The value of mentors

This morning, as we are about to embark on the first class of Launch Pad Ignition, I got to thinking about the mentors who are helping to get me to the finish line with Ignition, which is a startup itself.

I’ve had many mentors in my life, and now more than ever as we move into uncharted territory, I’m leaning on them, and they are responding.  A mentor is a person who:

  • sends you an email, asking “how’s it going?” out of the blue
  • shows up when its a big day for you, at a talk, a presentation or a pitch
  • responds to your email within minutes, not weeks
  • introduces you to people they think you should know, without you asking
  • and most of all… genuinely cares about your success

At SXSW and over the last week as Ignition is hitting its stride and the pressure & stress level rising, I felt my network kick in.

  • Schlaf was making connections to StartupBus folks, and making sure I got into the AOL Ventures party at SXSW
  • Jann Schwartz took me under his wing at SXSW, making great intros and being an advocate for what we are doing
  • Brad Feld emailing me at 10:30pm last night engaging me in Startup America
  • Leslie Jacobs helped us work through our term sheet
  • Elon Boms said “let’s make this happen in New Orleans”
  • Tony Ciaccio and Big Sam drove all the way from NOLA to make sure our party was a hit
  • Taylor Davidson swung by the NOLA party, shared where he was personally, and his excitement about engaging our founders
  • Eric Marcoullier pinged me to ask “how’s Ignition going?”  to which I replied “great! when are you coming down?”
  • Andrew Hyde made sure my core convo at SXSW went well, from the iPod tunes to start to keeping the convo flowing
  • John Barnett & Brent McCrossen hanging at Capdeville with Pete, constantly checking in with us

So, thank you to all of you. I feel the value of mentors.  People rooting for you to succeed, and making sure they are taking an active, not passive role in it.

I can’t wait to personally play this role and see the impact of it next week when Ignition kicks off.

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