A horrifying startup accelerator story

I've become very wary of accelerators that make bold promises, although my experience is nowhere near as bad this story.

Having been approached by 3 different accelerators, the story is always the same:

1. They offer a very nice chunk of funding

2. Declare how fantastic their team of mentors and legal connections are

3. They say they have some very low equity requirements

... fast forward ... about to sign an agreement ...

4. Funding is suddenly limited, or is now a range, with the upper figure as what they originaly offered... but with additional caveats

5. The equity requirements are now greater, since they 'forgot' to mention that additional equity is required at the end of the program

6. There is also suddenly an 'entry fee' to cover various expences that they also conveniently 'forgot' to mention

7. Many of their so called mentors/connections have not even agreed to be part of the program

There are certainly many good accelerators out there, but there are many more two-bit players out there willing to screw over early stage startups just to get themselves some funding (and equity, on the off-chance one of the startups actually become successful despite their 'help').

I met a one of these faux investor, charlatan, stone soup types a few years ago. When he talked about making investments, it took a while to figure out he'd invest time and no cash. When he talked about how was was affiliated with some impressive named and organizations, he really meant he'd done a shitty website for a semi well known author and he'd visited the Harvard campus once. At every turn when I asked him for a hard commitment of something I could use, actionable advice or hard cash, he never produced.

I recommend demanding excellence from your investors and expect them to demand excellence from you. Strong relationships improve when tested, others buckle and fade away. That's been my experience anyway.

Once upon a time, I had sent an email to an org with criticism of their web site and how it's hurting their image, only to find out that they gave the web dev opportunity to a high school kid in the area who really wanted the experience. The org was completely legit, and IMO they did a good thing by giving some kid a chance. If the org's product is not the web site, then I don't see why they should waste money/time on an amazing designer/developer when that money could ease operational needs elsewhere.