The world today is tackling so many problems and the thing that provides the light at the end of the tunnel is innovation. Entrepreneurship has been expressed to be synonymous to innovation by many and no doubt unique ideas whether relating to social sustainability or lifestyle improvements are taking the world ahead.

Whether you want to be an entrepreneur or not, it is always beneficial to have an entrepreneurial mindset. The best ways to obtain this, I believe, is by going through a venture accelerator program. If you are like me, you don’t get innovative ideas naturally. Venture accelerators are not only for those who have an idea and want to work on it, but also for those who don’t have a clue but just want to take a worthwhile risk. I am part of the latter half of the lot and found the experience equally fulfilling when I attended the Husky Startup Challenge.

Here is a list of the most crucial things the least prepared person (me) got out of taking part in a venture accelerator:

Make Use of Criticism

I believe this aspect of an accelerator will contribute the greatest to your personality. I have never been great at taking criticism because I always had a defending point in my mind ready. When your idea is critiqued through its development process, you’ll sense disinterest; you might also face too many questions to make yourself question if it is worth everything. The point here is that you have to test it to know it! Every criticism you are going to get will forcefully make you think how you can make your idea better. You might get angry and frustrated, but you will receive benefits that you otherwise wouldn't if only your mind was at work with the idea. Your realization of this will make you be more open to criticism.

Out of box thinking!

One of the first stages of an accelerator is to ideate. I realized a good idea is when I cater to a need in a market that has not been satisfied yet and build a story around it. An idea never has to be defined by an “Aha!” moment; it can always be something well thought out and that is your first step to thinking differently. You learn from keynote speakers when they come to the point on how they thought of getting started but in the end you make your own story.

Learning Leadership:

When I first learnt business in high school the first definition of entrepreneurial was simply, “the ability to take risks,” and I stand by this definition till date. You grow into a leader the moment you decide to work on something and make the effort to make it happen. Your leadership abilities in an accelerator blossom because you learn various skills of being a great leader. The fact that you actually take an initiative is one of them; however, it goes more than that when you practice public speaking every time you practice a pitch or when you multitask as you juggle tasks from the validation to the prototyping stage of the idea. An accelerator makes you much more prepared in acting as an effective leader.

Exposure to Incredibly Powerful Resources:

After you meet an exciting pool of keynote speakers who you’ll spend sometime with, you will gain an exposure to various resources out there for you. The number of resources to foster overall productivity for businesses and entrepreneurs today is unbelievable. For example, I realized that if I need to make a website prototype, I have resources like SquareSpace or Strikingly to help with that. I realized the true purpose and value about tools like Evernote, and I realized the importance of organic marketing resources that are at my disposal through social media. These resources are great to know, but more importantly, understand in order to foster your own efficiency whether you decide to become an entrepreneur or not.

Strategic Reasoning:

If you get to know these resources it is great, but if you don’t know how to use them, there is no point. Networking and learning about experiences from fellow entrepreneurs made me understand the different ways I can strategically use these resources as opportunities to do better. For example, organic search on social media is completely free and it will help you test various methods you can build a brand before it is a brand! It is the best way to try something, fail, and not worry about an enormous loss.

Opportunities like these are surely ways to show some jazz on your resume, but you start to realize so many other ways they end up benefiting you. You might find your way to light the light bulb or you might just get find yourself, either way you’ll surely take back something influential through a venture accelerator.