Meet the 2020 Class of MetLife Digital Accelerator powered by Techstars!

As Ilya Prigogine once said, “The future is uncertain… but this uncertainty is at the very heart of human creativity.”

In the middle of a very uncertain year, Ted Serbinksi and I, backed by Techstars, are investing in ten promising startups. The ten startups we chose are a reflection of the priorities of our time: financial literacy, wellness, student debt, childcare, and racial equity. In addition to capital, community, and content, we’re helping them gain a competitive advantage by partnering with MetLife for scale and reach. 

The realities of 2020 have forced our program to go virtual, but we’ve taken this challenge and turned it into an opportunity to get the most qualified individuals from around the country. Now, looking at the group we’ve assembled, I believe we’ve put together the best program in accelerator history.

“Every Situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity.” -- Helen Schucman

So, without further ado, I present the Class of 2020 at the MetLife Digital Accelerator powered by Techstars.

Class of 2020

ChangEd — Chicago, IL — A mobile-first platform that accelerates debt repayment at every stage of life (e.g., student loans, mortgages) to get borrowers out of debt sooner. ChangEd automates savings, payments, and develops an intelligent debt repayment journey.

Request Intro to ChangEd

Dot — New York, NY  —  Mobile-first robot financial advisor delivering personalized recommendations helping people increase savings, optimize spending, and plan for retirement.

Request Intro to Dot

FinGoal — Boulder, CO —  White-labeled API & SDKs that use AI to analyze consumer behavior providing personalized, less expensive alternatives (from a cup of coffee to insurance and everything in between).

Request Intro to FinGoal

Holisticly  — New York, NY — Benefits platform that allows employers to provide employees with a monthly wellness stipend and access to a curated range of personal wellness solutions for fitness and mental health, plus team experiences (e.g., team workouts, workshops, and seminars).

Request Intro to Holisticly

InterGen Data  — Plano, TX — AI platform that predicts the likelihood of life-changing events so people can prepare for the moments that matter.

Request Intro to InterGen Data

Kinside — Los Angeles, CA — Connects employees to a network of 1M daycare and preschool spots,with pre-negotiated spaces and exclusive savings. Payments are made pre-tax via an API integration with FSAs and TPAs.

Request Intro to Kinside

LivNao — Sunnyvale, CA — Deep learning wellness platform that passively measures mental health for the delivery of behavioral nudges to improve wellbeing.

Request Intro to LivNao

Mellow -— Hong Kong — A mobile platform for parents to teach kids, ages 6-18, how to build money habits and use digital payments across savings, spending, and earnings.

Request Intro to Mellow

OfColor — Maplewood, NJ — An enterprise financial wellness platform that provides content, banking tools, and AI advice built around how people of color save, spend, and build wealth. 

Request Intro to OfColor

Village Plan — Boston, MA — Telehealth platform with on-demand experts and technology tools to help families care for aging loved ones.

Request Intro to VillagePlan

Program Team

Operations Team:

Jonathan Smith - Lead Operations Associate

Keenan Heyward - Operations Associate

Business Team:

Lee Busino - Lead Business Associate

Nick Robinson - Business Associate

Mentor In Residence:

Chris Bergman - Founder/CEO of Gylee Games

Marc Hudson - Co-Founder/CEO of Rocket Fiber

Zarin Singh - Chief of Staff of OYO

Mehrshad Mansouri - Director of Corporate Development at Techstars 

Heidi Hysell - CEO of Alpha Drive

6 Strategies to Get the Most out of an Accelerator

After spending two years as an associate at Techstars Mobility in Detroit and now running Backstage Detroit (an accelerator from Backstage Capital) as the Director, I have helped and watched more than 50 startups graduate from an accelerator. From my experience, I’ve created a list of 6 strategies to help you get the most out of your accelerator experience.

Getting into an accelerator is a great accomplishment. Most of the time, getting into a top-tier accelerator such as Y Combinator, Techstars, and 500 Startups is more challenging than getting accepted into an Ivy League school. At Backstage Accelerator we had about 2000 applications competing for 25 spots. That’s roughly a 0.025% acceptance rate vs. Stanford’s MBA rate of 6.1%.

So, here is how you can make the most out of your accelerator program. Let’s get to it!

---

1. Move fast toward a monthly goal

You have 3 months and your goal should be to maximize by minimizing. Always ask yourself, can something be done faster? With fewer resources? For example: Do you really need to build the product before you get your first customers? Why not sign them up in advance and sell them on the concept?

Alex Iskold, Co-founder and Managing Partner of 2048 ventures, does a great job explaining the tactic for going quickly during the program without jeopardizing your long-term vision for the company or affecting the quality of your product.

Create monthly goals and make that one of your KPIs (key performance indicators) during the program. While it is super easy to get distracted during the program by the amount of information thrown at you, this KPI will help you and your team stay on track working towards your goal.

2. Storytelling helps smash funding goals

People often don’t buy the best products, they buy the products they understand the best. Similarly, in the early stages of startups, investors don’t invest in the best products, rather they invest in the founders they understand the best. Your goal as a founder should be to tell stories that motivate investors to take the action of financially backing you. Talk about your vision for the company. What’s the big picture? How is it going to change society? What’s the big opportunity here? Why are you the right team? Investors want to hear that.

Here is a short video by Kevin Hale, Partner at Y Combinator, on how investors look at startups and their decision-making process to invest. 

3. Filter out bullshit advice

During the accelerator, you will be bombarded with hundreds of opinions on your business from mentors, founders, investors, etc. So, how do you differentiate between what is bullshit and what’s not?

Think about it like this: if your mentor is an engineer, they often want to add more features to your product, making it flashy and complex. However, that may not be the best thing for your startup. Your goal should be to deliver a simple, yet effective MVP (minimum viable product) for your users. Remember, your dog doesn’t need an email. At least not yet. :)

Of course, there will be times when you will be absolutely frustrated by some advice you get from mentors. Try not to take it personally and learn from their experience. It could be the most beneficial part of your accelerator experience.

4. Find and update super-connector mentors

During the accelerator when corporate/strategic partners come in, all the founders will have one goal: how do I get a pilot with you? Here all the founders will fight to get the attention of decision-makers. How do you, as a founder, stand out? The best way is through a referral. Your goal during the program should be to find a mentor that can act as a “connector”, convince them of the value of your product/service, and get them to connect you to a decision-maker.

Make sure you send monthly updates about your business to these connected mentors and show them that you’re making progress and gaining traction. Your goal with these updates should be to keep these mentors excited about what you have to offer because they could potentially be your next hire, the key to unlocking a pilot deal, or an investor in your company. 

Give special shout-outs to your mentors in your updates. This seemingly small act of kindness will go a long way. Your mentors have given up their valuable time to give you free advice-giving them recognition and gratitude are meaningful and cost you nothing.

Here’s a great article by Jillian Canning, Senior Portfolio Strategist at Wework Labs, about the importance of mentor updates.

5. Build relationships with other founders in your cohort

One thing every accelerator does well is finding the best entrepreneurs and putting them all in the same room for 3 months. You will be surprised to see how many of your roadblocks can be solved with the help of your peers. They have been, or are, in the same position as you. Nurturing your peer relationships throughout the program can build long-lasting support. As my friend, John Henry says, “learning from your peers is more valuable than your mentors.”

Never undervalue the power of relationships.

6. Invest in building relationships outside the program

Find mentors, associates, investors, or leaders that you respect during the program and become friends with them. Take them out for coffee, drinks, or dinner — any activity outside 9 to 5 — and learn more about them on a personal level. Building relationships with people you respect will pay dividends long-term. Never undervalue the power of relationships, because something as simple as an intro email can solve a problem that you have been working on for months or even years.

---

I hope you try out these strategies for yourself. While following these tips won’t guarantee that you’ll secure funding or land any pilots, it will help you get the most out of an accelerator. It’s up to you how hard you grind during the program.

Feel free to leave a response below about how these concepts have helped you, or if you have any hacks of your own to share with the community.