article thumbnail

7 Strategies For Making A Mentoring Relationship Work

Startup Professionals Musings

I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness.

Mentor 151
article thumbnail

5 Keys To Maximizing Your Impact In People Mentoring

Startup Professionals Musings

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. Team members need your critique of their work to learn, but attacking the person is never productive.

Mentor 124
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

10 Traits Demonstrate Entrepreneur Character Strength

Startup Professionals Musings

As I was watching the investor show, Shark Tank , on TV the other night, I was struck by how quickly and how extensively the sharks focused on the background and character of the entrepreneurs, compared to time spent evaluating their products. Shares views and learns from a personal mentor.

article thumbnail

6 Ways To Make You An Entrepreneur Before The Product

Startup Professionals Musings

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. In fact, some totally avoid it, assuming their product or solution will speak for itself later.

Product 127
article thumbnail

8 Types of Aspiring Entrepreneurs Who Will Not Start

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.” Pragmatists create a minimum viable product (MVP), test it in the market and iterate to success.

article thumbnail

10 Steps To A Productive Mentor-Mentee Experience

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur can learn from a mentor, no matter how confident or successful they have been to date. Even one of the richest, Bill Gates , still values his friend Warren Buffett as his mentor. Yet these relationships require special efforts on both sides to be productive and satisfying.

Mentor 103
article thumbnail

8 Unpublicized Strategies From Serious Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

The message I hear publicly from most entrepreneurs is that you have to think outside the box and take big risks to ever beat the odds and be among the less than ten percent that experience real success. Serious entrepreneurs will privately admit the business is first, and the family second. All risks are not the same.