4 ms·

The Mentor Manifesto

51 points by dshah 15y ago

hollerith 15y ago
>I’ve been running TechStars for six years now. . . . we’ve seen those companies go on to raise about $100M in funding (averaging about $1M each post TechStars) I would have been more interested to read about valuations than about amounts raised.
- chrismanfrank 15y ago
  me too. but it's possible a lot of these startups raised with convertible notes, and so would not have valuations yet.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- matusz13 15y ago
  while they haven't gone through the trouble of posting valuations (I agree, it would be nice to see) they do have a results page http://www.techstars.org/results/ http://www.techstars.org/results/
- champion 15y ago
  TechStars gathers some info on their results to date: http://www.techstars.org/results/ http://www.techstars.org/results/
riffraff 15y ago
for a moment I've been wondering why "The Conscience of a Hacker"[0] had become popular again. [0] http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=txt http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=...
- olalonde 15y ago
  I was thinking exactly the same. For those who haven't heard of it before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto
cek 15y ago
Be socratic. Listen too. In my mind these two are basically the same and I'd summarize them as "Use the 70/30 rule. Listen 70% of the time and talk only 30%". Expect nothing in return (you’ll be delighted with what you do get back). To me this is what differentiates great mentors from others more than anything.
- nl 15y ago
  Be socratic This specifically refers to the idea of questioning in order to find the underlying truth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method That is different to just listening, or even the 70/30 rule. Being Socratic means actively questioning the assumptions and model of the mentee, rather than trying to build on their assumptions with your ideas.
  - cek 15y ago
    I totally understand that. I was implying that to be Socratic you need to listen a lot more than you talk. Ask a question and then listen.
jseliger 15y ago
I'd add a "mentee manifesto" too, since mentorship is a proverbial two-way street. I actually wrote an essay on that topic from an education perspective: "How to get your Professors’ Attention — along with Coaching or Mentoring" (http://jseliger.com/2010/10/02/how-to-get-your-professors%E2%80%99-attention-or-how-to-get-the-coaching-and-mentorship-you-need/ http://jseliger.com/2010/10/02/how-to-get-your-professors%E2...) because I noticed that some students systematically make mistakes they may not be aware of when it comes to seeking mentors or advice.

51 points by dshah 15y ago

>I’ve been running TechStars for six years now. . . . we’ve seen those companies go on to raise about $100M in funding (averaging about $1M each post TechStars) I would have been more interested to read about valuations than about amounts raised.

chrismanfrank 15y ago
me too. but it's possible a lot of these startups raised with convertible notes, and so would not have valuations yet.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
matusz13 15y ago
while they haven't gone through the trouble of posting valuations (I agree, it would be nice to see) they do have a results page http://www.techstars.org/results/ http://www.techstars.org/results/
champion 15y ago
TechStars gathers some info on their results to date: http://www.techstars.org/results/ http://www.techstars.org/results/

riffraff 15y ago

for a moment I've been wondering why "The Conscience of a Hacker"[0] had become popular again. [0] http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=txt http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=...

olalonde 15y ago
I was thinking exactly the same. For those who haven't heard of it before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto

cek 15y ago

Be socratic. Listen too. In my mind these two are basically the same and I'd summarize them as "Use the 70/30 rule. Listen 70% of the time and talk only 30%". Expect nothing in return (you’ll be delighted with what you do get back). To me this is what differentiates great mentors from others more than anything.

nl 15y ago
Be socratic This specifically refers to the idea of questioning in order to find the underlying truth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method That is different to just listening, or even the 70/30 rule. Being Socratic means actively questioning the assumptions and model of the mentee, rather than trying to build on their assumptions with your ideas.
- cek 15y ago
  I totally understand that. I was implying that to be Socratic you need to listen a lot more than you talk. Ask a question and then listen.

jseliger 15y ago

I'd add a "mentee manifesto" too, since mentorship is a proverbial two-way street. I actually wrote an essay on that topic from an education perspective: "How to get your Professors’ Attention — along with Coaching or Mentoring" (http://jseliger.com/2010/10/02/how-to-get-your-professors%E2%80%99-attention-or-how-to-get-the-coaching-and-mentorship-you-need/ http://jseliger.com/2010/10/02/how-to-get-your-professors%E2...) because I noticed that some students systematically make mistakes they may not be aware of when it comes to seeking mentors or advice.