PRAKASH NARAYAN
What to expect at MentorConnect: Do’s and Don’ts for Mentees
This year, at TiEcon 2024, we have brought together a fantastic group of luminaries who are willing to Mentor you in a near one-on-one setting. All of our Mentors are rock stars. We certainly hope that you derive the most out of this program. This blog post is intended to provide you the resources to navigate your time with the Mentor of your choice.
Mentors can provide their wisdom on management leadership skills, career success factors, industry insights, communication skills, best practices, and more. This is not an opportunity to “sell” your product / services to them.
You can find the details on all the Mentors (including their LinkedIn profiles) in the MentorConnect page. Here is a blog post that provides more information about Entrepreneur programs at TiEcon24.
MentorConnect takes place during lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 pm on Thursday, May 2nd and Friday, May 3rd at Hall A-1 (inside the Expo Hall). Volunteers of the MentorConnect Steering Committee will guide you to your table when you arrive at the location.
We have tried our best to allot a mentor of your choice to you. The slots are allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please do not switch from the mentor allotted to you.
Some of you have requested that we post “suggested questions” – to help you get started in your Mentoring Session. While these questions may help “break the ice”, please prepare for your Mentoring Session by writing down your questions in advance. Also, pace your questions. Please be respectful of the other people in the session. We have restricted the number of people per session to allow for deep and meaningful conversations. Please also be aware that not all questions are relevant / meaningful to all the Mentors. Each Mentor has a certain skill set and value. Clearly, you selected them as your choice based on the values that are meaningful to you.
- What do you do to challenge your underlying beliefs, paradigms and assumptions?
- How do you handle obstacles and roadblocks?
- What would be your advice to those who start late in their career as an entrepreneur?
- What do you wish you had known before taking your first management role?
- Can you tell me about a time when you had a difficult boss? How did you handle the situation?
- What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned and how has it proven invaluable?
- How do I prepare to be an entrepreneur (which invariably means trade-offs and sacrifices at many levels) against the comforts of a relatively steady job and also the demands of a certain quality of life? (mortgage, private schools, vacations, etc.)
- How important are networking and building relationships in the entrepreneurial journey, and what strategies do you recommend for effective networking?
- How do you go about validating your ideas?
- How do you stay resilient in the face of setbacks or failures, and what lessons have you learned from overcoming challenges in your entrepreneurial journey?
- How much capital does an entrepreneur need to raise in order to get started with operations?
- What are some of the successful marketing strategies that you have seen companies use in the early days to target consumers?
- What are your suggestions to early-stage start-ups as to the thresholds and criteria they must demonstrate before being considered for investment?
- How is valuation determined for seed startups?
- How and where do you find inspiration?
- How do you keep your feelings separate from your decision-making?
- How do you balance your work and home life?
- What skills have been most beneficial to you?
- Do you have a mentor? How have they influenced you?
- How do you encourage innovative ideas?
Lastly, please be respectful of the Mentors. They have been kind enough to offer their time from their busy schedules to participate in this program.
While "walk-ins" are allowed (as long you have a receipt for "proof of payment" for the MentorConnect AddOn), you will have limited ability to get a Mentor of your choice. We recommend that you register in advance - so that we can communicate with you to have the opportunity to select a Mentor for each day of the Conference.
We certainly hope that you have an enjoyable experience at TiEcon 2024.
