Head of Accelerator and Operations at Synergies Work
The mortality rate for startups is stunning. All begin with high expectations but most fail.
In this 12-week program, you’ll learn how to go from ideas to commercially sustainable business.
You’ll learn a playbook that will help you see your customers and business more clearly. So that you can mitigate the #1 risk for startups.
Develop skills critical for long-term success.
You’ll supercharge your learning with weekly live group learning sessions; one-on-one coaching; collaborative support by peers; end of program Pitch Day; and more.
After: 3 months of one-on-one coaching.
You’ll experience a fast-moving hands-on program led by an entrepreneur who has done it himself – and is dedicated to coaching you in a positive, supportive environment.
Entrepreneurs with a deep desire to learn how to go from ideas to commercially sustainable business.
Founders who are pre-idea or idea-stage in their business; or who have an early-stage product or service.
Entrepreneurs who are coachable; who want to learn and master new concepts, actively participate during training sessions, and deliberately practice new skills between group training sessions.
Founders who are collaborative, who enjoy sharing their weekly progress, and learning from each other, in group learning sessions; and who want the program to showcase their business and breakthroughs publicly.
For founders who are committed and available to participate in an intensive and immersive 12-week program. And committed to taking massive action toward their goals.
-Entrepreneurs who are running businesses with significant customers and revenue, who primarily want to learn how to grow and scale their business.
–Non-profit organizations who primarily want to learn how to set up and administer a non-profit organization.
–People who don’t have time to devote to an intensive 12-week program.
10 weekly live Group Learning sessions via Zoom. Tuesdays 12 Noon - 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
One-on-one Coaching Sessions with experienced business leaders who have done it themselves.
Collaborative Learning and Support from peers.
Pitch Day to present your business and progress to a live audience.
Private Online Course Community of peers.
Course Certificate upon completion.
Ongoing Support after the program ends. We continue to help founders after the program - and so does the Synergies Work alumni community.
“It’s been my mission over two decades to develop and launch new businesses. And I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of people with ideas. Along the way, I’ve seen patterns. Patterns of success and patterns of failure. I’m going to teach you the tactics and strategies I’ve learned, so that you can mitigate new business risk, and build and launch your business.” — David Eckoff
David Eckoff specializes in building, launching and scaling industry-changing products and services in organizations from startup to Fortune 500.
He serves as Head of Accelerator and Operations at Synergies Work, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs with disabilities launch, grow and scale their businesses.
Previously, Eckoff was GM / Corporate Entrepreneur at EmployBridge, leading development of new businesses and products within the $3 billion company.
He served as Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the Comcast NBCUniversal “The Farm” startup accelerator and innovation hub. And he’s coached multiple cohorts at Georgia State University’s Main Street Startup Accelerator.
Eckoff has served in executive roles at Turner Broadcasting as Vice President New Products; at RealNetworks in Seattle, pioneering online sports broadcasting, music, movies and games; and at Rivals.com as Senior Vice President.
He’s co-founded two technology startups, leading small product teams tackling big problems. He led Pickoff Sports from inception to sale.
Eckoff has been retained as a strategic advisor to startups and established companies. He has advised companies including Kleiner Perkins backed Zazzle.com, live interactive broadcasting platform Ustream.TV (acquired by IBM), 3D Virtual World innovator Kaneva, Scientific Games, and more.
He started his first business at age 7, manufacturing and selling craft chocolate.
A recognized product innovation and customer discovery expert, David has guest lectured at the University of North Carolina, and at the University of Valparaíso in Chile.
Future cohorts (later in 2026) to be announced. Sign up to be notified when plans for future cohorts are announced.
Applications are closed for the current Spring/Summer 2026 cohort.
Future cohorts (later in 2026) to be announced. Sign up to be notified when plans for future cohorts are announced.
When to apply: Applications are closed for the current Spring/Summer 2026 cohort. Future cohorts (later in 2026) to be announced. Sign up to be notified when plans for future cohorts are announced.
If your application is promising, we will invite you to interview with us. Interviews by Zoom. We typically make admissions decisions on an ongoing basis until the cohort is full.
Between 10-15.
Small enough that we can give individual attention to each founder. And everyone in the program gets to know each other.
Large enough that there’s valuable real-life learning that happens as founders learn from each other during weekly founder updates.
This program has a multi-thousand dollar value. Candidates selected for the Igniting Ideas Business Accelerator will receive a full scholarship.
We expect founders to commit to working full-time on their business during the program and afterward.
This accelerator program is designed to compliment the work you do on your business. The work you do in the program is designed to help you work smarter and more effectively in your business.
In short: we’ve observed in previous cohorts that the more you put into the program, the more you’ll get out of it.
During the program, you should plan to attend and actively participate in:
– 10 weekly live Group Learning sessions, live via Zoom (approx 2 hours each session); conducted each Tuesday, 12 Noon – 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
– Experiential learning assignments between weekly Group Learning sessions, in which you apply new concepts learned to your business (approx 2-4 hours a week)
– Weekly Practice with Partners sessions, live via Zoom (approx 30 minutes a week, each Monday)
– Optional expert guest speaker sessions on specialty topics, via Zoom
– Pitch Day at end of program, live via Zoom
The Igniting Ideas Business Accelerator Pitch Day is an online event held at the end of the program. Founders who successfully complete the program will have an opportunity to pitch their business and showcase their progress to a live audience. The event will be open to the public and is designed to celebrate the founders in the program and their breakthroughs. Date to be announced.
Each Tuesday 12 Noon – 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Dates to be announced.
Full scholarships available to qualified participants, made possible by Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation.
In partnership with Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD)
Applications are closed for the current Spring/Summer 2026 cohort.
Future cohorts (later in 2026) to be announced. Sign up to be notified when plans for future cohorts are announced:
Learn More:
RSVP to attend an optional information session via Zoom. Meet David Eckoff, learn more about the program. And get your questions answered.
Information Session 1:
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Time: 11:30 AM Eastern Time
Register: RSVP online
– OR –
Information Session 2:
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Time: 11:30 AM Eastern Time
Register: RSVP online
Full scholarships available to qualified participants, made possible by Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation.
In partnership with Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD)
Applications are closed for the current Spring/Summer 2026 cohort.
Future cohorts (later in 2026) to be announced. Sign up to be notified when plans for future cohorts are announced:
Applications are closed for the current Spring/Summer 2026 cohort.
Future cohorts (later in 2026) to be announced. Sign up to be notified when plans for future cohorts are announced.
