I wrote 16 posts detailing each item of the Techstars Mentor Manifesto. However, there were 18 items and, for some reason, I never got around to writing the final two.
Jay Batson, a long-time Techstars Boston mentor, nudged me several times to finish this up. I kept saying âIâll get to itâ but never did. So, he did it for me, with the added motivation of getting it up prior to the kickoff to this yearâs Boston program. Following is item #17 of the Techstars Mentor Manifesto, in Jayâs words.
This item on the list might sound very similar to #4, âBe Direct. Tell the Truth, However Hard.â But, itâs different. This item (#17) has to do with you, not the companies.
You have been asked to be a mentor at Techstars because youâve been successful as an entrepreneur and/or a leader. The managing director for your cohort trusts that youâll help the founders. And those founders are betting â with stock in their company â that youâll be good for them.
Because of your expertise, you are likely to quickly spot areas in their businesses that need work urgently.
Because youâve read all the posts here about the Techstars Mentor Manifesto, you dutifully start by being socratic and digging into the fundamental thing that is broken. You are direct, telling the hard truth that you are deeply concerned about some area.
But at some point, you sense the entrepreneur isnât simply following your lead. They arenât changing some element of their business to align with your direction. So, you are more direct. You push harder and more forcefully because you think itâs important. But the entrepreneur continues to ânot get itâ.
And, just like that, youâre irritated. You shut down, you quickly end the meeting, or you push even harder. After the meeting, you vent to the Techstars managing director that this company is in real trouble because the founders arenât paying attention to this element you find important.
Weâve now reached the point of this post: Never Be Destructive.
The moment you go beyond trying to get your point across to the entrepreneur and do something outside that moment that is less-than-supportive, youâve stopped being a mentor. You are now simply a judge. Or, worse, a detriment to the company.
You have let your desire to succeed as a mentor become paramount. Your actions can easily shift from being helpful as a mentor to being hurtful to the entrepreneur.
If you let this state persist, your frustration will leak outside the safe space of Techstars. It might be something you say to an investor; which means youâve now affected the companyâs ability to raise capital. If you vent to another founder, you either hurt your own reputation or the menteeâs reputation. At worst, you may end up affecting their relationships with potential partners or future hiring candidates.
Being a Techstars mentor does not mean being 100% dedicated to being a successful mentor. It means being 100% dedicated to helping founders build great companies.
So, be robust if you have to in making sure they hear what youâre trying to make them aware of.
But when you leave the room, make sure you flip the switch and remain 100% dedicated to making them successful, whether or not you think they heard what you had to say.
Jay Batson has been the founder of four companies, including two venture-backed startups, with some big success and disappointing failure. His biggest success is as founding CEO of Acquia, now an 800+ person company with offices around the globe. In 2012, Jay invented the âMentor-in-Residenceâ role at Techstars. MIRâs spend near-full-time at Techstars during each cohort to help as extensively as possible with companies and help other Mentors be good at it. Jay has embraced this responsibility for every Boston cohort since then. Heâs an LP in several Techstars funds and a direct investor in a selection of Techstars companies.
Also published on Medium.