The Right Way To Mentor

I don’t know if you know Paul Martino from Bullpen Capital or not.  He and I are friends.  They recently launched a podcast and have been blogging about the late Bill Campbell.  He is a Silicon Valley icon.  Interesting guy.   Football coach at Columbia University which obviously has never been a threat to win a lot of games.  Left Columbia and didn’t have a traditional road to the tech business.  He was an ad guy, then worked at Kodak, and took a job at Apple after they ousted Steve Jobs.  Kodak once was one of the most innovative companies in the world.

One thing about coaches is they understand how to mentor.  There are many different styles of mentorship. Many different paths.  Some people like being coached by Bobby Knight and some people don’t.  There isn’t a “right” way that coaching messaging is delivered and the coach has to fit the personality.

Accelerators always have “mentors”.  I don’t see it that way.  It’s a one-off meeting usually where the entrepreneur tries to glean something from the mentor’s experience.  I really have tried to think very thoughtfully about this whole process when I mentor at an accelerator.

I never met Campbell.  I certainly wish I would have.  His track record speaks for itself.  I do think that from what I have read about Campbell, he illustrated a “right” way to mentor.

• Be genuinely concerned and invested with the person that you are talking to.
• Ask questions.  Don’t offer hard and fast iron-clad solutions.
• This isn’t a transaction, it’s a relationship.  Build it.
• Be open to finding solutions to problems from anywhere.
• If you see someone doing it wrong, let them know they are doing it wrong and explain why and the context

It’s terrifically hard to mentor unless you are deliberate and thoughtful about it.