“The biggest benefit an accelerator or an investor can bring to the table should be experience and expertise to help your company grow.”
This is spot on. I just finished DreamIt in Philly, and the expertise from the partners and mentors was truly the best value.
One thing you didn’t touch upon here is that with a 1% acceptance rate, the other teams you are with for 3 months are extremely smart and driven people. They end up helping you a ton as well. While I consider myself a great programmer from previous startup and freelancing experience, I went to a state school. Many of these people went to Wharton, HBS, Princeton, Brown, etc. Being immersed with them for 3 months was almost as great as working with the entrepreneurial geniuses who started and ran DreamIt.
Its the mentors, partners, and other team members coaching you and helping you establish your business identity and pitch that makes 6% trivial to give up for companies at the right stage for it, like in our case.