The most important criteria we recommend looking for are around personality and attitude, more than the idea.

Commitment to the process, willingness to question ideas and adapt to feedback, and willingness to engage in the group support model are all important.

Usually, you can get a sense for the commitment level people have in pursuing their ideas in the way they describe their idea/business in the application. You might also want to call applicants after receiving their applications to check in on their expectations and see where they are, which is really valuable in understanding if they are a good fit.

If you expect a significant volume of applications, you may want to initially sort them based on your goals before even looking at details. For example, if you have goals for supporting 50% female founders, having an ethnicity breakdown that matches your wider community, or for example 50% below median income, then you could look through those applications first.

Another thing to consider is having a diverse group of ideas and businesses in each cohort. Diverse groups tend to get the most out of the program because they bring different perspectives and experiences to the group.