Scale quickly or fail fast: An inductive study of acceleration

Accelerators are a fast-growing form of entrepreneurship support. Literature about them remains descriptive and disjointed. While some consider them new, others believe them to be a next-generation incubator model. Based on a qualitative inductive study in India, with inputs from both accelerator executives and founders of accelerated ventures, we shift the analysis from the form (accelerator) to its underlying mechanism (acceleration). We identify at least three characteristics that make acceleration unique: a focus on product-market fit ventures; a focus on time-compressed scaling; and a focus on aggressive scalability testing. Our findings call for a shift in entrepreneurship support research (including accelerators) from “form” to “mechanism.” Entrepreneurs will find our three characteristics useful in assessing which programs truly accelerate, and therefore increase their chances of achieving scale. Accelerator executives can now distinguish their offerings from other support forms (e.g. incubators) by searching for ventures with product-market fit, offering time-compressed scaling services and testing the ventures’ ability to scale rapidly. University administrators and policymakers can use the findings to add acceleration (to support scaling) as a component of their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Implications and future research directions are discussed.