\n<\/p>\n
I just returned from a startup intensive working with a cohort of amazing climatetech startups.<\/p>\n
Unlike typical accelerators, where mentors and founders pair up in 1-on-1 sessions to work on pitch decks and fundraising, this program includes group sessions where founders get to hear from multiple mentors on a variety of operational challenges, including mock board meetings and dealing with crises.<\/p>\n
Listening to the founders\u2019 responses to the problems thrown at them was interesting though predictable. Listening to the other mentors\u2019 advice was eye-opening.<\/p>\n
Although the mentors have lived through the various challenges ourselves, not only did we offer different advice to the startups, but our entire approach to handling the situation was different. We occasionally contradicted each other, but mostly by viewing the problem through different lenses, we were able to offer complementary advice.<\/p>\n
I realized then what should\u2019ve been obvious long ago:\u00a0different mentors and advisors can help you in different ways. I\u2019ve identified 3 types of mentors. Founders need all of them.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also seen 3 types of mentors founders need to recognize and run away from.<\/p>\n
This is the category I fall squarely into. You have a problem, I want to help you solve it.<\/p>\n
Need funding? Here\u2019s where to find investors. Not getting traction with investors? Here\u2019s how to improve the pitch deck. Having a fight with your co-founder? Here\u2019s what I would do in your shoes. Your head of sales not making sales? Here\u2019s why founders have to do the sales themselves.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve written around 100 articles on Medium filled with startup advice that fall into this problem solving category. Perhaps that\u2019s because I was once an engineer and still have a problem solver mindset, or because I was a startup founder myself and to me, assistance means providing guidance and assistance on the things new founders don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
I used to think all useful startup advising fell into this category. But I realized there are other, equally useful, functions of advisors.<\/p>\n
When founders join an accelerator, they\u2019re usually not looking for someone like me to tell them how to fix their problems that they weren\u2019t even aware they had.\u00a0They\u2019re looking for connections to investors and customers.<\/p>\n
Some\u00a0mentors are amazingly well-connected. They may not understand anything about your product or want to dive into the details of each slide in your pitch deck, but they know the right people to connect you to and are happy to provide introductions.<\/p>\n
Name your sector, and they\u2019ll know which VCs are focusing on the space. Describe your product, and they\u2019ll have contacts at your customers.<\/p>\n
To my chagrin, these mentors are always the most popular. They tend to be people-person people \u2014 affable, friendly, ready to make a phone call or two to help out between games of golf.<\/p>\n
If you can find a mentor or advisor with the right connections willing to work them on your behalf, they\u2019re worth their weight in gold.<\/p>\n
Startup life is a series of 3 steps forward, 2.9 steps back. On a good day. Sometimes it\u2019s 10 steps back. Especially at the early stages, it can seem like one frustration after another that we somehow convince ourselves is fun and exciting. Unlike a regular job, we\u2019re not even getting paid for our troubles.<\/p>\n
At least once a day, you want to give up. At least once a month, you seriously question whether it\u2019s worth it. Sometimes you just want to cry. Other times, you can\u2019t help screaming.<\/p>\n
Who do you turn to when funding falls through or your ally at a customer gets promoted to a different project?<\/p>\n
A spouse or significant other can pat your back or give you a backrub, and that helps. But they\u2019re not startup people, so they don\u2019t really get it. Your best friend can take you drinking, but in the morning, you\u2019re still stuck picking up the pieces and now with a hangover to add to the troubles.<\/p>\n
What you need is a nurturer \u2014 someone who can tell you you\u2019ve got it. Someone who can point to that dot in the darkness and convince you it\u2019s the light at the end of the tunnel.\u00a0Someone who\u2019s been there before and knows exactly what you\u2019re going through. Someone who can get you back on your feet and send you into the ring ready for the next round.<\/p>\n
As founders we tend to gravitate towards mentors who match our own style.\u00a0Certainly, I sought out advisors who had solutions to my specific problems. I was skeptical about glad-handing connectors, and thought nurturers were a waste of time. I was wrong.<\/p>\n
Founders need a good collection of all 3 types of mentors. We\u2019re like your army, air force, and navy. We each think we\u2019re the most important and we don\u2019t collaborate well, but you need all of us to accomplish different goals for you to succeed.<\/p>\n
To be honest, after a bad day, I\u2019m the wrong person to call. That\u2019s not the time to talk about strategy and fixing whatever is broke. You need a nurturer who will help you get back onto your feet. The next day, when you\u2019re prepared for battle again, that\u2019s when you need my advice to understand what went wrong and how to fix it. But I can\u2019t help you execute the plan. For that you need the connectors to get you in front of customers and investors.<\/p>\n
As a mentor at a dozen accelerators, I meet a lot of other mentors. Some are useful. Most, to be blunt, are not. At best, they waste your time. At worst, they give you bad advice.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a difference between hearing a diversity of opinions and getting advice that\u2019s just plain wrong. Unfortunately, I seem to spend half my time with founders disabusing them of things that other mentors have told them, like their pre-MVP startup having a valuation of $25M or more.<\/p>\n
Here are the 3 types of mentors that founders need to identify and avoid:<\/p>\n
Every accelerator seems to be full of cheerleaders who applaud all the incredible things you\u2019ve accomplished, though let\u2019s be honest, you haven\u2019t accomplished much yet.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re great to have around and we all love to have our egos stroked. They sound like nurturers, but they haven\u2019t been in your shoes, so their encouragement feels empty.<\/p>\n
VCs often task their new associates with mentoring at accelerators. It\u2019s good experience for them, and it might help with the firm\u2019s deal flow or at least help get their name out there. But with no experience building a startup themselves, the role is often limited to telling everyone how great they are.<\/p>\n
Thank them for their time and encouragement, then quickly move on to more useful people.<\/p>\n
Accelerators seem to be full of people, often the biggest names in the room, who want to speak endlessly about themselves and all the incredible things they\u2019ve accomplished. Many have been very successful, as they\u2019ll constantly remind you.<\/p>\n
Their advice is usually to do exactly what they did, without understanding how your circumstances differ from theirs.<\/p>\n
Narcissists make the best keynote speakers. They can be interesting and engaging. But when it comes to being an advisor, mentor, or board member, they can\u2019t see beyond themselves, making their advice for you useless or plain wrong. They may pretend to be connectors, and certainly have great connections, but don\u2019t waste your time trying to get them to follow through with calls on your behalf.<\/p>\n
If you have a business doing accounting for startups, or marketing, or legal, where is the best place to find clients? Wherever startups are found. Many sign up to be mentors as a way to troll for new business.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say these mentors can\u2019t be incredibly useful. What founder doesn\u2019t need free legal advice?<\/p>\n
But since early-stage startups have no money to spend on service providers, many of the mentors are more familiar with working with late-stage startups or small businesses, and don\u2019t understand the critical differences.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve overhead lawyers from big law firms advising startup founders to register as an LLC; self-proclaimed marketing experts declaring the solution to go-to-market is to spend $100K on advertising; and accountants who don\u2019t know the proper way to account for grants. And worst of all, I\u2019ve heard more than one later-stage VC pontificating that founders shouldn\u2019t settle for any valuation less than $20M. Face plant.<\/p>\n
Undoing the damage of bad advice is incredibly frustrating. So before taking advice from anyone, even if they claim to be experts, question whether they truly understand the needs of early-stage startups and your particular situation.<\/p>\n
Just because someone has been successful or works at a big-name firm doesn\u2019t mean they have the right advice for you. Having a famous name on your pitch deck won\u2019t impress anyone if they aren\u2019t actively helping.<\/p>\n
So as you meet potential advisors, think through what they can offer you specifically. Do they understand your business and your industry? Do they understand the world of early-stage startups where you have to accomplish a million impossible things with a tiny team and no budget?\u00a0Will they answer the phone at 11 PM on a Sunday night when you have an emergency? If not, find someone who will.<\/p>\n
Ted Hara is back! The sake-drinking hacker has discovered a terrorist plot in a murdered friend\u2019s email, but the file is encrypted and only the dead friend has the password. Can Ted find a way to crack the file before the bombs start exploding? Find out in my cyberthriller,\u00a0Countdown to Decryption<\/em>.<\/p>\n I just returned from a startup intensive working with a cohort of amazing climatetech startups. Unlike typical accelerators, where mentors and founders pair up in 1-on-1 sessions to work on pitch decks and fundraising, this program includes group sessions where founders get to hear from multiple mentors on a variety of operational challenges, including mock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12034],"tags":[2214,11395,14151,14150,6605,11439,14149],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-21441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angel-investor","tag-angels","tag-avoid","tag-kinds","tag-mentors","tag-pitching","tag-startup","tag-types"],"yoast_head":"\n