Chapter 33. Something ventured, something gained? Fostering (and measuring) startup growth and entrepreneurial learning in accelerators

Firms, universities, and governments across the world have launched thousands of startup accelerators in the twenty-first century. Early private-sector examples like Y-Combinator and TechStars were designed as sites of venture growth - and therefore job and wealth creation. The universities and governments that followed suit added the goal of developing human capital. Do startup accelerators generate learning for individual entrepreneurs, as assumed by many universities and governments that have launched them? This article describes an award-winning university startup accelerator, the iVenture Accelerator, including its practices and open-source research tools piloted there 2017-2021. These tools longitudinally measure individual and team success: the IDEA (Individual Development of Entrepreneurs in Accelerators) Survey includes five validated scales and new FAST-Growth (Founder Assessment of Skills for sTartup Growth) Scale. Pilot research findings show significant increases in entrepreneurial self-efficacy and FAST-Growth skills for student entrepreneurs. Founders from under-represented minorities show significantly higher levels of tolerance for ambiguity and readiness for self-directed learning than other entrepreneurs.