TechStars has been a leader in providing mentoring to founders of early stage companies it incubates. Having been a TechStars mentor during their startup phase I can attest to the high quality of TechStars’ mentors.
Here’s a great post from their blog about what it means to be a mentor, in an easy to digest Q and A format.
Here’s my favorite Q & A, probably because I totally agree with mentor Babak Kia:, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Boston University College of Engineering.
What do you love most about mentoring startups? Why do you do it?
What I love most is helping founders build or achieve something that has never existed before, and seeing how that leads to an incredibly positive impact to the world!
This could be an AI company poised to redefine healthcare through a predictive prognosis that literally saves countless of lives, or it could be an IoT company building a digital piggy-bank to teach the ever more important financial literacy skills to children.
The common denominator is the measurable impact that each has to bettering people’s lives.
I mentor startups because first of all it is a privilege to take part in amazing journeys led by amazing entrepreneurs, but also because at times I can have a concrete impact to making startups successful and I feel it my responsibility and obligation to help out when I can.
Recommended reading for both founders and prospective mentors.
Mentorphile 