Why Startup Incubators Can't Be Trusted
I am bulldog when it comes to handling my business. Incubators cannot be trusted to make good choices, so putting stock in being picked or not is a waste of your time.

This exchange shows you how incompetent the selection process makes smart people. If you believe in your product, don't back down but be respectful. It’s funny how groups who might take a second look go from "you’re not what we are looking for...to we would like to meet", when you stand up for yourself.

This starts with my first email after getting the rejection letter.

Me: I guess you're allergic to make money? Not even a phone call? Jokers.

Them: I am sorry you seem upset about our decision. If you have that much revenue traction, then you may be too far along for our program. We wish you the very best in your endeavors.

Me: John do you know what frustrates me, the fact that that is not even the company I applied with! You did no due diligence and we are right here locally. At any time I could have come to your office to talk with you. The fact that I have never lost even a penny on the companies I have started and two of the three are profitable right now. The only reason the third isn’t, is because it hasn’t launched yet.

The fact that, 15-20k directly into marketing would have tripled our revenue. The fact that we are a company that HAS traction and you didn’t even consider us? The fact that with one man I built all this. The fact that I work 20 hours a day for not 10 months but 8 years making my dreams come true. The fact that I only recently added “potential co-founders” because that’s what you people want, rather than understanding hiring workers is far more profitable for you and for me.

I am a stubborn, motivated and highly ambitious person that will not lose. If you wanted a solid, profitable and disruptive investment that will make you a ton of money, I am it. But that’s not what you want, you want flowery words with no substance. Not even a phone call John, not even an email or text message. That really is to bad John, I really mean that because in 5 years you will be so angry you didn’t pick us.

It just boggles my mind that you wouldn’t even call a local guy into the office for a 30 minutes meeting. You could give me an idea and 20k and I could build a million company in a year, by myself. Not one of the people you have ever funded can/could/will ever do that.

The fact that not one of the companies "incubator name" has ever funded, has any tangible adoption. I bet you have lost on 90% of those investments and the 10% that is not a loss hasn’t shown you more than a 1-3% return. I am not some young buck startup guy that just started doing this. I know my industries inside and out as well as any CEO in them. If you would have called me into your office or on the phone you would have seen that.

And I wasn’t really upset before, but now I am. The fact you clearly have no desire to pick companies that will win. The Salt Lake/Orem Area is toxic with vanity. It feels like "incubator name" is more concerned with telling friends and colleagues “oh yeah we have an incubator in Utah and we invest $x into the latest and greatest tech companies.”

It is unbelievable!

Them: Happy to meet with you. How about tomorrow on Saturday (I am totally tied up today). We met with about 40 of the over 100 applicants. We only usually did not meet with a team because it had a fatal flaw according to our parameters, such as only one founder, no tech founder, unwillingness to locate to the area for the summer, weak idea, etc.

I disagree with you on several points, of course. Would you like to get together and discuss it? I think that of the 10 we funded last year, several will be successful. 6 of 10 got funded (on a par with the leading similar organizations). 3 or 4 of them are having traction and adoption. Not sure from where you are getting your data. We invest in the teams first -- that is #1. How can you state you could build a $1 million revenue company in a year? Have you done it before. I would be excited to meet you and discuss you background and the reason you are so confident.

When and where would you like to meet? Thanks for the contact. And sorry you are now more upset.

Me: At this point I would not feel comfortable sharing any of our business model or being partners with your organization. Our company has no “fatal flaw”, we had four co-founders, I am a 11 year programmer with two business acquisition associates and one PR specialist, we all live locally and our idea (note: we are a functioning business that’s made money, more than an idea) is the future.

Our PR person works at "major tech blog company", that is where my data comes from, investment returns are speculation of course. But over half of the sites listed on the “2010 Alumni” page of "incubator name" look the same. The fact that I have never heard of any of them and cannot recall finding any major piece of press about them.

You clearly do not invest in teams, my track record alone in the social industry was worth of phone calls from Tech Stars, multiple emails from Y Combinator and two other incubators that we didn’t even apply to. Not to mention they give more money and take a less percentage.

I have built my company that has made $500k this year alone without investment, putting all my time and energy into building it. You give me a little money to work with and I would increase that exponentially. Getting into an incubator was not for the money or the “mentorship”, it was about opportunities for big investment in the future. I did my research on you, you clearly didn’t do your research on me, that is a shame.

Them: Because I sincerely care, I just re-reviewed your application. First, just because your team and business may not be a good fit for our one program, it does not mean we don't think you can still become the success you aim to be. It just means, from your application, something told us to eliminate you at first pass. After a careful review, it was the fact that part of your team was located out of state and another part of your team could not dedicate full time. There was some question about your ability to dedicate full-time due to your many endeavors. Like with most programs, those are showstoppers for us because we expect the team to be 100% "in" (no other business activity, no other jobs, no schooling, etc.).

About your entrepreneurial skill, tenacity, drive, etc. I think you are awesome. I am very happy for you. We support and wish the best for every entrepreneur. Perhaps we misinterpreted your application, but it seemed clear to us. We are not beyond making mistakes, of course. That happens. No one is perfect.

If you ever want to just meet, I'd be interested just to get to know you. You know my email. The ball is in your court.

Me: One member of my team just graduated from Ohio State and is moving here, one member of the team that cant dedicate full time is not a co-founder so it shouldn’t matter. All my business function as part of Konaa, so working on it expands work on Konaa. But because there was no phone call or email for clarification how can you make an educated decision? I would be happy to come in and say hello sometime if you are in the "local" office.

Them: We had a lot of applications and had to make baseline decisions. We could not possible call them all. If you are speaking about the "local" campus of "incubator name", we will be there after May 15. Let me know what day works, and we'll meet.