Make use of mentors
The term mentor can refer to many different types of relationships. In startups, it's generally a reference to tapping into the expertise and networks of experienced founders, industry professionals, or investors.
The main reason why startup founders seek out mentors is to short-circuit the learning curve. By tapping into guidance from more experienced founders (especially those who have been through the startup loop multiple times), new founders can more quickly find the right path to growth, overcome obstacles, and avoid making critical mistakes. A good mentor can also help startup founders broaden their network and connect with others who can help them as their business grows.
Just as inclusive hiring can be a source of competitive advantage, broadening the capabilities of your team via experienced mentors can be a hugely beneficial step.
In this unit, we'll focus on two types of mentoring:
- Informal connections that you make directly with experienced founders and investors
- Structured mentoring relationships, such as those found in most incubator and accelerator programs
We'll also briefly discuss the mentor network that's part of the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub and explain how you can tap into this valuable resource.
What makes a good mentor
Not everyone who's launched a startup makes a good mentor, even if they've been successful. As highlighted by venture capitalist Bryce Roberts, "When successful people give advice, I hear this: Here are the lottery numbers I played. They worked for me!"
In many cases, successful entrepreneurs have difficulty articulating what it was that led to their success. When they have single-time successes, their one set of experiences might not be directly relevant to other startups. That's especially true if those startups are in different industries or pursuing different business models.
The best mentors are often those who have broad positive and negative experiences with startups, along with a deep understanding of startup best practices.
Here are some attributes to look for when you're seeking out a mentor for your startup:
- Experience in more than one successful startup as a founder, early employee, or early-stage investor.
- Experience in failed startups, particularly if they're able to articulate why the failures happened.
- Experience in running startup programs such as incubators or accelerators, as long as it's coupled with direct, hands-on experience in startups rather than an academic perspective.
- A broad network of founders, investors, or potential customers with whom they could help you connect.
- Willingness to give up some time to work with founders with no expectation of payment. (This attribute is related to the next section about mentor motivations.)
- Willingness to say "I don't know" when asked a question that's outside their expertise.
- Absence of an attempt to sell services such as consulting, which can mean that the mentoring relationship is a thinly veiled business development activity.
Good mentoring generally follows a Socratic approach. The mentor guides founders by asking open questions and encouraging them to consider other possibilities. The mentor doesn't try to give founders the answers (or even worse, tell them what to do and expect compliance).
What motivates mentors
As stated earlier, mentors are successful and experienced people who are willing to give you their time for free. It's important to ask why people with such valuable skills might be motivated to do this.
If a mentor is an experienced founder who has achieved success, it's common that they themselves have benefited from access to mentors as they grew their own company. In most startup ecosystems, there's a strong pay-it-forward ethos in which successful founders give back to the startup community through mentoring and sometimes angel investing.
This ethos is at the heart of successful startup ecosystems such as Silicon Valley. It's increasingly common in other maturing startup ecosystems around the world, because of the valuable flywheel effect that it has on attracting and producing founders and investors.
Many successful entrepreneurs are willing to provide mentoring to first-time founders as long as:
- They can see a fit between their experience and the startup.
- The founders are coachable and willing to listen to advice.
- The founders are respectful of the mentor's time.
There's a growing number of mentors whose motivations hinge on increasing diversity in startups and supporting founders from minority backgrounds. Some of these mentors are available through startup programs that work exclusively with underrepresented founders.
If the mentor is an early-stage investor, their motivation might be a combination of paying it forward and a desire to find and cultivate high-quality deal flow. In some cases, the mentoring relationship will work only if the investor views the startup as a genuine investment prospect.
If the mentor is employed by an organization that runs a startup program such as an accelerator, their role will generally include providing mentoring to those startups that have been accepted into the program. In many cases, this role is called an entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR).
Finally, there are opportunities to engage experienced founders and others in a paid capacity. This engagement is more commonly viewed as consulting rather than mentoring, and it meets a different set of needs.
How to find good mentors
There are many ways to tap into high-quality mentoring. The best way to find good mentors will depend on the maturity of your local startup ecosystem. Here are some practical tips that are likely to be helpful no matter where you're located:
- Engage with your local startup community via networking events, pitch competitions, hackathons, and mentor-matching events.
- Take part in a structured startup program such as an accelerator, as long as it's delivered by mentors who have broad startup experience.
- Connect with other founders, ask them who they've found to be good mentors, and ask for introductions.
- Search online for people who have built successful companies that have some similarities to yours (sector focus, customer persona, or business model). Reach out to them directly.
- Utilize the mentor network that's part of the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub. (You'll learn more about that later in this unit.)
How to make the best use of mentors
Because mentoring is usually not a paid relationship, it's critical that you make the best possible use of this scarce resource and ensure that you don't overstep reasonable boundaries.
Here are practical tips to help you make the best use of mentors:
- Have an agenda for your mentoring meetings. Ideally, have no more than three topics on which you're seeking input.
- Avoid asking your mentor questions that you could have answered by doing a quick online search, by reading a basic startup book, or by asking one of your peers.
- If you have an ongoing mentoring relationship, have a summary of the key points from your last meeting and demonstrate that you've acted on them.
- If you're seeking introductions, have a clear idea of who in the mentor's network you want to be connected with and why.
- Make it easy for your mentor to introduce you to others by sending them a short email with a brief background, the name of the person you're hoping to connect with, your specific question or request, and your contact details. Many introductions will be in the form of a double-opt-in, so don't be surprised if it takes a couple of days or more to make the connection. After you make contact, be sure to close the loop with your mentor by sending them a brief email about the outcome.
- If you have access to multiple mentors, be prepared for mentor whiplash: receiving different perspectives from different individuals. This is a common occurrence and reflects the reality that in startups, there's generally no absolutely right or absolutely wrong answer. Your job is to consider each perspective fully, make a decision on the course of action to take, and keep your mentors informed of your progress.
- Mentor meetings usually are no more than 30 minutes long. This limit helps you focus and reduces the overhead on the mentor's busy schedule.
How to tap into the Microsoft for Startups Mentor Network
The Microsoft for Startups Mentor Network offers you access to a diverse mentor community with hundreds of business and technical experts currently working for Microsoft. They're available for one-to-one guidance. Many of them were startup founders themselves.
This benefit is available through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub. Use it to get expert input on important topics such as feedback on your idea, how to accelerate your development, and exploration of potential go-to-market opportunities with Microsoft.
To learn how to access the network as a member of the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, see About mentorship offer details.