Working With Incubators
An incubator association is a standing arrangement to mentor an institution's startups on agreed commercial terms. The terms are set in the invitation, so read them before you accept.
What you will learn
- How an invitation reaches you and what it contains
- The payment models and who ends up paying
- What a retainer commits you to
- How to end an association
How it starts#
You do not apply. An incubator finds you in the mentor directory - which means you must be verified - and sends an invitation carrying the commercial terms it is proposing. It waits on your Incubators page until you accept or decline.
Verification is a prerequisite
Incubators can only invite verified mentors. If you are pending, you are not in their directory at all, and no amount of asking will surface you.
The payment models#
This is the part worth reading twice. The model decides who pays, and therefore what your incentive looks like.
| Model | Who pays | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Incubator pays | The incubator | Simplest - you are engaged by the institution at an agreed rate |
| Startup pays | The startup | The incubator introduces, the company pays your rate |
| Subsidised | Split | The incubator covers an agreed share, the startup pays the rest |
| Retainer | The incubator | A fixed amount for a fixed number of hours per period |
| Free | Nobody | Pro bono; usually a deliberate choice about access to deal flow |
A retainer is a commitment, not a floor
It buys a set number of hours per period. If the cohort does not use them you generally do not keep the difference, and if they overrun you are the one absorbing it. Be conservative about the hours you agree to.
Deciding#
- 1
Read the terms, not just the name
Payment model, agreed rate, and - for retainers - the amount and the hours. These are the whole substance of the arrangement.
- 2
Check the fit
An incubator whose cohorts are pre-idea when you are useful at Series A will generate sessions that go nowhere for both sides.
- 3
Accept or decline
Declining is not a black mark. A quick no is better than a slow yes you resent.
Once you are associated#
- The incubator's startups can book you under the agreed terms
- Those sessions appear in your normal Bookings list alongside everything else
- The incubator can send you announcements, which arrive under Announcements
- Sessions booked this way settle according to the association, not your list prices
Good to know
An association does not take over your calendar. Your availability still governs when anybody - cohort or otherwise - can book you.
Ending it#
Either side can end an association. Ending it stops new bookings under those terms; sessions already confirmed stand and should be honoured.
Yes. Associations are independent of each other, and nothing stops you holding several - as long as your availability can honestly support them.
Decline and say why. The invitation carries their proposal, not a fixed platform rate, and an incubator that wants you specifically will usually come back.
They are sessions like any other - they appear in your bookings, your stats and your reviews.
