How Startups in NH could embrace mentorship to create a future generation of entrepreneurs
by Jeffrey Vocell, NewHampshireStartups.com
Mentorship is the center of any ecosystem. It fosters transparent communication – generally between mentees and entrepreneurs, angel investors, and venture capitalists. Mentorships also foster growth in the mentee that becomes contagious within an organization.
As an avid follower of local start-ups, I am inspired by the ideas and passion of entrepreneurs. My good friend and entrepreneur, Jason Evanish from Greenhorn Connect sums up start-up spirit in “How to Cultivate a Generation of Mentors and Angels” blog article thusly:
“I think it starts with mentors and continues with angels. We need more of both if we’re going to spark the next generation of leaders. Passion and energy only takes you so far. You need those who have been there before to help you along the way and seed investment to get many of our businesses off the ground.”
New Hampshire companies can help entrepreneurs by dedicating time, resources and even setting up on on-going mentoring system. Reach out to local universities and find our how you can mentor bright minds today so they can lead companies tomorrow.
But, how do we create a system to bring together all these people? In my opinion the new “12 x 12” program in Massachusetts is the first step. We do not have the same critical mass in New Hampshire, so maybe we create a smaller version… let’s say 4 x 4. Set up a web-portal that will be endorsed by venture capitalists, angel investors, CEO’s, and anyone else willing to be a mentor. From there, we open up this portal to anyone looking for mentorship. The web-portal would feature questions that screen for experience, interest area, and contact information. From this system, we could roll it out to colleges in New Hampshire to help create this future generation of entrepreneurs.
Additionally, we should encourage our college systems to foster entrepreneurial spirit. How? It could be done in multiple ways such as creating a class that combines Computer Science majors with Business majors. Most high-tech companies start with engineers, and from there bring in business people that they surround themselves with. We could also teach an “entrepreneurship 101” to engineers (developers, programmers, etc) to really help them get a business off the ground.
Part of the work I described is already underway in one form or another. In fact, through a series of events and programs, not necessarily all mentor focused, first-time entrepreneurs can be helped to make the leap to begin creating a company. Additionally, serial entrepreneurs can continue to do so. When recently speaking with Mark Troy – Founder of Piehead for a story on my blog, he mentioned that he enjoys meeting with local entrepreneurs and discussing the idea of mentoring. Troy said “I really enjoy investing time in local entrepreneurs that really show drive and motivation.”
We have a fantastic amount of technical talent in New Hampshire. Lets’ get behind people and give them the resources, and push necessary to carry out their vision not only through mentorship, but events, co-working space and innovation happening around the state in all sectors. The recently launched Green Launching Pad, designed to help propel green companies to market is a much needed resource. In fact, we could use more Green Launching Pad’s for different sectors as well. Best of luck and happy starting up!
PS. Congratulations to Piehead on their new website launch, recent hires and related press.
