Blue Startups acceleration complete—and wow, did we accelerate! 🐧 🚀
We wrapped up with a demo day in San Francisco, and I even did a bonus one in NYC. You have to check out the pitches! https://lnkd.in/gyzF9mGF
If you’re wondering whether an accelerator is right for you, or if you’re building in isolation and want to grow as a founder, read on.
When we applied to Blue, we were at $40K in monthly revenue. By the end of the cohort, we hit $135K.
Even though I’m American, all my startup experience was in China. I wasn’t familiar with the fundraising process or how American VCs think. I also didn’t have a strong network here. I needed to level up my game.
If you want to build something huge, you can’t do it alone—you need mentorship and advice. And Blue Startups provided that in spades. We started with a bang thanks to Patrick Lee (Rotten Tomatoes founder), who gave an incredible presentation on focus.
The guidance from Blue’s founder and director, Chenoa Farnsworth, was invaluable. She’s unapologetically tough, forcing you to maintain a high standard. Her far-reaching connections brought us every type of advice we could need.
We were introduced to an amazing lead mentor and advisor, Steve Markowitz. Everyone needs to find their “Steve”—someone who's done it before and will go with you the whole way.
Blue helped us build a network. We got connected with incredible founders and advisors, like Joey Katzen, Christopher Farm, Holly Liu, Chris Yeh, Keyvan Peymani, Nobu Morita, Jennifer Apy, Rachan (Butch) Reddy, Assaf Karmon— and so many more amazing people who have already helped us immensely on this journey.
David Holt always went the extra mile (as did Kia Yang). Chris Lam helped me think about design. Cristina Moon taught zen and resilience. Romesh Jayawickrama was invaluable in guiding mindset and balance.
Blue also partnered with Piʻikū Co. and brought on two amazing designers (Gage Minamoto and Michelle Tran) to give the app a needed glow up.
But most importantly—our cohort. I can’t imagine building a startup alone. The cohort becomes like family, and it's important to surround yourself with brilliant passionate people. Huge shoutout to Cohort 16: Sirisha Kaipa and Madhu Vohra, Jacqueline Hall (Sunday grinders club), Randy Marsden and Arianna Rose, Mathew Goldsborough, Mario Soave, Paul Karaffa, Dr. Stevens Bonhomme, D.B.A, M.A, Melis Dural, Vincent Brathwaite, Andrew Spencer, Michael Choi
Special thanks to Trung Lam and Johnny Chankhamany of ThriveHI for introducing me to Hawaii’s tech community and Clif Purkiser for guiding me in. And, of course, we can’t forget Maya Rogers and Tetris!
Why do an accelerator in Hawaii? Because building a startup is hard, and you need support from people that really care about you. Blue startups isn't just an accelerator, it's Ohana 🤙
