I’m often approached by entrepreneurs who are looking for mentors. A common misconception is that mentors are difficult to find. I always tell them that they’re just not trying hard enough. Colorado is full of experienced entrpereneurs and the vast majority of them are happy to help other entrepreneurs when asked. When approaching individuals that you think can help your business, they key is to build a real relationship with them. I’ve talked about this before in my post Find and Engage Great Mentors – it’s one of my personal favorites from this blog.
Techstars is mentorship on steroids, but alas: we only take about ten companies a year. So I’m often asked about other programs that offer a mentorship-based approach here in Colorado. One really great one that I was recently made aware of is TiE-Rockies – they appear to have a good mentorship program of their own.
Here’s a blurb from them:
TiE-Rockies, a chapter of TiE-Global–the largest organization in the world that supports entrepreneurs–has been recognized as having the best Mentoring Program of all the chapters. Membership is only $175 per year and this includes the award-winning one-on-one Mentoring Program. Every entrepreneur should have a Mentor and if you live in Colorado, this is a program you cannot afford to miss. If you don’t live in Colorado, all the national TiE chapters are adopting Colorado’s unique Mentoring Program. If there is a chapter near you, check out their Mentoring Program.
There’s also the Boulder Innovation Center, CTEK, and more that you should check out. Nicole Glaros also has a good list of resources towards the bottom of this page on her blog.
However you do it, finding and engaging great mentors with relevent experience can make a huge difference to you and your company. I wish I had known this when I started my first company – it’s one of those life lessons that most people learn the hard way. Go get a mentor for your business, or better yet, go get several.
