Carlo Palmieri shares an article on mentorship that identifies the top five qualities of a good mentor.
Yesterday I attended the first meeting of mentors in London at Sartupbootcamp InsurTech, a kick off event hosted by Sabine VanderLinden, Programme Director for insurance, and Andrew Shannon, Head of Global at Startupbootcamp.
During the event, Andrew Shannon shared the top qualities of a mentor according to the feedback received by start-ups over the 20+ programmes they have run so far on a global basis.
So, here are the top 5 qualities, ranked in terms of usefulness:
1) Trusted Advisors
Mentors need to be advisors that start-ups can trust anytime, being able to provide informed guidance and to develop a close, personal “trust-bases” relation with the founders
2) Connections
Mentors can be extremely helpful when helping start-ups with sourcing potential business partners, key employees, early users (especially in BTB) and facilitating access to the press
3) Funds
Mentors can support the fundraising effort of start ups, which is paramount to buy more time while discovering a sustainable business model
4) Case Studies
Mentors can provide relatable and memorable case studies that can serve as guidance, but that will never be 100% applicable to a new “disruptive” idea.
5) Opinions
Opinions are the least valuable contribution that a mentor can make, as they provide one data point, which is often tied to the background and industry knowledge of the mentor. This may be particularly limiting or even negative when testing “disruptive” ideas and business models
What do you think? Are you surprised by the list and the ranking?
Key points include:
- Disruptive ideas
- Least valuable contribution
- Sourcing partners
Read the full article, Which are the top 5 qualities of a Mentor according to Start-ups? Here are the results of Startupbootcamp experience, on LinkedIn.