Why do you charge for the program?
We’re not a typical accelerator, instead of taking equity we have an upfront payment system. This means we can stay completely impartial to your business idea if it doesn’t have traction we will encourage you to pivot, abandon and regroup. It allows us to stay honest and only push you towards ideas that are worth your time.
What do you charge for the program?
$3500 per startup (additional $500 per cofounder)
What do I need for the program?
An idea that you think is worth pursuing. It shouldn’t be half baked or tentative, you should feel confident enough in the idea to aggressively pursue it
Yes, we average about 3 investor pitches at the end of the course (Week 6/7). Investors give valuable feedback and have written checks in the past but we find that all founders whether they are seeking funding or not benefit.
Tacklebox is competitive because we don’t want to waste anyone’s time. If you have a compelling point of view, expertise/experience with the problem and can show you’re willing to take the action necessary you’ll be a serious contender.
What makes an application great?
Detail, conviction and a unique point of view. Anything you can add to support your application i.e. interview transcripts, work references, your direct experience with the product you’re solving. Our best founders have always stood out in their applications, we want to see that you’re absolutely committed to making your idea happen (with or without us)
What’s the application process?
After you’ve submitted your written application we’ll reach out to you within the week if we’re interested in continuing. From there we will schedule a 30 minute interview to talk through your application and whether it’s a good fit. Within the week we may ask for a little more from you (i.e. a customer interview) to support your application. At least 3 weeks before every cohort we email the final cohort picks and send out the pre-req. We try to keep the turnaround tight, you should know within 2 weeks if you’re in.
I already have a product, am I too late for Tacklebox?
Absolutely not, we’ve had many founders come through with products. We need you however to come in with an open mind ready to dive deep on customer and not be anchored by that product. If you’ve been struggling with traction and identifying customer we’d highly recommend coming through the program.
I don’t have a product, am I too early for Tacklebox?
Absolutely not, pre-product would be about 65% of our founders. We need you to have a compelling problem, a unique solution and some sort of expertise on the matter.