What’s the real value of a startup accelerator - and how do you get in as a student or teen founder?

In this episode, Remus shares how he and his co-founders joined a startup program at just 17 years old, built a cybersecurity startup from scratch, and landed a €150,000 investment. From business mindset shifts to learning the hard way why user interviews matter, this is a raw and insightful story for early-stage founders.

🔑 Key Topics
🔹 What startup accelerators really offer (besides money)
🔹 How to prepare and get accepted - even as a student
🔹 Why a strong team beats a "genius idea"
🔹 What they did with €150K in funding
🔹 Customer interviews: what they got wrong and how they fixed it
🔹 Learning to prioritize business outcomes over technical perfection
🔹 How to talk to users without selling
🔹 Why it’s better to ship an imperfect product than wait too long

📚 Books Referenced in the episode:

The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick

👉 A practical guide on how to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea - when everyone is lying to you.

Start With Why by Simon Sinek
👉 A bestselling book about the power of purpose in business and how successful leaders inspire action by starting with the “why.”

The One Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan
👉 A productivity and focus book that teaches how to prioritize what really matters and avoid being overwhelmed by too many tasks.

📢 Get in touch with Remus or check the product:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/remus-rughinis-3ab35a2a1

https://pendra.ai

#StartupJourney #StartupAccelerator #InnovationLabs #StartupMindset #TeenEntrepreneurs

Two startup accelerators in Romania:

https://www.innovationlabs.ro/

https://www.howtoweb.co/

We are online: ➧ Website - https://masterful.info (get a marketing checklist at no cost) ➧ Podcast - https://podcast.masterful.info/ ➧ LinkedIn of Will (Host) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilhelmlaubach ➧ LinkedIn of Chris (Host) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruehringer/ ➧ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/masterful.info ➧ Email - wl.interwebs@gmail.com

Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 00:20 Founding a Startup 01:01 The Innovation Labs Experience 01:41 Winning the Prize 03:33 Building Connections in Cybersecurity 04:20 Investment and Equity Distribution 07:23 The Importance of a Strong Team 08:58 Adapting and Evolving the Business Idea 12:42 Challenges of Being Young Entrepreneurs 14:06 Balancing Technical and Business Roles 15:39 Developing a Business Mindset 22:32 Validating Your Startup Idea 24:07 Customer Interviews: The Right Approach 26:33 Learning from Mistakes 28:31 Connecting with the Target Audience 31:47 The Reality of Entrepreneurship 32:42 Final Advice for Entrepreneurs