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MenuHow to get more mentors and coaches
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In the pursuit of effective mentor and coach acquisition for your startup, leveraging your immediate network is a commendable initial step. However, to optimize your strategy, I recommend a diversified approach. Incorporating cost-effective marketing tools such as social media advertising and posting, engaging in collaborative initiatives, and actively participating in relevant Facebook network groups for potential coaches are integral components. By using these avenues, you broaden your outreach and enhance the likelihood of connecting with suitable mentors. Further amplifying your efforts with live social media marketing can expedite the expansion of your reach. Should you have any additional inquiries regarding your startup journey, feel free to reach out for personalized assistance and guidance.
A good way to get more mentors would be to follow the playbook that www.mentor247.co did.
They're fairly new in the market and seem to already have attracted a large following.
From what I understand they got most of their mentors through Linkedin and some via organic traffic - although the second option takes more time.
Hope this helps.
Here are some low-cost or free ways to attract top-quality mentors for your new marketplace:
Leverage your existing network. Ask current mentors if they have any referrals or recommendations for other qualified mentors they know. Word-of-mouth is powerful.
Post on relevant industry forums and groups on sites like LinkedIn, Reddit, and Quora. Introduce your platform and what you're looking for. Engage in discussions to build credibility.
Contact local universities and colleges. Many have career centers, alumni associations, or professors who may be interested in mentoring students.
Reach out to professional associations and organizations. Groups in your focus areas, like entrepreneurship councils or astrology societies, can spread the word.
Pitch relevant industry influencers or bloggers: Ask if they'll write a post highlighting your platform and mentor opportunities.
Host virtual information sessions - Share details on your platform and directly recruit mentors through Q&A livestreams.
Offer perks beyond money. Highlight non-financial benefits like networking, resume building, and helping others.
Use a waitlist. Get early signups and follow up when you're ready to onboard more mentors in each category.
Think of a situation to see how they respond. Ask them why the responded the way they did. If they can clearly explain how they thought of solution. then interview them if you approve.
Related Questions
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Business partner I want to bring on will invest more money than me, but will be less involved in operations, how do I split the company?
Cash money should be treated separately than sweat equity. There are practical reasons for this namely that sweat equity should always be granted in conjunction with a vesting agreement (standard in tech is 4 year but in other sectors, 3 is often the standard) but that cash money should not be subjected to vesting. Typically, if you're at the idea stage, the valuation of the actual cash going in (again for software) is anywhere between $300,000 and $1m (pre-money). If you're operating in any other type of industry, valuations would be much lower at the earliest stage. The best way to calculate sweat equity (in my experience) is to use this calculator as a guide: http://foundrs.com/. If you message me privately (via Clarity) with some more info on what the business is, I can tell you whether I would be helpful to you in a call.TW
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How much equity should a CPO receive when joining a Series A startup that's been around for 2-3 years?
Hi There are various 'models' that you can use to estimate how many shares/percentages your new partner should get. These include (a) his/her investment in time and/or money, (b) the current + potential value of the company, (c) the time and/or money that you as the original founder already put in and various other models. That said, at the end of the day, it's all about value and psychology (both side's feelings). Bottom line: 1. It all really depends on how much value they are giving you (not only financial, sometimes even just moral support goes a long way). Some founder's 'should' get 5%, some should get 50% or more. 2. Ask the potential partner how much shares they want (BEFORE you name a number). 3. Have an open conversation with them in regards to each of your expectations. 4. Use a vesting (or preferably reverse vesting) mechanism - meaning that the founder receives his shares gradually, based on the time that goes by (during which he fulfills his obligations) and/or milestones reached. 5. If you want a mathematical method: calculate the value of each 1% of the shares (based on the last investment round), check how much an average CPO earns per month/year, and then you can calculate what % he/she should get for the 2-3 years they should put in. I've successfully helped over 350 entrepreneurs, startups and businesses, and I would be happy to help you. After scheduling a call, please send me some background information so that I can prepare in advance - thus giving you maximum value for your money. Take a look at the great reviews I’ve received: https://clarity.fm/assafben-davidAB
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How much equity should I give an engineer who I'm asking to join my company as a co-founder? (He'll be receiving a salary, too, and I'm self-funding)
You will find a lot of different views on equity split. I haven't found a silver bullet. My preference/experience is for: 1. Unequal shares because one person needs to be the ultimate decision maker (even if it's 1% difference). I have found that I have never had to use that card because we are always rational about this (and I think us being rational is driven because we don't want a person to always pull that card cause it's a shitty card to pull) 2. When it comes to how much equity, I like Paul Graham's approach best: if I started the business by myself, I would own 100% of the equity; if xxx joined me, he/she would increase my chances of success by 40% (40% is just an example) at this moment in time. Therefore, I should give him/her 40% of the company (http://paulgraham.com/equity.html) 3. In terms of range, it could go between (15-49%) depending on the level of skill. But anything less than 15%, I would personally not feel like a cofounder 4. Regarding salary and the fact that you will pay him/her, that's tricky but a simple way to think about it: If an outside investor were to invest the equivalent of a salary at this exact moment into the startup, what % of the company would they get? (this may lowball it if you think the valuation is high but then again if you think you could get a high valuation for a company with no MVP, then you should go raise money) One extra thing for you to noodle on: given you are not technical, I would make sure a friend you trust (and who's technical) help you evaluate the skill of your (potential) cofounder. It will help stay calibrated given you really like this person.MR
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What legal precautions can I take to make sure nobody steals my startup idea?
I've discussed ideas with hundreds of startups, I've been involved in about a dozen startups, my business is at $1M+ revenue. The bad news is, there is no good way to protect ideas. The good news is, in the vast majority of cases you don't really need to. If you're talking to people about your idea, you could ask them to sign an NDA ("Non Disclosure Agreement"), but NDAs are notoriously hard to enforce, and a lot of experienced startup people wouldn't sign them. For example, if you asked me to sign an NDA before we discussed your Idea, I'd tell you "thanks, but no thanks". This is probably the right place though to give the FriendDA an honorable mention: http://friendda.org/. Generally, I'd like to encourage you to share your Ideas freely. Even though telling people an idea is not completely without risk, generally the rewards from open discussions greatly outweigh the risks. Most startups fail because they build something nobody wants. Talking to people early, especially people who are the intended users/customers for your idea can be a great way to protect yourself from that risk, which is considerably higher than the risk of someone taking off with your idea. Another general note, is that while ideas matter, I would generally advise you to get into startup for which you can generate a lot of value beyond the idea. One indicator for a good match between a founder and a startup is the answer to the question: "why is that founder uniquely positioned to execute the idea well". The best way to protect yourself from competition is to build a product that other people would have a hard time building, even if they had 'the idea'. These are usually startups which contain lots of hard challenges on the way from the idea to the business, and if you can convincingly explain why you can probably solve those challenges while others would have a hard time, you're on the right path. If you have any further questions, I'd be happy to set up a call. Good luck.DK
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As a startup, is it better to find a way to pay for services (i.e. design) or trade equity for it?
Before I get to your question, let me give you a tip: always aim settle questions of payment before the work happens. It is ten times easier to agree on a price beforehand, and having done that doesn't stop you from changing it by mutual agreement later. The problem with paying cash is pretty obvious: you don't have a lot of it. The problems with paying equity are subtler. The first one is that early-stage equity is extremely hard to value. A second is that equity transactions require a lot of paperwork. Third is that entrepreneurs tend to value their equity much higher than other people would; if not, they wouldn't be starting the company. And fourth, people like designers are rarely expert in valuing businesses or the customs of of startup equity valuation. In the past, I've both given and received equity compensation, and it's a lot more of a pain than I expected. In the future, what I think I'd try is convertible debt. That is, I'd talk with the designer and agree on a fair-market wage. E.g. 100 hours x $100/hr = $10k. The next time we take investment, the $10k turns into stock at whatever price we agree with our investors, plus a discount because he was in before the investors. Note, though, that this will increase your legal costs and your deal complexity, so I'd personally only do this for a pretty significant amount of work. And I'd only do it for somebody I trusted and respected enough to have them around for the life of my business.WP
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