The Right Way to Be a Mentor. 5 Reasons a Startup Mentor Need Not Be Your Friend. Published Oct 05, 2012 Friends tell you what you want to hear.
Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. You always need the friend. 5 Key Tips for Engaging a Startup Mentor. A business mentor has more entrepreneurial and domain expertise than you and can help in improving productivity, streamlining marketing initiatives, build better business relationships and in retaining key human capital for your Startup.
Read ‘Importance of Business Mentoring’ to understand the relevance of a mentor. Finding the ‘right’ mentor is not always easy and requires some research and hard work to get the best fit for the founders and the Startup. Here are five tips on finding and choosing a mentor for your Startup. Ask around for recommendations from your past & present colleagues, contractors, accountant, lawyer, and among your professional friends.
The startups that I have mentored have all come through such recommendations.Mentors have a variety of expertise. All the best for your search! Pitching to Angel Investors - Part 1. Over the next couple weeks I'll have multiple posts on this topic since it's a popular one amongst Entrepreneurs.
I'm not quite sure where to start with "Pitching to Angel Investors" so I'll just dive in... To be blunt, a large percentage of people I speak with have ZERO chance of raising money from investors. There are dozens if not hundreds of reasons why this is true but one big reason is the lack of any possible and substantial return of capital for the investor (99% of Angel Investors want to make money, they are not Philanthropists in this aspect of their lives).
Raising money from Angel Investors is hard and can take a long time. Angel Investors are usually successful entrepreneurs or business executives with very high standards for excellence. Ask yourself: Why are you different? Remember: Ideas are common, great execution is rare. The point I'm trying to make is that you need to examine your startup's business model and the future growth potential. How To Find a Great Startup Mentor. If you're an early-stage entrepreneur and this is your first startup company, you are not alone.
Thousands are toiling over code in the hopes that their product will gain users and revenue. The problem with being someone who can build a great product is that you might know more about your core technology then you do about the business of startups. In the past few weeks ReadWriteWeb has covered emerging tech hubs in Israel, Austin and Boulder and the common thread amongst them is that each community encourages mentorship. Today we're looking at what you need to know to find a great mentor. Says Union Square Ventures VC Fred Wilson in a recent blog post, "The young entrepreneurs who are starting companies for the first time are best served by seeking out and getting experienced serial entrepreneurs as angel investors, board members, and mentors. In a perfect world, launching a successful product would simply equate to building something phenomenal.
HackFwd. Aaron Greenspan. Great Mentors Get Out of the Office - Bill Russell and Nancy Altobello. By Bill Russell and Nancy Altobello | 8:00 AM September 7, 2012 Without the mentoring of my high school coach, I (Bill) would have never been able to achieve the success I did.
I was cut from the junior varsity basketball team. The varsity coach took me to the Boys and Girls Club, paid the $2 membership and told me if I practice every day he would put me on the varsity team. His belief in me made me realize I had the potential to be successful. We went on to win three straight state championships. Research increasingly confirms how critical it is for young people to have caring mentors. Similarly, youth mentoring can also be rewarding to your career. At my (Nancy’s) company Ernst & Young, we have been recognized as a leading learning organization, not only because we focus on mentoring in-house for professional development, but also because we encourage our employees to volunteer outside the office.
The Unwritten Secrets for Choosing a Startup Mentor. Every first-time entrepreneur, or even an experienced founder stepping into a new business area, needs a mentor.
Nothing you have ever done raises so many questions, or has the potential to be so fulfilling, or so risky, as starting a new business for the first time. A mentor is a confidant who has been there and done that, and is willing to guide your steps. In case you think mentors are only for “wimps,” you should know that most great entrepreneurs are quick to give credit to their mentors.
Bill Gates always revered the early guidance he received from Dr. Ed Roberts, creator of the Altair 8800.