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Our program mentors are one of the most valuable assets we can offer. Mentor sessions—which are opt-in only—will take place throughout the program. Please note that the startup/mentor matching process may vary within verticals. Please refer to the respective subpages to find out more about the program mentors and the mentoring process.
Best Practices
Best Practices
It's important to us that you have the best possible experience during your meetings with mentors. At the very least, these meetings should be helpful. It's also possible that one or more of these sessions may change your life.
Here's what we suggest for your interactions with program mentors:
DO communicate with the mentor as soon as possible if you need to reschedule your meeting.
DO have a short elevator pitch ready to go.
DO prepare specifically for each meeting:
research the mentor before your meeting;
write down a list of SPECIFIC challenges/questions that you need help addressing;
have available any materials that might help to illustrate those challenges.
DO ask for specific introductions, and make the ask easy on the mentor.
Follow best practices for double-opt-in introductions, also known as a ‘forwardable email introduction.’
See this short blog post by Alex Iskold of 2048VC.
DO ask for support now, while mentors are in "YES" mode.
One great thing about accelerator program mentors is that they rally around the program to support the founders and solutions.
The program is only a few months long, and this is one of the few times during the life of a startups that everyone around you will say YES almost all the time.
DO follow up with the mentor after the meeting:
Thank them for their time.
Be specific with any asks.
Make your asks easy for them.
DO NOT spend the majority of the session doing the talking.
DO NOT share confidential information/IP without an NDA.
Our mentors are wonderful, passionate people with whom you will likely feel very comfortable, but treat this meeting like you would with any other new/unknown entity.
Feel free to move through confidential information once the mentor has agreed to and signed an NDA! We have had startups and mentors hit it off, sign NDAs, and even establish official partnerships!
DO NOT ask for general, non-specific introductions.
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