STUDY | How accelerators can help entrepreneurs manage contradictions

Being an entrepreneur means constantly balancing between contradictions. Should you stick to your idea or change direction? Grow fast or wait for the right time? Researchers have now studied one of the world’s leading accelerators that helps entrepreneurs turn conflicting demands into drivers of innovation.

Accelerators offer programs that help accelerate the growth of start-ups through support, networking, mentorship – and sometimes funding in exchange for a small stake in the company. Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator is a well-known accelerator that has helped startups such as Airbnb and Dropbox.

Four paradoxical lessons

In the start-up phase, there are four main paradoxes that the companies at Y Combinator work with:

Indeterminate experimentation – working methodically and testing hypotheses, but accepting that the outcome is unpredictable.

Fragmented persistence – stubbornly sticking to the problem you want to solve, but being flexible in how you solve it.

Run while you wait – acting quickly and iterating, but not growing too soon.

Grow but stay small – aiming high but keeping the organization small, simple and resource-efficient.

The contradictory advices are not contradictions by mistake, but are educational tools that force the founders to reflect and develop a both-and thinking.

How accelerators can work in practice

The researchers show that accelerators can design their programs to intentionally reinforce this learning.

One way is to combine lectures with practical experiments where founders can quickly test and evaluate their ideas. In this way, they face the first paradox in action – working scientifically but living with uncertainty.

Another is to create strong learning communities. When entrepreneurs share experiences with mentors and former participants, they see how others deal with contradictory situations and normalize tensions.

In addition, accelerators can use simple decision rules, heuristics, to support decision-making. Examples used by Y Combinator are “persist with the problem but change the solution”, “go fast, but wait” and “get big, act small”. Such rules of thumb make it easier to act in complex situations without getting stuck in analysis.

Finally, the structure and rhythm of the programs matter: frequent meetings and feedback are mixed with periods of independent work. This creates an environment that is both supportive and challenging – exactly the balance needed to develop paradoxical thinking.

The mindset that makes a difference

The researchers in the study argue that accelerators are often touted as sources of capital, networks and legitimacy. But their greatest contribution may be cognitive – training entrepreneurs to deal with the uncertainty that characterizes all start-ups. The entrepreneurial paradox mindset is about being comfortable in the uncomfortable. Those who learn it can not only deal with uncertainty – they can grow through it, say the researchers.

More about the article and the researchers
The article Developing the Entrepreneurial Paradox Mindset: The Role of Startup Accelerators and Educational Programs is published in the scientific journal Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. It is authored by Michele Pinelli, Associate Professor at Ca’ Foscari University, Italy, and Luca Pistilli and Alessio Cozzolino both Assistant Professors at University College Dublin, Ireland.

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