Maximizing a Mentor/Founder Relationship
Mentoring is a hot topic these days, particularly in the women in tech and virtual/augmented reality communities, and for good reason. For entrepreneurs specifically, running a start-up business is an emotional rollercoaster. Mentors can be a great way to build support and a new perspective for your business plan. Inc published a useful summary on why mentors are useful for founders.
In my personal experience, mentoring has been great an opportunity to enable smart, creative, innovative founders who are building interesting businesses to push the boundaries of what is possible. Some of these mentorships have transitioned into personal investing in the start-ups or participating in an official advisory role. In others, we didn’t take the relationship to the next level, but remain in touch through significant shifts in their strategies. In another post I’ll focus on some of these amazing companies including — Melodrive, Tribe, Story Up, Skritswap, Hatsumi, Binary Bubbles.
This post provides ten tips to a smoother, more valuable experience for both sides of the mentor relationship. Some of these tips are also valuable in finding the right mentor/founder match. Most importantly, once you have received the benefits from a mentor, pay it forward and mentor others!
In General
Agree on the terms. Do you expect the mentoring to last several months, a year, or ongoing? Will you meet weekly, monthly, quarterly? Is the mentor available during designated meetings only or also on email, text or slack? These are important questions to discuss as you begin the relationship. If the answers aren’t obvious, set a check in date to discuss how things are going.
Mutual level of respect. Recognize that each of you have different experiences that are valuable and that you both can (and will) learn from each other. Obviously it’s important that you both believe in the vision of the founder. Also consider the alignment of the personality characteristics. Some people are just not a match — that’s okay, but it is likely sign to find a new mentor/mentee. Many founders have multiple mentors/advisors that have different areas of expertise.
Be flexible on meeting location. Long distance mentorships can work! Often they are even more useful because your networks will be different. I do recommend meeting via video to establish the relationship, though phone calls can be useful when time is tight. If you do get a chance to meet in person (or in VR) the relationship usually becomes even closer.
For Founders
Prioritize and optimize time. Inevitably, you and your mentor both have busy schedules and a limited amount of time to connect. Before meeting, make a list of topic areas and prioritize the questions that are the most critical. Some programs, like Women in VR/AR and Chic Geek, have specific guidelines and goals for the mentorship. When you set a meeting, put it in your calendars and send follow up list of the top requests. It will maximize your time and enable easier follow-up.
Leverage your mentor’s connections. Mentors will have more experience in some areas than others and may not be able to answer all of your questions. That said, most mentors are quite connected and likely know someone that can help you get an answer — so don’t hesitate to ask.
It’s okay to follow-up. If they don’t respond at first, ask again. Most people have a lot an their plate and a second reminder will usually spur a response.
For Mentors
Make sure you have time to mentor. Mentoring can be such a fulfilling experience, but lives get busy- with work, family, other start-ups. If you offer to mentor a founder, make sure you have time to give them, and clearly communicate how much time you can spend with them (see the first tip above).
Listen. You’ve both made the time to meet, so focus on the conversation. If you have a relevant story, feel free to share it, but remember that the goal is to understand your founder’s needs and help them progress. Also, it is important to stay focused — spend most time on what they need to know now or on the overall strategy, but not on future decisions that they may never need to make.
Do what you say you are going to do. SO MANY mentors fail to follow up on their commitments. Don’t be that person. Just don’t. (Founders, see the points above about communicating actions and following up with mentors)
Be honest. I’m originally from Minnesota so I understand the desire to be nice. That said, in this case it is very important to be direct and open with the founders. Start-ups are in high growth mode and have the ability to make frequent changes — they need to hear your feedback so they can choose whether to act before getting to far down a particular path.
Mentoring is an important part of growing communities — particular for emerging technologies and underrepresented groups. Often a little bit of time from a mentor can make a huge difference to the founder. In the comments, let me know what actions you’ve found useful during your mentor/founder experiences. Good luck!
