Identify the primary topic and desired outcome for your mentor meeting
Now that you've identified areas where you would like mentorship and you've researched areas where your mentor brings a meaningful perspective, you can begin to look at where there is crossover between your needs and the mentor's experience. This will help you decide which topic or topics would be most relevant for you and your mentor to discuss.
In this case, you have a grouping of questions that center around the financial modeling for your startup. In your research, you've read several posts and tweets from your mentor on managing the financial aspects of an early-stage startup. You also know that, as the non-technical co-founder of several startups, that your mentor has experience in managing startup finances, from the earliest stages through growth stage. So, not only does your mentor understand the issues you're facing today, they understand issues that will arise in the future.
To refine the topic further, you choose to focus on: financial modeling. You've done some preliminary research. But you're unclear about what sort of financial model would be most beneficial. And you're not clear on what metrics that model should include. Given your mentor's experience, you'd like to have your mentor provide feedback on the appropriate financial model, relevant metrics, and advice on how best to use the tool to make decisions for your startup. In addition, you're hopeful that your mentor can help illuminate future opportunities and issues you may encounter.
Now that you have a topic, it's important that you clearly define exactly what you're hoping to get out of talking with this mentor. Is it basic advice? Is it insights on a particular topic? Is it validating or derailing a particular point of view? Is it helping you work through feedback you've received from others? Considering all of these aspects will help you define an appropriate scope and agenda for the first mentor meeting—and the meetings that are likely to follow.
Tip
Be thinking about “What does success look like at the end of this meeting?” If you're looking to achieve a specific outcome from this meeting, be explicit in defining that outcome. Make it tangible and clear.
If the work you're looking to do with the mentor is especially complex—like how to build an effective financial model for your startup—it may take several conversations to come to a definitive conclusion. That's absolutely fine. But it's better to understand the breadth of that scope at the beginning of the mentoring relationship so that you can create agendas that can be handled in a 30-minute meeting.
The first meeting could focus on validating your research, learning how the mentor built their startup, and seeking recommendations for financial models or metrics that helped them make decisions as a founder. Out of this conversation, you'll be able to generate a series of tasks that prepare you for your next meeting.
A second meeting could focus on a draft of your financial model. Sharing the work you've completed will give the mentor an opportunity to provide additional perspective on the model itself, the metrics you're tracking, and the projected financials the model reveals. It will also give the mentor an opportunity to question your assumptions. Your primary task from the second meeting could be incorporating the mentor's feedback, adjusting some of the numbers, and solidifying your responses to questions that the mentor has raised about your assumptions and their implications for the financial model.
This work leads you to a third meeting that could consist of reviewing your proposed financials, burn rate, and remaining runway to further interrogate your proposed path, ensuring that you've built the best model possible.
Pen and paper exercise: Select a few sticky notes—or a grouping of notes—that match your mentor's area(s) of expertise.
With this proposed objective, let's work to create an agenda that helps ensure the first meeting has the greatest chance of being a success.