World Class Mentors For Scalable Startups
BetaBlox is one of the largest business incubators in the world.
Entrepreneurs that go through our program are statistically twice as likely to stay in business as those who don’t.
Our secret sauce is threefold:
(1) We pair our startups with thriving entrepreneurs only several years farther than them to be their mentors. Regular consultants hail from corporations who suck at helping startups. Or they’re some sort of government funded manager of an “incubator” or free help center that has never started a company before.
(2) We’re not free. Free equals crap. Never take startup advice from people who don’t charge. BUT, for this particular service we charge 5% equity. This mutually aligns our team with that of the founding team, and motivates us in a way upfront cash never could.
(3) We provide a series of assets that provide each startup with the educational foundation we wish we had when we were all starting. Our methodology deviates from what is being taught in schools and business books. It’s written and produced by people who started companies from nothing, with little-to-no resources. Just like you.
Alumni Community
1-on-1 Coaching
Preferred Vendors
Classes
Press & Promotion Opportunities
Appointed Mentors
Legal Foundation
AlphaBlox
Access To Investors
Startup Culture
“What I’ve gotten has been so far beyond what I was seeking.”
Raina Knox
Stratex / B2B Services & Technology
“The accountability, assistance, and support gained from fellow Bloxers is priceless.”
Patrick Delehanty
Delco / Product Manufacturing
“With their advisement and consultation, we have been able to grow from just an idea to a full rapidly growing technology company in a short amount of time.”
Mike Collier
Weather Battle / B2C Mobile Software
As Seen In
"A Mini Business Empire"
-Money.com
%
Average annual revenue growth rates for our portfolio companies since 2012
Number of applications received for our program
Community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Attendees at our investment showcases
%
Survival Rate of our startups (SBA definition of making it to at least year three)
What is BetaBlox?
We keep roughly 30 mentors/investors in our bullpen at all time. Here are examples of some of the mentors our startups are paired with.
Michael Tate
Michael a co-founder of ICT, which offers technology solutions for lightweight, pressurized gas storage and high-performance composite structures within the aerospace, oil & gas, and transport industries. He’s an Entrepreneur in Residence at SURGE Ventures, a startup accelerator in Houston, and is on the Cultivate918 Steering committee. He’s been awarded grants from OCAST/ Oklahoma Applied Research Support Grant, the National Science Foundation STTR; NCIIA Advanced E-Team, and the state of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Generating Excellence (EDGE) Innovative Ideas Program.
Dr.Raina Knox
Dr. Raina is an inquisitive, energetic executive combining rigorous systems focus and organizational improvement approaches through problem solving and technology. Obsessed with all things planning: long and short term plan development and execution, developing and implementing measurement systems, facilitating change throughout the organization, and improving leadership effectiveness. She is the Founder and CEO of Stratex Solutions, THE solution to the problem of strategic planning failure. She is tied with Justin as the first alumni of BetaBlox to then turn into a team member.
Michael Noshay
Mike is the Co-Founder of Verinovum, a health information technology provider focused on reimagining clinical and social data interoperability. Verinovum provides the technical foundation for health information exchange, community-wide care coordination, and a robust decision support platform to enable care quality improvement in the face of overwhelming data availability.
Simon Quo
Simon has proven himself as a successful businessman in both small and early-stage companies, as well as in executive positions for a Kansas City-based Fortune 100 company. As an active startup investor Simon helps BetaBlox founders prep for future relationships with other KC angel investors.
NTuna Ekuri
Ntuna is the co-founder of Hire.360, which is a B2B SaaS company that creates hiring technology for people who don’t have a recruiter background. We automate the entire recruitment process, allowing users to input a job description and get matched to local, relevant candidates that they can call within a matter seconds. Throughout his career he has been a technical recruiter, marketing consultant, brand strategist and IT business analyst.
Dixie Agostino
Dixie is the Owner and Founder of Switchgear Search and Recruiting firm. It was born out of the idea that they can create a better world by helping to create better places to work! They’re experts in human resources, placement, and hiring. In 2014 she was named as the 387th fastest growing female-led companies in America by Inc.
What do you mean when you say, you’ll increase my startup’s valuation?
To answer this questions we’re going to oversimplify some very complicated topics: startup valuation, equity, liquidations, etc.
Let's pretend you go on this journey alone...
and you build a five million dollar business. Great! And then one day someone comes along and buys your business for that five million dollars, allowing you to retire. You just made five million dollars!
Let's compare that to what could have happened if you had co-founders like us on your team...
Right from the start we would infuse strategies into your company that take A LONG time to start working, but eventually they’ll make your business more valuable. We’ll help you implement things that make you more replicable and scalable so you can tackle more ground. In essence, we’ll help you go much bigger, safer, and with realistic and patient steps. When implemented correctly, your business will be valued significantly higher. Let’s pretend that number is twenty million dollars.
In this oversimplified and hypothetical situation...
when that acquisition happens, you’d owe us one million dollars. Ouch! BUT, without us you’d only have that five million dollars – and instead you now have $19,000,000. Ever heard it’s better to own part of a watermelon than an entire grape? This is what they mean…
“BetaBlox is not an easy program and the feedback we get is honest with no sugar coating. But for those who are serious and committed for the long haul, BetaBlox absolutely pays off.”
John Harrison
Filimin / Technology Hardware [ACQUIRED]
“What I love most about Betablox is the knowledge and wisdom you gain from your mentors.”
Nathan Corn
FlexPro Meals / Food Entrepreneur
“The mentors helped me set a course that was aggressive but very strategic, and the community of other entrepreneurs helped inspire and push me to keep going, even when things were really hard.”
Justin Prestidge
Custom Trailer Pros / B2B Manufacturing
Frequently Asked Questions About The Program
Gimme the gist of the program...
The first portion of the program is largely virtual education. You can get through it in a couple weeks if you’re really hustling. This is done virtually and thus can be done at your own pace.
You’ll then be paired with one of our early-stage, phase one experts. How do we get your startup pointed in the right direction with whatever resources and time we have available? To be honest, they’re dream killers (for now). They’re not going to help you raise several million dollars and build your baby from a lush office that would make Google blush. They’re going to ask the hard questions that will demand action from you regardless of circumstances. Their job is to strangle whatever last semblance of wantrapreneur perfectionist out of your body so the only thing left is an action-oriented entrepreneur. This process could last anywhere from 3-to-12 months dependent upon your speed. Although this sounds bleak, this is the difference between us an other things ‘like us’. We’re only paid when you become uber successful; thus we don’t have time to ‘play entrepreneur’. No stickers and t-shirts. No business plans. No networking events. Little planning. No reports. Build, promote, tweak – repeat. Forever. Deviate from that course. and our team will professionally set you straight.
You’ll THEN be paired with growth-stage mentors who will take your proven foundation and help you scale. This mentorship is a lot more like one would assume startup consultation is like. Still gritty. Still realistic. But a little more on fundraising, team building, next-level technology, etc. Your meetings with them will be regular and scheduled months ahead of time.
The goal of these three phases is to act like a co-founder that wants zero power or credit. We want to mirror the advice that you need, at the right time which is why we have different people and tools for each stage. As you get bigger, we shed our skin and grow a new layer of protection.
What is the cost?
5% equity ownership.
Our goal is that the BetaBlox platform will increase the likelihood that you grow big and fast; at which point one-of-three things will happen. Either (a) you’ll be acquired by a larger company for hopefully a large amount of money, (b) you’ll go public, (c) you’ll start paying dividends. Only once any of these three things happen will we take our 5%. In other words, we won’t ever charge you a dollar until you become successful; if you are unsuccessful at accomplishing any of these feats we won’t charge anything. We’ve been referred to as “success insurance”. This pricing model ultimately puts our money where our mouth is. It’s like we’re personal trainers that don’t charge you until you have abs.
A quick note on these three hopeful options: we don’t require any sort of power or voting rights. This means it’s your decision when/if you are acquired; when/if you go public; when/if you distribute dividends. We want you to grow a healthy and happy business. We’re patient, and we know that the chips will fall into place if we help you build a great company.
Why equity?
It mutually aligns both sides of the partnership towards long-term success and allows start-ups to acquire expensive services with no capital. If you fail, we fail. When you succeed, our percentage is far smaller than what an angel or venture capitalist typically seeks.
We are the first to admit that paying in equity is not for everyone. This is why we have The Blox: a free app with countless hours of advice and tools; AlphaBlox: for getting the education and mentorship you require; and BuildingBlox: for acquiring the services you need to build your company. These things are priced more traditionally. But for some startups finding long-term partners with skin-in-the-game is exactly what they need. If this is you, we look forward to hearing from you.
What exactly do you mean by equity?
Equity refers to the true, all-encompassing ownership of your business and its assets. This does not mean salary, revenue, or profit. We want to help businesses that reinvest the revenue they generate towards further growth. When this occurs, the equity partners’ share of profits is continually reinvested into the growth and proportionate value of the business itself. The end result is that equity partners (like ourselves) will traditionally only take a share of your incoming cash flow at liquidation periods. The average successfully liquidated business won’t reach this point until after year six and a half. Examples of liquidation events would be an IPO or acquisition (such as AT&T purchasing your business outright). To sum all of this up, we won’t collect a single cent until you reach extremely rare, long-term milestones, at which point we only take 5%.
What types of things do you look for in an aspiring BetaBlox startup?
We are looking for scalable startups with grand visions (within reason). This typically means they have a path towards selling nationally. We’re not looking to help the next coffee shop or day care center (although we love those; we have other services for them).
We love technology.
We love food companies.
We love e-commerce.
We LOVE companies in boring industries.
We LOVE weird companies.
What stage of business should I be in?
There is no stage that you are required to be in. Diversifying the businesses we choose (through industry and stage) is in our best interest. We target “start-up” companies, which traditionally means companies within their first year or two—perhaps even pre-revenue. In other words, we actively take on companies that see themselves fitting into our environment during any stage of their business. BetaBlox is designed to serve true start-ups, as well as high-growth oriented private businesses.
We always have and always will take on the occasional pre-revenue company. BUT, traction separates you from the pack. And the pack is large. What is traction and how do you get it? This is the basis for AlphaBlox.
Does it matter where I live? Where is BetaBlox located?
Honestly, it doesn’t and shouldn’t matter. We are a virtual accelerator. All of our services are provided digitally and over video/phone conferencing. The mentors/investors whom run the program live all over. Our job is to transfer our knowledge and experience to you; contrary to popular belief this doesn’t need to be done in-person.
That said, we have formal offices in Kansas City and Tulsa. KC is where we were founded, and Tulsa is where our anchor VC financiers reside.
Do you have any success stories?
We’ve successfully raised capital, created many jobs, liquidated out of more than a handful of companies, and most importantly watched some of our startups turn into the fastest growing (by revenue) startups in the Midwest.
Learn more about some of our success stories here.
Apply Now
Apply Now
Frequently Asked Questions About The Application Process
Is there an application fee?
Applying is free. But the program itself costs 5% equity if you get in.
This doesn't feel like a lot of information?
It’s not. It helps us start the process.
Why should I apply as soon as possible?
It’s free to apply and obviously will only take a couple minutes (look how little info we ask for). But, if you’re even remotely working on something we’re interested in, an in-house recruiter will reach out and ask for more information. That information or phone call will help point you in the right direction of things that we might need from you before you apply. So instead of you saying to yourself, “hmmm I think I’ll be ready in 9 months after I accomplish A, B, & C”….our recruiter might say….”please concentrate on X & Y and you’ll be ready in 3 months”. We also might immediately tell you that your stye of business doesn’t work for BetaBlox at all, and never will – but you’re perfect for The Blox (or vice-versa). Don’t assume you understand our investment and recruiting process.
Will this get me on The Blox TV show?
No. The Blox is our docuseries. To apply for it, go here. This contact form will apply you for BetaBlox, our flagship accelerator. We might point you to do both. But please only apply to the programs in which you’ve researched and feel like you qualify for.
Is there a deadline?
For ten years we had 4 deadlines a year; one for each season. Now we’re doing rolling admittance. That said, we strongly encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
What is the next step after I apply?
Keep researching us. Read our website. Watch our show. Utilize the free features on our app. But in general, have patience. We received 5,000 applications last year, and process about 1,000 physical interviews annually.