Ongoing mentorship guide - mentor edition

Startup Boot Camp Ongoing MentorshipGuide

June – November 2014

Guide for Mentors

Ongoing Mentorship Program Guide Mentors EditionCRDF Global

THANK YOU FOR MENTORING!

We really thank you for your time. This guide will help prepare you for the day of mentorship in which you will participate.

Sincerely,Natalia, Ovidiu, Amanda – CRDF Global


Goals of mentorship

Orient the entrepreneur to work in ways that will lead to their company’s success.

Do this through:

Gaining an understanding of their business

Use their website, PowerPoint Presentation and Business Model Canvas

Giving general business advice Help entrepreneur where their business model is

weak Offer useful connections to the entrepreneur

(optional, if it makes sense)

Help entrepreneurs create and improve five deliverables: Their business model canvas using LaunchPad Central

Completion of 20 customer interviews logged into Launch Pad Central

Their investor presentation A YouTube video of their thirty-second pitch Their public profile page on GUST


Preparation for Mentorship

The Mentors should learn about their assigned mentee ahead of the first meeting with the mentee. An email will be sent out with the entrepreneur’s profile and links to check.

The mentorship focuses on Lean Startup Methodology and uses LaunchPad Central, an online program approved by Steve Blank. Preparation for mentorship includes understanding Lean Startup Methodology and learning how to interface via Launch Pad Central. There are videos to help you.A Day in the Life – 4 minute video about how a professor uses LaunchPad Central to simplify his life and stay informed about the venture’s progress

General Walk Through – How you can quickly navigate to find information you need to start mentorship conversations and to leave feedback and suggestions.

http://www.launchpadcentral.com/

https://vimeo.com/69356617

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Y8ZkF1Wk0&feature=plcp


Mentorship Structure

Meetings last between 30min-1hourMentee will take notes during the meeting and upload to LaunchPad Central

Each meeting the mentor should encourage the entrepreneur to perform at least 4 customer interviews and to then report back on the interviews.

Between each mentorship session, the Local Mentor should dedicate some time to prepare for the next meeting, view and comment the entrepreneur’s progress as logged on LaunchPad Central and if necessary talk to third parties about their mentees, such as potential collaborators, investors or the local mentor.


End of ProgramReporting

At the close of the mentorship, the Mentor will answer a short online survey. In the survey the mentor will be asked to share: the dates and duration of mentorship meetings

which deliverables were completed by the entrepreneur

if the deliverables showed improvement during the coaching

general feedback on any improvements noted in the entrepreneur

suggestions to improve the mentorship program

This feedback will be used to comprise a part of the Monitoring and Evaluation report. Suggestions will be considered in future mentoring programs that CRDF Global coordinates.


Optional Post Program Relationship with MenteeTo be clear, there is no obligation to continue to mentor a mentee. However, we have seen that relationships often develop, and CRDF Global reminds you that there is no conflict of interest, from CRDF Global’s point of view, if the mentor-mentee relationship continues post program.


Suggested Mentorship Agenda

This is a suggested agenda. You may follow your own agenda, as you wish, do things in any order, assign the entrepreneur to do all deliverables at once, etc. Tackle this in anyway that you wish.

Meeting 1 - Introduction and Issue Identification– The Venture Pitch and Business Model Canvas

Meeting 2 - Review updated presentation and business model canvas

Meeting 3 – Discuss and practice 30 second pitch

Meeting 4 – Review 30 second pitch and Partnership planning

Meeting 5 – Pulling together the online presence for investors: The Gust Profile Page and financials.

Meeting 6 – Final review, closing, and next steps


Meeting one:Introduction and Issue Identification– The Venture Pitch and Business Model Canvas

IntroductionsAsk entrepreneur what goals he/she has for the mentorship program in general

Share what goals you have. To: Help achieve success in the venture in general

Make sure you understand his/her business Discuss the business model and strengths and weaknesses, suggestions

Give suggestions to improve the pitch and presentation

Have entrepreneur introduce the business to you

Discuss what you understand the business is about and the Business Model Canvas

List out the strengths you see, Give suggestions where you see weaknesses, Ask where you need to see more information or clarification.

Get specific with the pitch; How can ppt be improved? Perhaps ask the entrepreneur to pitch it to you live.


Meeting one assignments

Identification of customers and creating a customer list, people whom they would interview.

Validation of the market through first developing and then doing 4 customer interviews and reporting to you what they learned.

That they address and improve their presentations and business model canvases.


Meeting two:Review updated presentation and business model canvas

Review updated presentation and business model canvas.

Did the entrepreneur make a good proposal for customer development including both potential interviewees, and a great interview sheet?

Discuss additional “learning” that the Entrepreneur has discovered during the customer interviews. Did they make any pivots as a result of getting feedback from the market place?

Revisit issues that were discovered during the first meeting.


Meeting two assignments

Introduce the idea of the 30-second elevator venture pitch. Assign entrepreneur to develop their 30 second elevator venture pitch and record it. You will watch it before the next meeting.

Assign the entrepreneur to complete 4 more customer development interviews. You will check the Launch Pad Central and share feedback there before next meeting.


Meeting three:Discuss and practice 30 second pitch

Recommended agenda items:Go over their first attempt at the 30 second pitch. Coach them on ways to improve it.

Discuss ongoing experience with customer development interviews

Have the entrepreneurs improved about reaching out about their businesses? How is their confidence level? How are the results?

Homework: Assign the entrepreneur to complete 4 more customer development interviews and log them into Launch Pad Central.

Assign the entrepreneur to re-record the 30 second pitch based on feedback and send you the link before your next meeting.


Meeting four Review 30 second pitch and partnership planning By now, the Entrepreneur may be in a position to articulate a refined business model and pitch, and have interviewed many customers. At this stage the goals are often to do more customer interviews, revise their business model canvas hypotheses, and to further prepare to pitch for financing and/or developing a scalable business model.

Recommended agenda items: Review the improved pitch Discuss how the presentation, the 30 second pitch and the lessons learned so far from the business model canvas and customer interviews can be linked to pivots, and also to communication and recruiting future partners, investors, and team members.

Identify likely financing sources and strategies for getting in front of the financing sources.

Homework Introduce the GUST profile, as it is a tool to have investors understand the company.

Assign entrepreneurs to complete the profile over the next month, and you’ll review it at meeting 5.

Assign the entrepreneur to complete 4 more customer development interviews and log them into Launch Pad Central.


Meeting five:Online presence for investors: The Gust Profile Page and financialsRecommended agenda items:Review the Gust Profile Page. Could parts be made stronger?

Specifically focus on the financial information the entrepreneur would share with the investor via GUST. Advise them on what to share and how much. How to value their company, discuss their profitability, and other key numbers that should be presented.

Homework: The entrepreneurs polish and improve their GUST Page

Assign the entrepreneur to complete 4 more customer development interviews and log them into Launch Pad Central.


Meeting six:Final review, closing, and next steps

Recommended agenda items:Review the progress the entrepreneurs have made over the 6 months. They should have created a great investor pitch, a confident and clear 30 second pitch, a fantastic online presence, and be ready to strike forward to gain new partnerships.

Recognize together the areas where the entrepreneurs still needs to work.

Create a plan of action with the entrepreneur.

Closing business:Clarify how you’d like to stay involved as the mentorship program closes.

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Ongoing mentorship guide - mentor edition