Hot answers tagged mentor
10
(Disclaimer: helping companies create a board of advisors is part of what I do for a living.)
First of all, congratulations on recognizing the value of establishing a board of advisors -- many entrepreneurs give little thought to this incredibly valuable resource.
Next, allow me to respectfully demur as to some of the other comments by saying that an ideal ...
10
Peldi from Balsamiq Mockups built a nice board of advisors. He explained how he did it (even with the actual email template) and how it's working out for him in this interview with him.
To directly answer, usually they'll be in your network, because "advising" is a significant time investment and strangers are unlikely to want to do that.
Aiming high is ...
9
Everyone needs input on their startup from time to time. It's really hard especially if you are working by yourself or carrying the majority of the responsibility.
There are a number of things you can do to get good advice:
Find a mentor (or several of them) that are happy for you to take them out for lunch from time to time and who can listen to you and ...
5
This comes from Brad Feld, one of the founders of TechStars:
There are three ways to find a mentor:
1) Go to events and talk to people
2) Use your network
3) Talk to potential customers and find one who is very interested in your product.
But remember that finding a mentor is like dating: you can't just go out once and ask the person to "marry" you. You've ...
4
What I think I'm seeing emerge here are two schools of thought. There's the "Jason/Balsamiq school," which favors a very informal advisory board comprised primarily of people you already know and admire. Then there's the "Scott/Warrick school," which favors a more formal organization, assembled from industry veterans with specific connections or skills ...
3
Mentors definitely make sense.
One of the strategies that people who are really good at using mentors have is to:
Identify which specific skill they need mentoring in
Find someone who is excellent in that area
Find out specifically what that person does to be excellent
Try out the mentor's strategy in their own situation
Make any modifications or adaption ...
3
I am a combination of interim CFO and mentor / advisor for a bunch of web startups. I have to say that the big names are useless. As an entrepreneur you want someone who is plugged in and gets it, but is not so high profile that they have no time or attention for you. It's tough to find that right person or people. Look for great mentorship potential in your ...
3
Interesting question. My mentor dream team would consist of:
Fred Wilson: I really enjoy the spaces he works in and his years of experience in this industry would be invaluable.
Seth Godin: I am a huge fan of his and who would be better to help create a purple cow.
Ron Conway: Another person that I really respect. Access to his rolodex would possibly be ...
3
Find a professional/business mentor.
Start with a small group of potential mentors. Ask 3-4 different seasoned business professionals that you know if you can take them out to lunch once a month to talk shop (this means a weekly lunch meeting for you). The goal is to land one solid long term mentor relationship out of this group. If you don't find a mentor ...
2
Chris Sacca, Ron Conway, Jason Calacanis, Tony Hsieh, Jeff Bezos.
Those guys can put a product into orbit and open all the doors you need down the road. Though I chose this list because of each of their track records and expertise. 3 of them have companies and solid track records in my space and two of them could be great CEO coaches and help in the vision ...
2
Without naming specific people some thoughts...
The bigger the name, the more likely the person will be way too busy to be a good mentor. When I asked the question to another entrepreneur, I was advised to work with multiple people and choose those that work the best for you/your company.
The other part here is in not just choosing a good generic mentor, ...
2
This perhaps is off the path of this question but "Reality Check" by Guy Kawasaki is excellent. It covers many, many aspects of a start up from fundraising to marketing to engineering to a lot more. I've been doing startups for a lot of years but this book is like a mentor to me.
In addition, I'd recommend building your network via Linkedin. Tap into that ...
2
You can often find mentors through various government organizations, such as the local commerce office. You can use a service such as SCORE to locate tons of excellent business resources. Or you can just use your network to find someone.
In answer to your question about defining your entity, it's [almost] irrelevant. You should be thinking more about how ...
2
Have they reached the level I want to get to?
Does their communications style match mine?
Is their expertise of high value to me?
Can he/she benefit from my knowledge? <-- This one is very important for long-term relationship.
Now I have deeper criteria, depending on my specific needs, but those four questions serve as my baseline.
How do I initiate ...
2
If you're at all worried this person is going to "run away with your idea," you don't trust them enough to be a mentor either.
If you get even a small amount of traction, 100s of other entrepreneurs and competitors will see what you're doing well enough to copy it anyway.
Yes it makes sense to have a mentor even if online and not present, assuming the ...
2
A sales coach helps your sales technique, but right now the main problem isn't technique, it's that the product is new, there's no data to support it, there's probably lots of issues with implementation (that you won't uncover until a few people are using it), etc..
If you just want to brainstorm about ways to sell, how to sell, etc., you could use a ...
2
No, don't pay any coach. If you think the product is salable, offer commission to an experienced sales person. However, before you do that, I'd say you need to figure out how to sell this product yourself. Give it a whirl yourself, make mistakes, learn from them. It'll save you a lot of money in a long run.
2
SCORE is great as noted. You might want to check in with your local SBA office (www.sba.gov) as they may be able to connect you with a local mentor.
Angel Investors. Identify angel investor groups in your area (you can check out my posts on this subject if you're interested http://unchained-entrepreneur.com/new-rules-of-angel-investing/). Then look at ...
2
You can pay for a business coach or mentor, who will charge you by the hour. Alternatively, you can go to various business advising sites (shameless plug here - my site does exactly this - you can find a link on my profile page) which give general advice, but it won't be tailored to your particular situation.
Depending where you are located, there may be ...
2
It depends. On the whole you're right mentors are busy people. On the other hand, one of the inclinations of Entrepreneurs who are successful is to help other entrepreneurs. For instance, a couple of months ago I saw Mitch Kapor not only sit on a panel and answer questions, but stay afterwards and answer questions from tens of people.
And the answers or ...
2
Don't just look for "mentors". Actually, look for mentors after peers.
One of the greatest (and easier) things I've ever done is establish a small group of like peers that meets regularly once a month, with the expressed purpose of experience sharing. Find up to 7-9 people in a company of similar size and age, but not necessarily in the same industry or ...
1
I am reposting something I wrote in answer to another question on finding mentors here:
Mentors definitely make sense.
One of the strategies that people who are really good at using mentors have is to:
Identify which specific skill they need mentoring in
Find someone who is excellent in that area
Find out specifically what that person does to be ...
1
This is a little self promoting since I participated in 2010, but you should look into MassChallenge 2011. They're launching a new site in the next few weeks which will explain the competition more.
If you're accepted as a finalist, you recruit 1-3 mentors (in the Boston area and beyond) to help you during a 3-month accelerator phase. We worked with some ...
1
I know that David Vasallo of Market Informer in Australia has been through a similar journey to the one you are on. He expanded his advisory business and has since contracted it again. I only know him as a client, so couldn't give you an introduction but I have talked to him personally and found he was willing to answer questions I had about trading.
You ...
1
I recently answered a similar question on this forum here:
In brief:
One of the strategies that people who are really good at using mentors have is to:
Identify which specific skill they need mentoring in
Find someone who is excellent in that area
Find out specifically what that person does to be excellent
Try out the mentor's strategy in their own ...
1
I picked up an interesting strategy from another entrepreneur.
Find a business person who's the kind of person you want to be. Find out who their mentor was, and contact them. You may have to be persistent, or comply with demanding conditions, but it should be worth it.
I haven't tried it, but it worked extremely well for her, and the process makes sense ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
