As I mentioned a few posts ago, I’m trying to make mentorship a focus of my blogging during the 2013 Techstars program. Mentorship is the glue that holds the whole program together, so it is vitally important that the teams get the most out of their relationships with mentors. Mentors act as advisors, advocates, therapists, and can be great connections to investors or may even be investors themselves. A brief update on mentorship so far: Those teams who I have checked in with have found the mentorship very helpful. This is true for both teams with well developed products and visions as well as teams who are still trying to figure out what they are doing.
A large commonality between the teams pointed to the mentors being great for getting feedback on their basic idea and approach. This was helpful because it gave the teams a confidence boost that they are heading in the right direction (or conversely, a united front that they were not, but ideas regarding where to go).
Teams also felt that there is only so much talking one can do before they need to do some actual work. A lot like a freshman year humanities class beating a passage to death, one needs to start “doing” to eventually create something. That is where we are now. Until next time.
-Andy
