an accelerator calendar is useful when it makes the user result
A field note on using accelerator deadlines to force clearer product evidence and user results at every milestone.
An accelerator calendar earns its value when every deadline forces a clearer product question: what changed for the user before the next milestone? Ambition gets you onto the calendar, while evidence gets you through it.
what should every accelerator deadline force us to ask?
Every deadline should force a product question: what changed for the user before the next milestone? The calendar becomes useful when it makes the user result clearer.
That question keeps each milestone tied to movement in the product and the experience of the people using it.
what gets a product onto the calendar in the first place?
Ambition gets a product onto the calendar. A strong idea can create momentum and earn a place in the process.
The calendar gives that ambition a sequence of milestones where progress has to become visible.
what actually gets a product through the calendar?
Evidence gets a product through the calendar. Each deadline should leave a clearer answer about what changed for the user.
That standard may feel too strict, yet it keeps the focus on user results instead of calendar activity.
How should an accelerator calendar be used?
Use each deadline to ask what changed for the user before the next milestone. The calendar is useful when it makes the result clearer.
What matters more than ambition in an accelerator?
Ambition gets you onto the calendar. Evidence gets you through it, because each milestone needs a clearer connection to user results.