Back in July 2020, I had both the privilege and honor of graduating 100 global startups across our Pre-Seed and Seed & Series A cohorts from the Newchip Accelerator, which I know lead as its director. This was a particularly important milestone for Newchip because it marked the largest ever group of startups to graduate from our accelerator in one single push.
This special occasion also marked a major milestone in the development of the Newchip Accelerator, which I helped found back in April 2019. It goes without saying that we have come a very, very, VERY long way in such a short period of time. And there is absolutely now way I ever imagined us achieving this level of traction and/or success in just under two years of launch.
However, I firmly believe, as I’ve learned every single day since I joined Newchip back in February 2019, that hard work pays off. And entrepreneurship demands nothing but hard work. How does one work so hard in such a volatile environment full of many unknowns, you may ask? I believe the answer is simple: you show real passion for what you’re doing.
I talk to hundreds of startups every week at Newchip, and many other hundreds of entrepreneurs and founding teams who are building the future of our world, today. The common denominator driving every single one of these entrepreneurs is a real and committed passion to the problem they are trying to solve. Then again, entrepreneurship is all about solving problems. And you must be obsessed with the problem you’re trying to solve.
But why is that? Well, because if you don’t obsess over the product you’re trying to solve, you probably don’t care much about the solution. Granted, the solution itself is the product your startup is building… to address the problem you seek to fix. Moreover, figuring out the specific problem you wish to address helps you clarify your proverbial North Star, or your ultimate sense of direction.
These graduating founders are passionate about the problems they are solving. Combined with their grit, determination, and enthusiasm, it does not surprise me that they survived the incredibly rigorous - and some would argue it should be described as “torturous” - six-month experience that they must undertake in order to succeed in our accelerator. And the reason we put them through so many challenges is because we want to prepare them for the real world, for the real obstacles that await them beyond the confines of the safe spaces we provide in the accelerator for learning and experimenting.
It’s this constant flow of challenge that turns someone from a thinker into a doer. It’s what separates the wannapreneurs from the real entrepreneurs. It’s what compelled these 100 startups from across the world to achieve this important milestone on their way to memorable fortune and success.
Below is a transcription of my remarks to the 100 graduating companies:
“Hello everyone, hopefully by now you are very familiar with me… but in case one of you in the crowd can’t seem to remember, I'll give you a quick hint: My name is Armando Vera Carvajal, and I am the Program Director here at the Newchip Accelerator. And it is my sincere pleasure to welcome you to your official graduation ceremony.
If you are here right now, it means you made it - you completed the Newchip Accelerator and the staff and leadership on my team has approved you for recognition and certification. Now, granted, not every company that started in the Newchip Accelerator is here today. Not every company that joined the cohort will be graduating - at all. Some companies and entrepreneurs simply were not able to put in the same level of passion, dedication, and commitment that you did to this accelerator. And for that reason we celebrate you.
Six months may sound like nothing, but six months is a long time. Six months is 26 weeks, over 182 days, nearly 263,000 minutes - we’re talking about half a year. And that’s a long time. A lot can happen in six months. And that is at least how much time you invested into your personal growth both as an entrepreneur and rising business leader of the world.
I’ll remind you that when we launched your cohort many, many months ago, nobody - and I mean nobody - was expecting 2020 to turn out the way it has… We heard talks, rumors, about some flu virus on the other side of the planet, but no one here was expecting it to turn our entire world, along with our lives, on its head. COVID-19, without a single doubt in my mind, is a historic event of epic proportions that will define the lives of every person alive today, and far into the future.
Needless to say, it has been a tough year for everyone. The coronavirus pandemic is causing more than enough damage across the world. Lives are being lost everywhere, economies are tanking, and businesses - of all stages and sizes - are treading a very delicate line towards survival. These are hard times - very hard times. But these are also times of great opportunity, the opportunity that you seek for yourself.
Here at the Newchip Accelerator, we’ve had a unique perspective into a representative sample of the global startup ecosystem. In 2020 alone, more than 259 companies from over 15 countries joined one of our accelerator programs. Nearly every single one of these companies was directly impacted in some way, shape, or form, by COVID-19.
Some companies thrived because they had an online business model which permitted them to prove their value proposition, while other companies struggled to diversify their offerings to a world sliding into disarray. Many of the companies had to pivot fast, not just across their verticals, but some across sectors, while others had to do a full 180 degree pivot into an entirely new business model or company brand altogether. And they did this in order to survive.
What’s fascinating about this extraordinary year is that it has provided all of us entrepreneurs with a unique opportunity to learn about who we truly are as individuals. Many people who start businesses do so simply because they just want to make a quick buck and cash out as soon as possible. While that certainly can work from time to time, it becomes all the more challenging when times get hard, especially when it seems like the whole world is coming to a swift end.
It’s during those trying times that business owners, entrepreneurs everywhere, have to stand up with their head up high ready to do whatever is necessary to survive. And it’s in those darkest moments of life, where there seems to be no hope at all, that one’s true character is tested, where the wannapreneurs are immediately distinguished from the real, courageous entrepreneurs.
And the truth is that there is hope - lots of it - for our world, and more importantly, for every entrepreneur who wants to succeed into the long term. I’m referring to you. And I know this because history has shown again and again and again that crisis and chaos are two of the main ingredients for the kind of big problems that require drastic solutions. Entrepreneurs are more often than not the main actors of change, innovation, and direction during hard times. It’s been this way for a long time, and those fundamentals still apply even in today’s modern world.
What this has meant for every entrepreneur and startup in the Newchip Accelerator is that right now is your chance to thrive and show the world what you are capable of achieving in the middle of the storm that is 2020. You would be amazed by the companies that were born out of global crises, adversity, and economic meltdowns? Take for example, General Motors, Facebook, IBM, Google, Airbnb, Disney, HP, Uber, General Electric, Microsoft, and many more.
These iconic companies of today were able to launch, survive, and eventually transform into world-class business titans not just because they had transformational visions but because they were resilient. These companies were able to adapt to the external factors and extenuating circumstances that impacted their operations and odds of survival. And yet, here they are today - stronger than ever - changing the world and the life of everyone around them, including yours.
Yet, these companies simply could not have been here if they lacked resilience, grit, courage, determination. They would have had no chance if they had simply given up to the dire circumstances of their eras long, long ago. But they didn’t, and that is what I want you to remember: they did not give up.
Could the leaders behind those startups - I’m talking early-stage Disney, General Motors - have given up? Absolutely! They faced the same challenges that you face today - and many many more that you don’t. But they didn’t give up. Instead, they adapted and they persevered, and now they are here to remind you that you can accomplish almost anything when you align your mind and your heart.
I want you to remember that entrepreneurship is one of the hardest paths anyone can take in life. I mean, think of it. You have spent, not just the past six months in this accelerator, but very likely several years of your life building this dream of yours and turning it from nothing into something. That’s hard. That’s really, really hard.
And most people on this planet will never fully understand how hard it is to build a viable business into long-term, sustainable profitability. Most people will simply never have the ability to relate to what you have had to do to get to where you are today. Fewer people will truly understand the hardship and never-ending rollercoaster of emotions you must endure in this game of crazy that is startups.
That is to say, that most of the time, when you are lost in the proverbial sea that is entrepreneurship weathering the storm that is life, most of the world will not be able to help you - they just won’t be there for you because they will think you are crazy. And in most regards, that is who we are - the crazy ones. The rebels. The ones who actually believe we can change the world.
But alas, that is the risk that you, as an entrepreneur have chosen. And it is a truly memorable and admirable endeavor because entrepreneurship is the single most powerful catalyst of change and innovation in our world today.
Now, more than ever, it is possible for entrepreneurs, like you, to build new technologies, solutions, and platforms that will prepare humanity for what is next, for whatever the future, destiny, fate, or whatever you want to call it, has in store for all of us. Now is the time for you to go out and be the difference you want to see in this world.
Real change starts with individual people, just like you. So whether you’re trying to solve one of the many problems on this planet, be it pollution, hunger, disease, war, inequality, climate change - whatever it may be - real change starts with people just like you. People who have a dream, people who have a vision, people who believe in their potential to bring that out of their imaginations into the real world.
It takes a lot of courage, and far more resilience to accomplish this. And you know it, because you are here now and you may as well be here tomorrow - and long into the future. Truth be told, that is our most sincere hope and expectation. We need you to succeed - and to change the world forever.
Today we are graduating [100] companies from the Newchip Accelerator. This is a very important moment not just for you, as a graduate of the world’s leading online accelerator program, but also for us because it reminds us that we have a huge duty to serve and prepare many more entrepreneurs so that they too can one day be right where you are today.
Thank you for all of your time, enthusiasm, and devotion. It’s been a sincere pleasure working with every one of you over the past months. Although this is the formal conclusion of your participation in the Newchip Accelerator, it is not a goodbye nor is it the end of our friendship.
But rather, this is merely the beginning of a new chapter in your entrepreneurial journey. And we sincerely hope that you will allow us to be a part of it for the long term as you take your company to unimaginable successes, as you go off and make this world a better place for everyone.
Thank you for being an entrepreneur. The world needs people like you. Congratulations on this major endeavor! Here’s to the next big chapter in your life! Cheers!” -Armando Vera Carvajal, Accelerator Director at Newchip, Inc.