polling and publicly-sourced data to help them communicate directly and efficiently.
Viora Health
Deboleena Dutta
Improve patient health outcomes by personalizing programs to mitigate social and behavioral barriers by disease state.
If interested in learning more about the founders and their startups, please reach out to the PSL Team at engage@phillystartupleaders.org.
“The fact that our struggles, concerns, and obstacles were not unique to us alone helped bring the realization that regardless of the field of interest, entrepreneurship is always going to be an uphill climb regardless of age or professional experience.”
Curriculum
Each weekly session focused on a different area of building a business. We invited mentors to join us each week and assigned dedicated mentors to each startup so that participants had various opportunities for guidance every step of the way. We kicked off the program with an introduction, orientation, and goal-setting workshop.
Early sessions taught the founders how to innovate and solve big business problems using lean solutions. They focused on the importance of the research process, specifically the prototype, and how to differentiate themselves from their competition from the start. They also learned to validate their idea by identifying and engaging all key stakeholders for their companies, going beyond the traditional approach of simply identifying target customers. Mentors emphasized the value of using this early data and research to develop a high-quality customer experience. Midway through the program, it was time for a virtual Pitch Night.
During our Business Models and Pricing session, the founders learned that their “product is their price, and their price is their product.” One of the most interactive sessions for the founders was the workshop-style Viral Proposition session in Week 7, which discussed how to convince prospects, without a pitch, to believe and/or invest in your product or service. To round out the program, the final sessions taught founders how to successfully build a team, EOS framework, how to focus on your own wellness as a founder, and metrics that matter at every stage of the startup process. Finally, our friends at Ben Franklin Technology partners taught the founders how to prepare themselves and their businesses for investment.
As part of the virtual accelerator, PSL introduced weekly “Accountability Partners,” which allowed the members of the cohort to work more closely with one another, hold each other accountable throughout the program, and learn from each other. We rotated the partners each week so that each company had the chance to learn from as many counterparts as possible during this process.
Thanks to some of our partners, PSL was able to offer (3) additional ‘bonus’ sessions during the program, which covered topics such as Intellectual Property, Branding, and Partnership Equity.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. I really needed a blueprint for how startups are run in 2020. Many things that were taught in business school are no longer applicable. I’m really grateful for Philly Startup Leaders!”
SPEAKERS & MENTORS
The PSL community of mentors and keynote speakers helped each company to find their unique value proposition; identify and engage the right customers, and look closely at the team they’ve put together to see if they are ready to solve the challenges presented by their target audiences.
We are extremely grateful to the 45 startup leaders who donated their time and energy to mentor our participants throughout the 12 weeks! It truly takes a village, and the founders’ experience would not have been the same without their time and dedication.
These mentors are incredible assets to the program and Philly’s startup community, and a testament to the power of the PSL Community.
Fun stats: About 50% of participants said they gained 20+ mentors during the program, while the remaining 50% said they gained anywhere from 3 - 20 mentors. Mentorship is a core component of PSL programming and we appreciate every startup leader who raises their hand to help us help others.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKERS AND MENTORS HERE
“Access to a community of founders dealing with similar issues is incredibly helpful, both from a problem-solving and personal support perspective. While everyone is in different industries, the problems we all face are similar. This makes it easy for us to relate to one another and help each other meet these challenges.”
Key Takeaways
We collected data before, during, and after the program. Here’s a peek at some of it:
90% of participants say the accelerator experience had an immense impact on their company’s progress.
80% of participants say the accelerator is responsible for a key relationship (mentor, co-founder, or investor) for their startup.
80% of participants say the accelerator has made them feel more confident as an entrepreneur.
90% of participants say the accelerator has made them more likely to keep their business in Philly long-term.
80% of participants say they are more likely to continue pursuing their startup because of the PSL accelerator.
90% of participants consider PSL to be one of the most important resources for their company during this time.
90% of participants see value in having a long term relationship with Philly Startup Leaders organization and community.
“The concept of community was never something I considered a strategy in building a business. Yet with Founded in Philly, I have truly learned the value of being part of a community and network. Perhaps one of the biggest concerns I had going into the program was that I didn’t know how to be a D2C brand- through PSL I was able to speak with several mentors who have helped me develop a really solid go to market plan. ”
After The Program
These founders are now #PSLAlumni and will continue to build upon the foundation of their startups beyond the program. The mindset and skills of an entrepreneur are ever-evolving and PSL is here to ensure each and every founder knows they are not alone on their journey. Look out for them as they work to scale their operations and give back to the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Interested in being part of Founded in Philly? Learn more here.
“The PSL program has fundamentally changed the trajectory of our growth by offering access to an established network of mentors and the backing of a credible institution. Without PSL, it would have taken us twice as long to access the network and coaching, not to mention the focus and structure necessary to accomplish the 2 main milestones that we had set out to achieve. We are delighted with the progress we have made and the relationships we have built and hope to give back to the PSL community in due time.”