Mentorship is a seemingly simple concept. Get some help from someone more experienced than you. So why do we bother teaching a class on it? Because, like anything else, it’s a skill to mentor and be mentored. And if we can learn that skill it can be a real gift, both to give and receive. But first of all you’ve got to know what you’re looking for. Is it a handout or real help? Do you want answers or are you really looking to learn? For those looking to learn and build not just knowledge but skills for self sufficiency and mastery, mentoring can be a mutually rewarding gift. Think of the process of being mentored as a game of chess. You can easily ask for the next move, but wouldn’t you rather learn to master the game?

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START UP
SECRETS
An insider’s guide to unfair competitive advantage
Mastering the gift of mutual mentorship
twitter: @mjskok @underscorevc startupsecrets.com
Michael J Skok

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Have a Question? Tweet it!
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Mentoring is a gift…
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 Are you seeking a handout or real help?
 Do you want an answer or are you really
looking to learn?
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Do you know what help you want and how
to ask for it?
@mjskok startupsecrets.com@underscorevc

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Think of it as a game of Chess…
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The MIT Sloan Review

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You can easily ask for the next move…
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But wouldn’t you rather learn how to master
the game?
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Answers are for history lessons
Questions are for future breakthroughs
Breakthroughs present opportunities for Startups
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“We cannot solve our problems with the
same thinking we used when we created
them."
Albert Einstein

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Skills

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Question Answers!
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 Are they appropriate for YOU?
 Tempt you to take the road already traveled
 Don’t develop curiosity…
 Combinatorial thinking can be much more powerful than individual
answers
 … and what happens when you don’t have someone there to give you
answers?

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How about asking for questions?
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 SERIOUSLY!
• Think about it… when you were
asked a really great question, did it
get your mind working?
• Consider asking your mentor for great
questions to help you puzzle the
answer for yourself…
…enabling the “AHA!” moment

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What’s stopping you from answering your
own questions?
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 What do you need?
• A new skill?
• An experience?
• Some knowledge?
 How and where can I best get these?
 Is it one-off help or is it an enduring kind of learning you need?
Mentorship is often only a part of the solution
Sometimes mentors are just pointers to other resources

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Mentors & Mentees
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So how do you find the right questions?
 Could you ask the market ?
• Ask the customer, user, potential market?
 At least understand their view of the problem

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Tools
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 Tools for guiding you to the right questions…
• Brainstorming
• Research
• Discovery, exploration
• Field work, research
• Surveys
• Landing Pages
• Etc…
• Frameworks (my personal favorite)

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Problem solving skills…
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 See article on
• 8 Levels of Problem Solving
• 8 Ways to Encourage Breakout Solutions
Including a story of how Amazon turned a problem into a billion
dollar business
http://www.mjskok.com/resource/how-amazon-turned-problem-bn-opportunity

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Mentors: Nothing worse…
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… than answering the wrong question well
Newton’s Apple vs Apple’s Newton

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Startup Secret:
“Don’t take advice blindly, take it mindfully”
Your mind and instincts are your best resources to set a course for something that can work forYOU.

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Mentors: Develop your Mentees!
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 AHA!
 Eureka!
 &*!^#%!

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Enabling the Eureka! moment…
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 Mentor to Mentee test:
• If I give you this answer, then what will you do with it?
• What comes next?
(Hint: If it only advances you one step, it's probably not a good question or answer.
Remember the chess game, are you helping them master it?)

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Enabling the Eureka! moment…
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 Example:
Question for answer:
• Mentee: Should I price this at x or y?
• Mentor: y
Question for question:
• Mentee: how should I charge for my product?
• Mentor: where is the core value, who will see that and how will they value it?

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What are you trying to develop in your
Mentee?
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 Mentors, if you’re not giving Mentees answers, what are you giving them?
• Curiosity
• Joy of learning
• Confidence to try
• Resourcefulness, initiative – eg EXTERNAL validation
 A journey from AHA to WOW - I can do this !!
• Enlightenment

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Mentors
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 Be open, honest and accurate wherever possible
 Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know either!
 Always look for teaching moments
 Bring humor, have fun!
“To encourage and beyond!”
with apologies to Buzz Lightyear

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Remember
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 For Startups in particular:
“There is no failure, only learning”
#nomorefear #onlylearning
 So make it safe and leave room to fail / learn

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Startup Secret:
“Things are rarely ever as good as they seem,
or as bad as they seem in the moment”
THE MENTOR’S ROLE IS TO PICK THE MENTEE UP WHEN THEY ARE DOWN,
AND KEEP THEM FROM RISING TOO FAR UP!

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How do you know you’re a good mentor or
mentee?
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 Is this working?
• Ask for feedback!
 How do you improve?
• Ask for measures for success!

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Record & review regularly
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 Mentees - record what you learned!
• Share with your mentor at your next checkpoint
• How you learn is a great guide for your mentor to teach you
 Mentors – figure out how to coach your specific mentee
• Everyone learns differently, successes AND failures
 Book: "On Managing Yourself”
 Review regularly
• Mutual feedback
• If the relationship isn’t working… it won’t fix itself!

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Aren’t we all possibly mentors?
PEERS…

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Peer Mentorship
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 The power of peer mentorship...
• Who else are you on this journey with?
 Co founders?
 Other founders, entrepreneurs?
 Other peers in school?
 Friends?
 Family (can be tricky!)

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Surprise!
People trying to learn themselves, often
make the best mentors, because they’re
asking questions!

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Mentoring is a gift…
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 The question is:
• Do you have it?
or
• Do you give it?
Neither: At it’s best, giving and receiving

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The importance of YOU in the equation…
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m
possible."
- Audrey Hepburn

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Thank you!
@underscorevc #startupsecrets