the program, give to the community, give to the entrepreneur. The last thing a program should do is disrespect or somehow diminish the giving the mentor wishes to offer. The program and the entrepreneurs should be encouraged to take specific steps to graciously convey their gratitude. These could be as simple as a social media shout-out or as much as equity, depending on the situation (mentor becomes advisor).
The most important thing is to make it easy on mentors and to respect their lives outside the program.
Nice-to-Haves
Various mentor programs I’ve experience in accelerators, universities, and incubators are primarily based on one or maybe two of these characteristics:
Mentor as presenter: Various mentors are brought in to speak to a group of entrepreneurs. These are very educational, and they can provide a lot of benefit. But it’s not truly mentoring.
Mentor office hours: Mentors make some personal time available so entrepreneurs can schedule a one-on-one meeting. It’s reasonable to think these should work, but generally they fall short. Entrepreneurs need more hand-holding.
Mentor as pitch consultant: Programs geared ONLY on coaching an entrepreneur on a final pitch to investors are failing to identify what that entrepreneur needs NOW.
Mentor speed dating: Programs that provide high-quality, short interactions with mentors are GREAT, but insufficient.
Must-Have
A fully functional mentoring program requires ALL of the above! And more. What’s really missing is the concept of providing ongoing support—especially support based upon measurable progress. The key to it all is defining measurable progress, which, of course, varies from startup to startup. (More on this below.)
Techstars and YCombinator might have superior mentors (success breeds success), but I believe it’s their mentoring programs that set them apart from other accelerator programs.
The Techstars program is divided into