One year of Product Acceleration
October 2020 is the 1st Anniversary of the launch of our Product Accelerator. We have one mission with Product10x, “Build life improving companies and bridge the business, technology and product gaps”.
October 2020 is the 1st Anniversary of the launch of our Product Accelerator. We have one mission with Product10x, "Build life improving companies and bridge the business, technology and product gaps". As part of our journey, we learned a ton, met with amazing founders and investors. COVID affected all companies big and small startups. Those who had the money in the bank struggled to find customers and those who were about to raise money got challenged due to the pandemic. Follow along as whe detail how Product10x bridges gaps in startups and products.
VCs felt there was no decrease in funding while founders struggled to raise money - which basically highlights the different perspectives. Product10x bridges gaps in startups and products, improving companies, and generating growth through product-led acceleration.
Product Led Acceleration
All our startups call us out for one single strength, "Product Led Acceleration". With SaaS and modern tech, the cost of starting and building a startup has reduced tremendously to ~$5000. This means, there are more entrants in the eco-system than ever BUT the name of the game is "Focus". It seems very basic but we spend a lot of time unearthing the core questions with our portfolio companies...
- Ideation Phase
What is the current problem for user?- How is user navigating or solving the problem?
- What tools and services do they use?
- How competitive is the market space? Who are the winners and who are struggling?
- If you dont solve the problem, will the users care?
- Product Phase
- What is that ONE thing we want to solve for users ?
- How do you want to validate the solution? and Who are those users?
- What is the roadmap for the month, quarter and year (if the company survives)
- How do you plan to constantly refine the prioritization?
- Who and How are you defining the product requirements?
- Sales Phase (Founder led or not)
- How are we planning to train colleagues on value and product features?
- Are we tracking the assumptions for customers, industries, and users?
- How is the product responding to the needs of the sales in the initial days/months?
- How are you categorizing the subjective and objective responses from the sales process?
- What data are you tracking and how is it helping the company, product, and operations?
Dealflow Overview
We spent incredible time analyzing the companies, understanding founders and products. There is a great deal of interest from startups across the world to launch products in the US. Similarly, in the US several startups want to scale sales or build new products. Product10x bridges gaps in startups and products.
Product10x 1st Year Startup Dealflow Analysis
Choosing the right industries that we can make a difference is a huge challenge in the last one year. From 10s of industries that we looked at, we started focusing on Healthcare Tech, HR Tech, Edu Tech and Construction Tech. Industry focus is a core value proposition from the Product10x partners and helps us to be grounded and provide Industry, Domain and Product insights to founders.
Not surprisingly, we saw E-learning, Productivity Tools and Health Tech to be the high growth startup industry categories. Product10x bridges gaps in startups and products, as shown here.
Portfolio Companies (Year One)
Here are some amazing companies that we helped and actively helping in the last 12 months. Most of them have one thing in common, "they build products that solve a problem for a specific user".
| Allegro Learning | Allegro wants to re-invent existing educational models and create new learning experiences that expand educational opportunities for a global audience. | |
| CentSai | CentSai brings actionable, relatable tips via real-life stories and expert interviews. Understanding your money should not be hard. CentSai gives you information and product choices to empower yourself. | |
| Cense.ai | Cense.ai instills intelligence into enterprise applications and makes them smart enough to efficiently handle various tasks and processes that would otherwise need human intervention. | |
| HomeJam | HomeJam brings the fun of music and concerts to your home using personalized technology using AI and ML. | |
| ibec systems | ibec Systems is bringing the elements of Smart City via Mobile Applications especially in the area of Safety and Maintenance. | |
| KIN Awareable | KIN® is a dedicated elderly care product. With innovative technology and ease of use, it has the potential to save the lives of your near and dear ones using fall detection and geo-fencing technology. | |
| Oxygen Ventures | Oxygen Ventures is a tech venture & advisory firm with a focus on identifying entrepreneurs, nurturing startups, and assisting in their growth story. | |
| <Stealth Mode> | Collaboration application for the very people who introduce products in the industry. Truly revolutionary and unique. | |
| TechSource | Techsource is a pioneer of IoT in Europe has been at the forefront of monitoring, analyzing, and controlling business-critical energy assets. They make it easy to monitor the right parameters and to take action. With the Techsource offerings within Energy, your service and maintenance personnel will be able to act with confidence, relying on robust and secure equipment. |
Product10x Bridges Gaps in Startups and Products
Thanks to our Advisors and Partners who keep us on the toes, and we are humbled to be working with great founders building great companies. As much as we mentor and advise startups, we learn 10x every day from our companies.
We have introduced 3 great programs centered around the startups. We will continue to revise and provide value for startups in the super early stage or mature growth stage.
- Build Program : All about Idea to Product
- Ignite Program : Focused Mentorship
- Disrupt Program : Complete Product-Led Journey
As we move ahead, we plan to narrow our focus on the industries and increase the strategic focus on startups along with operational support. Single most question that we get asked is if we invest? Right now we don't but the new year might have a different answer. Remember, Product10x bridges gaps in startups and products.
Here to all the startups, founders and entrepreneurs who are relentlessly dreaming, creating, hustling and moving us all forward!!!
About the Author: Suresh Madhuvarsu is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He is the Managing Partner of Product10x Accelerator, a SaaS accelerator that helps founders build and launch successful startups. He is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Salestable, a purpose-built sales readiness platform for SMBs.
Suresh has over 20 years of experience in the technology/SaaS industry. He is a 4x founder with 2 exits. He is also an active angel investor and mentor to early-stage startups. Suresh is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses. He believes that technology can be used to solve real-world problems and improve people's lives.
About Product10x: Product10x is a SaaS accelerator that helps founders build and launch successful startups. The accelerator is run by experienced operating partners who have "been there and done that." Product10x provides founders with mentorship, advisory, and access to a network of investors and partners. The accelerator focuses on Product Led Growth (PLG), Sales readiness, and Fundraise readiness, helping founders all the way from product to go-to-market.
