As soon as your company’s name becomes listed in a directory like Crunchbase or Pitchbook, don’t be surprised if your email inbox becomes filled with exhortations to apply to an accelerator or incubator. Even if you don’t receive these missives, you will no doubt stumble upon articles about how this or that large company got its start with two or three bright young people pivoting from one idea to the next in a famous accelerator program like Y-Combinator, TechStars or 500 Startups.
