We Believe

The Think Big Accelerator was formed on a few essential beliefs:

• Good ideas can come from anywhere.
• Relationships matter, but don’t always have to be made in your own backyard to be meaningful.
• Capital, in all its forms, is equally critical to a successful startup. This includes financial capital (money), human capital (the right people) and intellectual capital (work smart, not just hard).
• Good ideas are overrated.
• Execution is everything.
• Speed can be a dangerous thing.  Being too fast or too slow can produce disastrous results when applied at the wrong times.
• It’s critical to understand what you are trying to achieve and then have a plan.
• Entrepreneurs must have a plan, even if it’s a bad one.  The only thing you need to be right about from the get-go is your business goal.
• Discipline and objectivity are the guiding principles to keeping business goals in focus.
• Test everything but be prepared to make a decision on something sooner than later.
• Embrace the fact that you will learn more by starting once you have 80% of everything you need to know.  Building fast and breaking things is a part of the process.
• Communication and collaboration are force multipliers to get things done fast.
• Creativity is the overlooked X factor ingredient that can be the tipping point to success.
• Understanding the power of networks (Metcalfe’s Law) can unlock powerful results.
• Creating mutually beneficial partnerships, while maintaining separate agendas, creates win-win opportunities.
• Co-opetition (cooperative competition) works with the right partners.
• Both individual achievement and team accomplishments should be recognized, but it’s the team that makes everything come together.
• Role, rank, authority and expertise are very different things. Know the difference.
• Be coachable.
• Being an expert is something, to include your work.
• Respect individuality and find every team player’s unique ability.
• Believe in the power of your idea, but don’t fall in love with the first version of it. Fall in love with what the idea can do if done correctly.
• Accept the fact that it will often take twice as much money and twice as much time to build your startup company. Be prepared and committed from the start...or don’t start at all.
• Failing is not always a bad thing. It can be a temporary condition and vital to the process of building the right company. Or another idea.
• If you are going to fail, fail fast and fail cheap. Fail while you still have the resources available to learn from your experience and build the right product or service.
• Remember the power of the pivot.  Pivot as many times as you can, as fast as you can.
• If you build the right company, you will either solve a problem or fulfill a need for someone that is willing to pay for your product or service.
• Anyone can run a sprint. Almost anyone can run a marathon. You must be prepared to do both.
• Entrepreneurship is messy and not that glamorous.  Be prepared to miss the occasional meal and full 8 hours of sleep.  
• Creating a profitable company is the ultimate barometer success.