I got into an incubator or accelerator. What do I actually do in the first two weeks to set it up right?
The short answer
Move fast on the boring stuff so you can spend the batch building. In week one: pick your one north-star metric, book standing office hours with the partners you most want, and introduce yourself to every batchmate (they become your most useful network for years). Get your data room and pitch skeleton started early so demo day is not a scramble. The founders who win a batch are the ones who show up on day one already knowing what they want out of it.
Go deeper, your way
3 hand-picked resources, 3 link-checked.
📄 Article
✓ Link checkedFreeBeginner
Why we picked it
This is the horse's-mouth map of how a batch actually runs, and it names the two levers you should grab in week one: your group partner (6 to 10 companies per section, group office hours every two weeks plus one-on-ones as often as you ask) and Bookface, where batchmates and alumni answer questions and make intros. Read it to know exactly whose office hours to book and why the founders in your section become your most useful network for years.
Why we picked it
Most YC content is about getting in; this piece is refreshingly about what to do once you are in, and it backs our whole answer. It quotes founders on walking in with concrete goals so you spend the batch on milestones not motion, launching fast, connecting with batchmates and alumni before you even arrive, and starting investor conversations early instead of waiting for Demo Day. That is your first-two-weeks playbook.
Why we picked it
Our answer says get your data room started early so Demo Day is not a scramble, and this is the concrete checklist to do it, written for founders raising in India and the GCC. It lays out all ten folders (company overview, cap table, traction metrics, financials, legal and compliance) with a pre-seed vs Series A split so you only build what your stage needs, plus which tools (Drive, Notion, DocSend, Carta) and view-only access to use.
