“Two or three brawny Fellows in a Corner, with mere Ink and Elbow-grease, do more Harm than an Hundred systematical Divines with their sweaty Preaching.”
- Andrew Marvell (1672)
Elbow Grease is a hardworking accelerator by Gutter Capital. This is not a finishing school to teach you how to fundraise, this is where you come to build a business with people who've done it before. We embed with a small group of founders to recruit the team, deliver the product, close customers and otherwise do whatever it takes to build a company of consequence.
Small by design
10-15 teams
First-check
$300k
Follow-on opportunity
On location
10 weeks
Chinatown
NYC
Your Team
Partner
Mentor
Start
15 Sep
NOV 19
Graduation
Sponsors
About Elbow Grease
A different kind of accelerator, built for founders doing their life's work.
“We jumped at the opportunity to join Elbow Grease, not for the monetary aspect, but because Dan and James were some of the greatest operators that we knew from venture, who’ve actually executed on their businesses.”
Rohan Kumar
CEO of QUICKSECURE
MENTORS
A team that works for you
The Elbow Grease team is an experienced community of former founders who will work to understand your vision, and partner with you to turn it into a reality. You will work directly with Gutter partners Dan and James, and be matched 1:1 with a mentor who has either raised through Series B or navigated to a successful exit.
You will have access to the Gutter Capital bench of Operating Partners for help with recruiting, design, go-to-market, and more.
PAIRED
1 partner
1 MENTOR
Why Dan and James?
What it looks like when your investors roll up their sleeves.
How do I work with my mentor?
Founders who've been exactly where you are, here to help.
“Dan is our investor, but because he was once a founder, he has that founder mindset, and can really see things from our perspective and give us advice like he's in our shoes.”
Skylar Chen
CTO of JOYWORK
WORKSHOPS
A crash course in
pitching
company building
Attend workshops and office hours led by elite startup operators from the Gutter network, built to deliver immediate, practical value for early stage teams. Founders leave Elbow Grease with real results. Hire a lead engineer, launch a rebrand, close your first customers. If teams hit critical milestones, we often show up with a term sheet before you put together a deck. Building over pitching from day one.
WEEKLY
1 workshop
Product & Design
Before you have a team, a budget, or a roadmap, you have design decisions to make—and the ones you make early are the hardest to undo. This workshop covers how to build a product that real users actually want to use, from first principles. Led by Vince Li Vince is Operating Partner and Head of Design at Gutter Capital, where he works directly with portfolio founders to build exceptional product and brand experiences. He served as Head of Design at Managed by Q, then co-founded Opus Training in 2020, one of Gutter's earliest investments. At Opus, he designed a mobile-first product that achieved a 4.9 App Store rating for an audience that software has historically underserved. Earlier in his career, Vince was a Senior Product Designer at Moat, which was acquired by Oracle.
Vince Li
AI-First Engineering
Speed is the real advantage in the age of AI—and the teams winning are the ones collapsing the loop between shipping, feedback, and learning. This workshop covers what it actually means to build an AI-first engineering organization, and why engineering discipline matters more than ever. Led by Jeff Silver Jeff is the co-founder and CTO of Opus Training, a mobile-first platform that trains and develops deskless workers at scale. He built Opus's AI-first engineering team from the ground up, including a translation system that achieves 95–99% accuracy across 100+ languages and an AI Content Builder that runs 20x faster than legacy solutions. Before Opus, Jeff worked at Managed by Q as an Engineering Manager.
Jeff Silver
Co-Founder Dynamics
Most co-founder conflicts don't start with a disagreement, they start with a blind spot. This workshop uses evidence-based personality science to help founding teams understand their own triggers, map their partner's tendencies, and build the tools to prevent conflict before it compounds. Led by Josh Lavine Josh is the co-founder of The Enneagram School and has coached founders, investors, and executives at leading startups and venture capital firms since 2019, specializing in co-founder dynamics. Before coaching, he led Learning & Development at FoodKick, a 200-person startup, where he drove employee NPS from 28 into the 60s and cut annualized turnover from 165% to 45% through a redesign of the employee experience. He has also worked across the venture ecosystem with firms including Emergence Capital, Vine Ventures, Human Ventures, and Gutter Capital.
Josh Lavine
Mission, Vision, Values
Company values are only as good as what you do with them. This workshop covers how to define values that are specific enough to matter, and how to operationalize them across recruiting, performance management, and every decision your company makes. Led by Dan Teran Dan is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Gutter Capital. In 2014, he co-founded Managed by Q, the first platform for workplace teams, where he served as CEO through its acquisition by WeWork for $220M in 2019. Before Managed by Q, Dan was a partner at prehype, the NYC venture studio behind BarkBox, Public, and Ro. He has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, Crain's 40 Under 40, and Business Insider's Top 100 Seed Investors in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Dan Teran
Early Stage Marketing
Most early-stage founders treat marketing as something that comes after product-market fit. This workshop makes the case for starting with positioning — and shows how to build the channels you own before spending a dollar on advertising. Led by Sarah Quirk Sarah is a fractional marketing leader with deep experience building marketing functions at early-stage companies. She spent four years at Managed by Q, rising from Email Marketing Manager to Head of Marketing while navigating two business model pivots, a complete rebrand, and an acquisition. Most recently she served as VP of Marketing at Northstar, where she helped win clients including Snap, Zoom, 23andMe, and NerdWallet. She has served on the leadership teams of two successful startup exits.
Sarah Quirk
Founder-Led Sales
Sales is a founder's number one job — regardless of background, and for longer than most expect. This workshop covers how to build and own the sales motion yourself before making a hire, how to use rejection as signal, and what patterns in "no" teach you that "maybe" never will. Led by Chris Thompson Chris is the co-founder and CRO of Bikky, where he's built the company's revenue function from scratch and closed landmark deals with Bojangles' (800 locations), MOD Pizza (500+ locations), and Dave's Hot Chicken. He has deep expertise in enterprise sales, building early-stage revenue teams, and turning data insights into outcomes that customers will pay for. Before Bikky, Chris served as VP of Revenue at Managed by Q through its $220M acquisition by WeWork, and spent years in sales leadership at SinglePlatform.
Chris Thompson
Risk & Decision-Making
Every decision a founder makes is a bet. This workshop draws on James's background as a professional gambler and early-stage investor to help founders think more clearly about risk, calibrate conviction, and make decisions under uncertainty without freezing Led by James Gettinger James is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Gutter Capital, with one of the more unusual backgrounds in venture. He holds a master's degree in Computer Science focused on AI, co-founded and served as CTO of a vertical SaaS company, and spent nearly a decade as a professional gambler, building proprietary software and systems that made him one of the biggest winners on DraftKings and FanDuel before retiring in 2020. He has invested in more than 100 early-stage companies as an angel investor.
James Gettinger
Day 1 Recruiting
Hiring is the highest-leverage decision an early-stage founder makes, and most get it wrong. This workshop covers how to build a rigorous hiring process, evaluate candidates before you extend an offer, and retain the people you bring on. Led by Richard Hughes Richard is Operating Partner and Head of Talent at Gutter Capital, where he has helped hire more than 100 engineers, designers, sellers, and marketers across the portfolio. His hiring systems consistently achieve 80% retention at 18 months, well above the industry standard. Before Gutter, Richard built recruiting and talent functions at Zocdoc, Managed by Q, and Primary Venture Partners. Richard also founded Ecotone Search, a retained search firm focused on early-stage companies.
Richard Hughes
Counsel in Residence
Legal isn't a workshop, it's a resource. Elbow Grease founders have direct access to Agatha Kluk, Partner at Orrick, who serves as in-house counsel throughout the program and is available to meet one-on-one as questions arise. Agatha Kluk is a Partner at Orrick in the Technology Companies Group, where she advises founders and growth-stage companies from formation and first capital through exit. She brings firsthand entrepreneurial experience to her practice. She founded her own firm, built it into a 12-lawyer boutique, and led its combination with Perkins Coie before joining Orrick. Her clients have included Goop, Better.com, and Drink Ghia, along with Gutter Capital and portfolio companies such as Forerunner. With experience across fintech, consumer, and AI industries, she's represented founders through dozens of exits and major rounds with Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz—giving her a unique vantage point on what actually works.
Agatha Kluk
How much support do I get?
A network that is tactical, hands-on, and there when it counts.
What can I expect to achieve?
Not a pitch deck. Real, measurable results in 10 weeks.
"Coming here, you have people that are experts in their fields, that are immediately extensions of your team, that are able to help you with all the different facets of starting an early stage company."
Blake Robertson
CEO of KEEPER SYSTEMS
SPEAKERS
Off-the-record conversations with industry insiders
Every week closes with a private, candid conversation with a technology leader in Gutter’s network. Hear the real stories of building fast-growing businesses from the perspectives of founders, operators, and investors and expand your network to industry luminaries in an intimate setting.
FIRESIDE chats
FOUNDERS ONLY
GUTTER HQ
10 weeks in the heart of NYC
Elbow Grease founders join the Gutter community at the center of New York City's thriving tech scene. You will work alongside 80+ founders and operators at Gutter HQ on Canal Street in Chinatown. You can expect the unexpected at Elbow Grease, from after hours access to New York's storied cultural institutions to a private tour of City Hall. After 10 weeks of Elbow Grease, you'll feel like a New Yorker for life.
Start
15 Sep
NOV 19
GRADUATION
Why build in New York City?
Everything the office and city have to offer new companies.
"When I hired our first engineer, I told him, drop what you're doing. You have to move to New York. You have to come join this program with me, because it is something special to be around all these other startups that are building the future."
Taylor Sandusky
CEO of PUNCH
ABOUT GUTTER
Backing exceptional founders tackling tough problems
Elbow Grease is an accelerator by Gutter Capital. Gutter Capital was founded in 2021 to help mission-driven founders build companies of consequence. We are small by design. We make a few investments each year to give us the time and space to work closely with founders.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who should apply?
We invite any founding team to apply, so long as you’ve found a problem worth devoting your career to solving.
How much do you invest?
We will invest $300,000 on a post-money YC SAFE.
What are the terms of your investment?
Our standard terms are $300,000 invested for 9% ownership.
Do you charge fees or take additional equity?
No.
Do I need to have a co-founder to apply?
No. We are open to solo founders, and in some cases can help you to recruit a co-founder if that is what you are looking for.
Can I apply if I’ve already raised capital?
Yes. Anyone is welcome to apply, however we are unlikely to seriously consider companies that have raised and burned more than $2M.
How many companies will you select?
We are aiming to select 10 to 15 companies, depending on applicant quality.
Who will I work with on your team?
You will work with the full Gutter Capital team. Each Elbow Grease company will be matched with a successful founder mentor, one Gutter partner (Dan or James), and receive ongoing support from Richard (Talent) and Vince (Design) as needed.
Do I need to be in New York City to apply?
No, however you do need to work out of the office in NYC at least 5 days a week during the program. If you have a special circumstance we are happy to discuss.
What are the program dates?
We plan to kick-off September 15, 2026. The program will last for 10 weeks in NYC, but Elbow Grease companies are welcome to continue working at Gutter HQ for as long as they like. We hope you’ll stay!
Do you provide housing?
No. The investment is meant to fund salaries and relocation costs, among other things.
What is the time commitment?
Founders should expect to be working on their startups a minimum of 60 hours a week during the program, because that is what it takes to succeed in our experience. We intend to keep Elbow Grease programming light but impactful, and should not take up more than 4 hours per week.
Do you fund competitive companies?
No. We will not fund companies that are competitive at the time we invest. We cannot control what happens once a company is funded, so it is possible that companies will pivot to operate in adjacent or competitive spaces.
Do you provide follow-on capital after the accelerator?
Yes. Our goal is for you to be successful enough at Elbow Grease to warrant a pre-seed investment from Gutter Capital of $1–2M. We will work closely with you to determine the milestones needed to warrant further investment.
PRESS
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