Introduction
As a founder building a startup, you'll have many opportunities to meet with mentors—former founders or individuals with extensive startup experience who volunteer their time to share insights and experience with startup founders. Insights from mentors can save you time, illuminate potential pitfalls, and help with decision making throughout the life of your company. That's why it benefits both you and your startup to build long-term relationships with trusted mentors.
Building a relationship with your mentor starts with the very first meeting. So how you run that first meeting with your prospective mentor could mean the difference between building an ongoing meaningful relationship with a trusted confidante or losing access to critical insights and experience to guide your startup journey.
With that in mind, let’s walk through the process of preparing for your first meeting with a new mentor to ensure that you start off this relationship on the right foot.
Scenario
Suppose you’re a startup founder who has the opportunity to meet with a mentor. This mentor will be able to provide critical insights on your role, your product, and your company. If the meeting goes well, the mentor could have the potential to be an ongoing resource for you.
You're especially interested in getting this mentor’s insights on building a financial model to help guide your decision making, but you're unsure about the critical elements of such a tool. You only have limited time with this mentor, so you want to make sure that you make the best use of the mentor’s time while getting the answers you need.