“Every great achiever is inspired by a great mentor.”
– Lailah Gifty Akita
Mentor in Multiple Ways*
“Industry Expert” Mentorship
“Company Builder” Mentorship
“Personal Growth” Mentorship
These are the people who deeply understand the industry, market, customers, or technology and can give strategic advice and make crucial introductions.
These are the battle-scarred pros who have been to the start-up rodeo before and can help with all the generic issues associated with building and scaling a company.
More like life coaches, these mentors take a genuine interest in the entrepreneur as a person and want to help him/her/them with their personal growth and professional development.
*Source: seraf-investor.com
Our Mentor Manifesto
All people are encouraged to be mentors, including people of varying ages, gender, sexual orientation, race, disabilities, backgrounds, etc.
You also don’t have to have been a business owner or entrepreneur to be a mentor. Entrepreneurs require expertise in many areas (finance, operations, human resources, sales, marketing, business development, manufacturing, public relations, international trade, and more…).
All RAIN mentors are required to agree to these values and characteristics of mentorship
Be a good listener first
Be optimistic and responsive
Expect nothing in return
Be authentic and practice what you preach
Clearly separate opinion from fact
Hold information entrepreneurs share with you in confidence
Make connections within your network, when appropriate
Guide, don’t control, so that entrepreneurs make their own decision about their startups
Provide specific actionable advice
Be challenging but not destructive
Have empathy and remember that startups are hard
Say, “I don’t know” when you don’t know
