Eleven weeks ago, we kicked off the accelerator program. What a learning experience it has been. Each week, we've tried to fail fast, see what works, what doesn't, and most of all listen to the participants. What use is a program that cannot keep its core users engaged? They (the participating teams) keep me on my toes with feedback, questions, and requests.

They're the heroes of the story. To put faith in the program, show up each week, complete deliverables, and engage with each other is no easy feat. What started as weekly deliverables has continued to evolve since. The participants have full-time commitments, so the deliverable captures four questions unique to the weekly theme, ranging from problem statement, distribution, business model, and more.

When we realized one weekly meeting was too little, we added office hours so that teams could raise questions and receive additional support. Weekly updates were added, taken from the agile playbook I picked up early in my career. “What went well, what didn't, what do you need help with?” Towards the end, we've added a North Star to measure weekly progress. For some, it’s sales, pre-orders, for others, transaction counts and so on.

It's wild to think how far they've come in such a short time. The goal was to gain clarity and determine if their ideas were a pet project or something that could blossom into a sustainable business venture. So far, we've seen it play out in real time. One team pivoted completely, and the other chose to focus on a service rather than a product. They used to have the mindset "build, and they will come." Now they validate demand before building. Not an easy perspective to gain!

With so many different personalities, the eleven weeks have been a joy. Our own little community to encourage one another, question our approaches, and just have fun. To avoid being a talking head, I rolled up my sleeves and entered the ring with the rest of the teams.

What idea am I testing? Well, the accelerator program, of course. I complete the weekly deliverables and am preparing a pitch, just like everyone else. It was the only fair option in my mind, so I could empathize with the others.

The program is nearing completion; the final pitch day is all that remains, scheduled for Sunday, April 5th, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Ironically, the pitch day culminates at a Bitshala event, the very organization that asked me to judge last year, kicking off this set of events. It was at their previous event that I recognized the talent existed, but no structure to elevate and progress their ideas.

During pitch day, each team will have less than five minutes to impress the judges and potentially walk away with some bitcoin in their pockets. 10,000,000 sats or 0.1 bitcoin are up for grabs. Who wins? We’ll find out soon.

I can’t wait to show the world what they’ve been working on. Indian talent isn’t just for big tech; they can also build for Bitcoin!

Check out more details here.