Jone Vaituleviciute is Partner at Startup Wise Guys that was just named The Hottest Startup Accelerator in Europe. In this episode Jone shares the perspective of the accelerator - with 1-2% acceptance rate, what are they looking for in business models and founders. We also discuss why investors like to invest in B2B SaaS and the value that early-stage support organizations can bring to startups in the pre-accelerator stage.The topics covered in this episode with Timestamps[06:00] - Startup Wise Guys and early-stage investing/acceleratingAccelerator wants you to move 6x faster than without itIt’s not school, nobody checks attendanceThe key value add of the accelerator is the community of founders who are struggling the same as youThe average age of founders is increasingBeware of passive accelerators - if you are giving up equity, you want to maximize the valueThink very hard whether you want and need accelerating as many companies are already matured past and might give up equity without the necessary value[22:40] - What accelerators want to see in founders and companiesRevenue can be a vanity metric and not say anything about traction and trajectoryIf founder just wants money, they should go to a Non-accelerator investorIf the founder is not committed to full time, it’s a big red flagFounder decisiveness is a key requirement[38:00] - What to expect from the acceleration programThe acceptance rate is 1-2%This is a long term relationship, accelerator stays on your capable 5-7 years while the accelerating phase usually lasts around 12 monthsSupport for founders in the further round and help avoid big mistakes[48:20] - B2B SaaS - Why is it the favorite business model for VCsB2B SAAS is extremely broad, also Fintech can be B2B SaaSThe model is relatively easier to build for the founderThe traction metrics are easy to track and compare to others, thus it is less risky for the investor to take a betThe importance of revenue in the earliest stages should not be overstatedBig corporates develop quickly from product user to acquisition of the providerEdtech and health tech as biggest opportunities in B2B SaaSThe next generation of blockchain companies[1:06:30] - The role of support organizations for startupsInternationalization of local startup ecosystemsTaking care of startups that are not ready for investment/accelerators yetFind out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/ Support for this episode comes from Nexpay > https://paynexpay.com/Support the show

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