The value of mentors
This morning, as we are about to embark on the first class of Launch Pad Ignition, I got to thinking about the mentors who are helping to get me to the finish line with Ignition, which is a startup itself.
I’ve had many mentors in my life, and now more than ever as we move into uncharted territory, I’m leaning on them, and they are responding. A mentor is a person who:
sends you an email, asking “how’s it going?” out of the blue
shows up when its a big day for you, at a talk, a presentation or a pitch
responds to your email within minutes, not weeks
introduces you to people they think you should know, without you asking
and most of all… genuinely cares about your success
At SXSW and over the last week as Ignition is hitting its stride and the pressure & stress level rising, I felt my network kick in.
Schlaf was making connections to StartupBus folks, and making sure I got into the AOL Ventures party at SXSW
Jann Schwartz took me under his wing at SXSW, making great intros and being an advocate for what we are doing
Brad Feld emailing me at 10:30pm last night engaging me in Startup America
Leslie Jacobs helped us work through our term sheet
Elon Boms said “let’s make this happen in New Orleans”
Tony Ciaccio and Big Sam drove all the way from NOLA to make sure our party was a hit
Taylor Davidson swung by the NOLA party, shared where he was personally, and his excitement about engaging our founders
Eric Marcoullier pinged me to ask “how’s Ignition going?” to which I replied “great! when are you coming down?”
Andrew Hyde made sure my core convo at SXSW went well, from the iPod tunes to start to keeping the convo flowing
John Barnett & Brent McCrossen hanging at Capdeville with Pete, constantly checking in with us
So, thank you to all of you. I feel the value of mentors. People rooting for you to succeed, and making sure they are taking an active, not passive role in it.
I can’t wait to personally play this role and see the impact of it next week when Ignition kicks off.