See you at Acceleratorfest 2023

Last week, we announced with startupfest the program for acceleratorfest 2023, a premium festival for accelerators. This year, as in previous editions, main was in charge of content curation.

My team and I couldn't be prouder of the story that will be told about this brief moment in time on the afternoon of July 12, 2023. We may not remember the date, or the colorful outfit worn by our host Louis-Félix Binette (see photo at the top of this post), but we will remember the essence of the discussions we had that day.

and we will be certain that we have had discussions that are equal to the challenges of our time.

We will probably remember the view of Montreal from the Montreal Port Tower, too.

The story we will tell on July 12 is something we feel in our gut.
We started with certain topics that we felt were essential. Here is a fairly accurate representation of our train of thought:
— "We absolutely need a panel on IP!
— A panel on data too!
— But why IP and data? IP isn't an end in itself, it's a means to an end. The same goes for data management."

AS SIMON SINEK WOULD SAY: "START WITH WHY."

We have returned to the essentials. Is it IP or data that changes the world? No.

It is entrepreneurs and their missions that change the world. And they achieve this by using levers such as PI or data management.

We also have panels that are more than gender-balanced, and we achieved this effortlessly. Each woman in the program was chosen and invited for her specific resume, not to fill a slot in the schedule.

We also wanted to showcase new faces who have come from far away to be with us. We have Caroline from Geneva, Marwan from Paris, Frances from New York, Chris from Edmonton, Joelle from Winnipeg...

First, we draw inspiration from Katy Yam of FounderFuel, who will probably be a little exhausted after having had a busy day the day before for their legendary demo day. (Don't miss this demo day, by the way.)

Then, we refocus, with a panel of experts from all walks of life, to remind ourselves of the world in which our startups —and by extension, accelerators—operate. The goal is to step outside the walls of our accelerator, so we can return to it with a perspective that may not be new, but one that takes a broader view of the forest as a whole.

and last but not least, we'll be raising our voices, with a view to helping the accelerators present become (even) better, with people so talented we've had to reread their positive responses three times to convince ourselves they'll actually be with us. these eminences will be sharing their nuggets of knowledge in three discussions:

1. taking care of people
   How can we be catalysts for change to reverse the overwhelming data on entrepreneurs' mental health?
2. taking care of tech
   How can we support profitable startups that attract partners, conquer foreign markets, and make the world a little better?
3. taking care of business (models)
   under what models and in what spaces do accelerators operate, and how do they co-exist in their various forms?

(I hope this last title has put this excellent classic in your head, whose name was completely unknown to me until now.)

A packed schedule, certainly, but one that tells a story. Just as there was a before and after Acceleratorfest 2018, there will be a before and after Acceleratorfest 2023.

— Joyce McLean, Manager — Summit and Community Relations @ main