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grow/mentoring
Find yourself a mentor The difference between a successful and a not-so-successful startup might just be the right advice at the right time! That’s why you need a mentor /Arunjana Das
S
iddharth Shastri, an auto-technopreneur, had everything going for him well, until a specific R&D problem became his stumbling block. He approached his brother who’s employed in a German robotics startup; a few sessions with him, a few microcontrollers and Siddharth’s problem was resolved. Siddharth’s brother is not part of the team, but Siddharth likes to pick his brains regularly for any tech-advice. Although Siddharth’s idea is yet at the concept stage, or rather stage 0, with the new-found accelerated progress, he’s sure that stage 1 isn’t far off.
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JANUARY 2008
This is an instance on a very micro scale of what mentoring means to a startup, even to one which is in the process of starting up! Mentoring doesn’t need to be a formal affair, nor does it need to be in a board room with suited corporate types. Mentoring is guidance and a mentor is a guide. A mentor can be a strategic advisor, a sounding board or just a hand-holder. Mentorship is an age-old concept, dating back right to the days of the gurushishya paramapara and the days preceding them! So, why the brouhaha about Mentorship? A spill-out of the new wave
of entrepreneurship has been a gale force of startups – both successful and the not-so-successful ones. There are many things that comprise the void between the two, and going by popular belief, capital would seem to be a huge part of it. Here comes the twist though. Ask any seasoned investor what the bottleneck is and you’ll be surprised by the answer. The bottleneck is not money. Given you’ve set right the other equations you’ll get the capital. After all there is no dearth of investors with an eye for enterprises with money-making potential!