Advice on Dig Eat All 2015

Word of personal advice on behalf of Anything But Salads (ABS):


Be wary of the accelerator programs you choose to sign up for. In this case, ABS was part of Dig Eat All (DEA) 2014 and we one of the winners. Almost 7 months later, nothing from this program has been delivered. DEA 2014 was all empty promises.

When we chose to take part in DEA 2014, we were at the pinnacle of scale. We needed funds to expand and we needed to know how to do it stably and with surety. So when we read on DEA 2014's webpage that winners could stand to win potential prize money (up to EU250,000), it was a no brainer for us. We needed the help and we thought DEA 2014 would be a good avenue to grow and learn.

7 months later, and with no word from the organization, the prize money has been removed from the table with no real explanation. We were promised a full year's worth of help, advice sharing of network and proper assistance in scaling. That has not come through either.

In fact, DEA organisers had not responded to any of our emails or even the pitch deck which we gave them. Nothing of any sort was heard from them or about them post-win.

We then learnt about DEA 2015. And off the bat, it seemed to promise everything but the monies. Ok, improvements. But my colleagues and I felt that it was ridiculous that they would be organizing another DEA when they haven't even come through with the promises for DEA 2014. It was ridiculous and irresponsible.

I personally contacted one of the founders of DEA who avoided my texts and calls. Finally, out of respect, I informed the organization of my plans to blow the whistle on this program.

That shook their feathers badly and instantaneously, I had a flurry of panicked messages and FINALLY a skype meeting with one of the founders.

Post-call, nothing more was resolved except ABS was encouraged to leave the past behind and focus on how we can resolve the current situation. I'll be honest, this particular co-founder did not leave a good impression on me nor did he come across as sincere, honest and with integrity.

We have just sent another email to the founders and organizers and are awaiting a response.

Post-call, we got in touch with other DEA 2014 alumni teams and it was unanimous - no contact from DEA organizers. The other 2 winnings teams were lucky to have gotten some reply of some sort. But it took a lot of chasing before any response was made. Generally, we would all discourage start ups who are looking to scale, push a product to launch, with a revenue stream or those beyond ideas stage to participate. DEA is a great platform for networking - ONLY if you speak Spanish. Otherwise, travelling halfway across the world (like we did) is a complete waste of time and money.

It's a 5-week program and they give you a nice co-working space to meet other fun and exciting start ups. But if your core business is a world away, with time difference, that's a tough situation to face. Especially when you are a lean start up with a lean team.

With this personal experience, I have chosen to break the silence and inform as many entrepreneurs/start ups as possible about the potential dangers and pitfalls of joining any accelerator program (DEA notwithstanding). After this experience with DEA, I highly recommend doing the research, speaking to past participants and asking around.

If your company, like ABS last year, already has a revenue stream and a functioning business with customers and a system, then consider whether the opportunity costs are worth it.

In our case, it was not.

This was a hard lesson to learn for us. But we appreciate the lesson as it has now given us the opportunity to share our experience with you.

Be smart about your decision. And from our own experience, be wary of people who talk the talk but do not walk the walk.

Because that, is incurring bad karma for yourself. Why would you do that to you?