Mentorship can be the difference between a startup succeeding or failing. The road to entrepreneurship is filled with countless obstacles and challenges, making it an incredibly risky and uncertain journey. But with the right guidance and support, these challenges can become opportunities for growth and success.

Mentorship in startups refers to a relationship between an experienced individual (mentor) and a less experienced person (mentee) who is looking to learn and grow in the world of startups and entrepreneurship.

The mentor provides guidance, knowledge, skill, experience, support, and advice to the mentee, helping them navigate the ups and downs of starting a new business; to develop and grow.

Mentors are generally people who have been entrepreneurs, and who can help founders to take informed decisions based on their experience.

Bill Gates The Harvard drop-out credits part of his success to his mentor, businessman and investor, Warren Buffet.

In 2011, upon Steve Jobs’s death, Mark Zuckerberg posted ‘Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.’ When Facebook was facing an existential crisis in the mid-2000's, it was Steve who gave him a specific solution to a specific problem at a specific time.

Back in 400 BC Socrates mentored Plato – Plato mentored Aristotle. Gopal Krishna Gokhale mentored Mahatma Gandhi.

Michelle Robinson (better known now as Michelle Obama), was designated as Barack’s mentor at the law firm which they both worked at while he was a summer associate. Barack often credits Michelle today as being the support and success behind his great achievements.

An entrepreneur requires an advisor when no clear-cut solution is visible, and an understanding of the overall context, coordination with stakeholders and execution is required to solve a challenging situation.

Mentoring is incredibly powerful and important for career success and effective progression. A mentor is a superset of a consultant and an advisor. His relationship with the founder is to be a sounding board, friend, philosopher, coach, guide and confidant.

This is a relationship which is built on mutual trust and confidence. The founder needs to have an open mind, not to be bogged down by ego and understand that the mentor is there to support him think through solutions during difficult times.

Issues such as dealing with conflicts within the team, departure of key employees, relationship with board members, and many other emotionally stressful are when a founder can benefit enormously from a mentor.

Just as finding the correct co-founder is critical, getting access to a good mentor who can be your philosopher and guide in this journey. There is a lot more appreciation by potential investors at the fact that you have a mentor. It leaves a positive impact on the founder/CEO.

During my 25-year long career with L&T, I had the privilege to be a lead in many start-ups that we created withing the oceanic ecosystem. One of the key outputs in such ventures was building the team. We would initially pick up talents from within the organization in our own units or another one. Then, for the roles that we don't get the right candidate from our captive inventory of amazing people, we would give the indent to the HR Department to recruit.

Mentoring each member in the team to help them align with the business objectives of the start-up, and then guide them on how to leverage on team mates who are in the team because of their unique talents was a very fulfilling experience. I shall be sharing unique experiences in subsequent articles in this series.

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