🚀 Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Join Accelerate253! 🚀

COHORT 2 APPLICATION

Accelerator Courses

The core of the Startup253 program is 5 Friday 2-hour sessions covering a variety of business topics.

We will also provide time for one on one meetings and conversations to discuss specific aspects of your business, answer questions and provide general advice and coaching.

Topics include:

  • Marketing and Branding Methodologies

  • Finance Management and Planning

  • Business Strategy and Innovation

  • Sales and Customer Acquisition

  • Networking and Relationship Building

  • And MORE!

Plus our Pitch Winner will receive $1000!

Session Info

Friday, April 19 | 2pm
Session 1

Friday, April 26 | 2pm
Session 2

Friday, May 3 | 2pm
Session 3

Friday, May 10 | 2pm
Session 4

Friday, May 17 | 2pm
Session 5

Friday, May 24 | 4pm
Pitch!

The second part of the program is a short presentation of your business.

Your goal is to describe concisely and persuasively why your business is meaningful and worth supporting. The presentations can be framed as a fundraising pitch but you can also choose to make it a recruiting appeal to potential employees, a sales proposition to customers or channel partners, a proposal to key vendors, landlords, service providers and others about why they should work with you, etc.

FAQ

  • No

  • No

  • We encourage teams to attend so they can share insights and ideas; if you would like to have more than three people let us know and if we have space they will be welcome.

  • Anyone who is or wants to build a high growth, economically sustainable business, ideally in Tacoma and Pierce County.

    We are particularly pleased to work with BIPOC, veteran or women founders and teams.

  • We are looking for people and teams who know the problem or opportunity they are addressing; the best candidates have five or ten years of experience in their industry or function (more is even better) and understand both the big picture and some of the detailed issues you’ll have to address

  • We love realistic optimists; building a business is fun, exciting and difficult; it is important to believe in what you are doing while knowing there will be bumps and detours along the way.

    Solo founders are welcome; teams with complementary skills, knowledge and experience are more likely to succeed in creating a strong company.

  • It helps but it is not a requirement; we will discuss the basics of creating a company.

  • We are looking forward to working with a range of organizations from those who are just beginning to figure out how to move forward to those who have already recruited staff and have paying customers.

  • We encourage everyone to join us in person because we think it is a good way to learn and we encourage questions and discussions which are easiest face to face

    We understand some people may find it difficult to attend in person and are exploring ways to have you join us on-line.

  • Yes and please do!

  • Yes, either in person or on-line.