Does having a mentor actually matter in business and startups?
Every top athlete has one (Lebron James, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams). And it turns out, so do most of the biggest names in tech.
Steve Jobs mentored Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook. Eric Schmidt mentored Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google and later credited that relationship as one of the key reasons Google scaled the way it did. Bill Campbell, known as "the Coach of Silicon Valley," mentored Jobs, Schmidt, Jeff Bezos, and dozens of other founders throughout his career.
A real pattern.
A great mentor gives you something no course, podcast, or book can fully replicate. Someone who has already made the mistakes you're about to make, and can help you avoid them. They compress years of learning into a single conversation. They challenge your thinking without a financial stake in the outcome. And sometimes, they open a door you didn't even know existed.
But not every mentor relationship works. Timing matters. What you need at pre-revenue is completely different from what you need at $1M ARR.
So I'm curious:
Do you have a mentor: and has it made a real difference?
At what stage do you think a mentor becomes truly valuable?
And what would you actually want from one: accountability, introductions, strategic thinking, or something else entirely?
Replies
minimalist phone: creating folders
Having a mentor is definitely something that can highly influence your next steps (hopefully, to the better).
But having first initial inspiration is good enough.
I remember how ordinary Instagram posts of some influencers made me take my first baby steps and not be like them. My English would be pretty poor, I wouldn't be exercising, and I wouldn't probably start doing business-related things.
Access to information through the Internet made it easier.
Of course, having a mentor from the very beginning would be ideal, but it becomes more serious when you want to scale to higher profits (and that's why YC, Antler and similar offer this option – because it is a kind of commitment). Tho I am curious whether there is any compensation for them or whether they are doing it for pro bono. Because I know also such innitiatives.
ZeroHuman.
@busmark_w_nika Oh yeah, access to information is super important. But that’s just the starting level. The mental struggles, having someone who’s already been down your path to share some insights, whether it’s worth it, whether you’re on the right track, which direction to take… that kind of guidance really matters. Or even just connecting you with the right people.
And yeah, joining organizations or accelerators is absolutely key for that exact reason. You get access to some incredible minds, which is priceless.
I YouTube'd Rob Walling and while mostly realistic I can find his discourse a bit demeaning to B2C companies. There's plenty of B2C SaaS companies that are successful but yes churn is always a problem in this area. The biggest challenge I see is how to tap into a large network and/or audience for my business without CAC spiraling.
ZeroHuman.
@stokestox Oh, yes! There are definitely many B2C products that are more than successful.
What is your product and what are your concerns? Are you more on the bootstrap path, trying to reach new users, or are you seeking VC funding with the goal of defending your metrics in front of investors?
@byalexai Thanks for your interest! Yes, bootstrapping 100% of my business, no VC or other capital.
My product is a platform where users can score their entire stock portfolio in seconds.
I am trying to reach users: retail traders who'd like to continually score and monitor their portfolio (or start a new one) and/or wealth managers who work with their clients. Companies like Webull and Robinhood are trading firms - I am on the quantitative research and development end with $0 marketing budget. My concern is customer acquisition the retention, CAC and cashburn for ongoing operations (even with minimal overhead, it still costs something!)
I'd say yes. But not just someone who's doing a more senior or experienced version of your job. What's really underrated is having a mentor who's from a completely different area of expertise. They might not be able to help you with "best practice" in your own field, but you'll learn so many left of field ways of approaching things that you'd never think of. It also makes the relationship more balanced in terms of reciprocity, because they learn about your field.
This is best paired with also having a mentor in your own field. Speaking from experience, I've rarely been managed by someone who understands my area of work, and it's been amazing learning from people who do different things. I've been extraordinarily lucky to benefit from the generosity of so many, but my biggest tip would be if you've got a willing mentor don't let their specialism put you off their support
ZeroHuman.
@vibedonkey I agree that sometimes having a mentor from a different field is a great solution. They’ve dealt with different problems, yet many of them are essentially similar.
But mentors from the same field shouldn’t be overlooked either. For example, it’s very common for tennis players to have as a mentor another tennis player who is 20–30 years older, has won Grand Slam titles, and now serves as a mentor. That person has already been in those finals and understands the psychological pressure you’re facing. So in business as well, it makes a lot of sense to look for someone who is working in exactly the same field as you.
ZeroHuman.
@hellobzec Yes, but in many cases AI sounds generic. A human has experience, has connections, has contacts, and has many numbers behind their failures/successes. Or do you still prefer AI?
No mentor, though I seriously wish I had one. Design and dev have always felt easier to wing, but I think that's partly a trap. A mentor could help a lot, but if they come in too early they can sap your enthusiasm for something you're still figuring out. Timing matters.
My gut says mentors become invaluable once your product is maturing and starting to face the public. That's when the stuff you can't just Google starts to matter.
As for the third question — I think I already gave it away — introductions and strategic thinking. Those feel life-changing for newer developers. Formal training tries to cover them but mostly can't. Having someone who actually opens doors and helps you think bigger? That's the gap. I think this touches at what @vibedonkey refers to as well.
ZeroHuman.
@vibedonkey @maliikb Interesting perspective. But don’t you think a mentor at the beginner level is also worth it? I mean someone who has simply gone through that 0–1 phase when you’re very early. But that person, for one reason or another, can’t really help you later on.
@vibedonkey @byalexai Yeah, I think you're onto something. The 0-1 phase is where you make the dumbest mistakes because you don't even know what you don't know yet. I spent way too long building in a vacuum when I should've been putting things in front of people sooner. A mentor at that stage probably isn't giving you grand strategy — they're just keeping you honest and telling you what to stop wasting time on.
I'd say mentors matter most when they've already failed at the specific thing you're trying to do, not just succeeded in the same industry.