A new program from the startup hub Venture Lane promises a twist on the typical accelerator model.
The Boston-based organization announced today the launch of Venture Lane Studio, a traction accelerator for B2B software startups. The new accelerator is also supported by Silicon Valley Bank, Gunderson Dettmer LLP and Vouch Insurance.
Co-founders Christian Magel and Brian Denenberg said they always imagined creating a program to help startups go-to-market when they founded Venture Lane in 2018. Among current accelerators, the pair saw a hyper focus on investor fundraising rather than creating operating and sales systems to build revenue.
“We founded the whole company on the belief that traction is the number one indicator for startup success … because the market actually gives you the feedback on the team, on the product, on your go-to-market strategy,” Magel said. “It’s not the valuation of your last round that is creating the value. The real value actually comes from the bottom-line success.”
Venture Lane Studio is open to pre-seed and seed stage B2B software startups, ideally with customers and revenue. During the 4.5-month program, Magel, Denenberg and other mentors will work with three or four founders to scale their startups. Participating companies do not need to be based in Boston as most of the programming will be offered virtually. However, founders are required to be in person for a few weeks; companies will also have full access to the Venture Lane workspace during the program.
The first cohort begins March 1 and is currently accepting applications.
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Magel said the cohort’s small size allows them to create a personalized experience for each participant. In the first part of the program, founders and mentors will dissect how the company is operating. From there, startups set objectives to achieve in the next three months. The workshops and check ins each month revolve around the startup’s goal for that month, Magel said. In the last phase, the founders create their startup story to prepare for future fundraisings.
“If you have a one-size-fits-all [program] and you need to squeeze a whole cohort through the same thing, there might be some things that are super relevant for you and some things that are not,” Magel said. “We believe we can be much more individualized than others.”
Denenberg said they know this program’s approach will work because they’ve been unofficially testing it for years. He and Magel started and co-founded several companies before Venture Lane and have since worked with dozens of companies to scale and generate revenue. The key, Denenberg said, is to tailor the support to the company’s distinct growth stage.
"You never know what's around the corner. You can hit hard times, you can hit good times," Denenberg said. "If you have a solid foundation with your operating system and a sales system built, you can survive whatever the challenges that come up."
Krenar Komoni, founder and CEO of Tive Inc., said in a statement that through working with Venture Lane his startup grew from a few thousand dollars in revenue to over $25 million in annual revenue because "we learned to understand the different parts of the sales process and build the right team."
After completing the program, Denenberg and Magel said startups should be ready to strike out on their own. However, they can always reach out for support on Venture Lane’s Slack channel for founders, investors and mentors.
“What we’re really trying to do is set them up for success to be self-sustained,” Magel said. “Set them up for scale, set the founders up for success in terms of their leadership and culture they want to create, have systems in place that help them to really scale to heights where they build a company that actually has significant revenue and helps them fundraise easily.”
