10 Lessons We Have Learned Mentoring Startups

These days, everyone seems to be a startup mentor. Whether they have ever done a startup or not, whether they have ever raised money or not, they are ready to advise entrepreneurs.

I want to share some things we have learned in running the 1Mby1M program for the past twelve years. I feel that it may be useful for entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, advisors, mentors, and other players in the startup ecosystem to hear some of the highlights.

Throughout the years, we have continuously invited entrepreneurs to come speak with me about their business ideas during our Free Public Roundtables, held almost every Thursday starting at 8 a.m. PST. Serious entrepreneurs “pitch” and sell their business idea and receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any questions. Others “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat and all are welcome.

1. First, it is extremely difficult to give negative feedback to entrepreneurs without triggering a defensive reaction. I was not good at this when we started. I am very good at analyzing a business scenario, but I was never good at sugar coating the feedback in a way that is particularly nurturing or reassuring. Very early on in our experiments with online mentoring, we told entrepreneurs that this forum is for candid, constructive feedback, and that may include negative feedback. We don’t tell entrepreneurs what they want to hear. We tell them what they need to hear. While some egos get bruised, entrepreneurs have more or less accepted our approach, and have given us permission to ‘critique’ their ventures. I have, personally, gotten better at giving feedback in a palatable way. The biggest thing that has worked well is that we never, ever give negative input gratuitously. Everything has been in the spirit of helping both the entrepreneur(s) and the businesses grow. >>>

Featured Videos

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Seong Kim, Corporate Strategy & Development at Chegg Inc. (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s do some examples. What have you been up to in the last few years that illustrates some of this framework thinking?

Seong Kim: The most recent acquisition that we just announced was just over a week ago. It was the largest acquisition we’ve ever done in language learning. As a company that has its humble roots as a textbook business that had embarked on a massive transition to digital, all of that has been highlighted by the fact that we bet on the inevitable – the move towards digital learning and the need for democratized access to on-demand, affordable, self-guided contact as a companion to the learner.

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Video FAQs

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Seksom Suriyapa, Partner at Upfront Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s take this example that you started with. Who drives acquisition? Is it product leaders or corp dev? How do you find about this company that you ended up considering an OEM deal with that led to an acquisition?

Seksom Suriyapa: In a very perfect world, I advise that product leaders should drive an acquisition. The world is never perfect. One of the challenges on the sell side is to understand who is driving the acquisition. It’s a moving target and you get passed around a lot. In the case of Twitter specifically, it’s always the product leader who is the decider. Corp dev is there as a collaborator and driver of the deal.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Seong Kim, Corporate Strategy & Development at Chegg Inc. (Part 1)

Seong Kim, Corporate Strategy & Development for Chegg Inc. discusses exit strategy within EdTech.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with a little bit of introduction. What path have you pursued in the industry? Then we’ll get into some specific topics.

Seong Kim: I’ve been working in Corporate Strategy & Development for the past six and a half years. To me, it’s important to articulate my role in that way because the strategy part must lead the development part. The characteristic that most differentiates what I do now versus what I did prior is the strategy part.

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Seksom Suriyapa, Partner at Upfront Ventures (Part 1)

Seksom Suriyapa, Partner at Upfront Ventures, and formerly Head of Corp Dev at Twitter, SuccessFactors, and McAfee and Akamai discusses exit strategy from the buy-side perspective at length.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by having you talk a little bit about your background in corp dev doing acquisitions from the buy side from various significant companies before you switched to the venture side.

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