Become a Mentor

Do you have business or technical experience? Would you like to help starting entrepreneurs in their ventures? Read on…

• What is it?
• What will I get out of it?
• What are the commitments?
• I want to learn more, or participate

What is it?

Mentors are successful experts (entrepreneurs, and technical or marketing specialists), who have demonstrated that not only they excel in some key business or technical aspects, but that they can share that excellence, as well as advise on various aspects of technology start-ups.

Mentors are:

• Technical advisors;
• Experts in go-to-market deployments plans or international expansion;
• Experts in local markets and service providers;
• Advisors on investment and funding opportunities;
• Role-models and inspirational figures.

The presence of local mentors provides much-needed insight on how to move from a concept to a sustainable product, taking into account specific geographical parameters, and helping avoid the most common pitfalls. In particular, they provide advice on accessing local markets and specific capital. In contrast, international mentors increase the mentee’s expertise and share world-wide success stories. The presence of international mentors is likely to increase the level of trust in the program, and it will be a vector for raising global awareness for the start-ups that target markets spanning multiple countries.

Mentors cover three aspects of tech businesses: product development, company development, and customer development. Some of those aspects may require special attention, depending on the business in question. Specifically:

• Product development: device & API integrations, Technical review / innovations, e-commerce solutions, design.
• Company development: software development process, recruiting, finance, fund-raising and investments, internationalization.
• Customer development: market strategy, analytics and measurements, business development, marketing and communications.

We also seek mentors that have experience in different industries and markets, as this helps the start-ups that target them. Among the most important to consider are:

• Telcos;
• Agriculture;
• Banking;
• Healthcare;
• Education;
• Entertainment;
• Transport and travel;
• Media and communication;
• Government services.

What will I get out of it?

Mentors can get a lot out of the program.

• Using one’s specialist knowledge to help people specifically needing it is often found to be the first satisfaction experienced by mentors
• Being able to follow and assist the development of a new and innovative business in a possibly completely new different context with a great potential for growth in ICT
• Because multiple mentors may participate in the same cycle of collaboration with start-ups, they may be able to interact with each other and gain from cooperating on seeing the same business succeed.
• The experience gained can benefit mentors in their own endeavours on many levels: improvement in technical knowledge, if the mentees happen to work on cutting-edge applications, knowledge of new markets (including employment) in various parts of the world, and generally a more global awareness of their speciality field
• A deeper involvement can also be envisaged: mentors have total freedom as to what level of participation they offer. They may consider a financial investment if the mentored business shows promise.
• Thanks to the growing awareness of the Web Foundation’s Mobile Entrepreneurship Initiative, across Africa and within the ICT-for-development sector, being known as an official mentor is beginning to carry a certain weight in terms of personal reputation.
• The human experience is also not to be minimised and meeting and meeting and working with new people remains, for some, the best part of the program.

What are the commitments?

Mentors can join the program at any point in time. Following initial contacts through email and phone interviews, we assess the mentor’s experience and skills and find the best matches among the mentees.

During the mentorship period, mentors are requested to provide assistance to mentees as requested by them, within the limits of their time available. We ask the mentees to, at least, send weekly reports, and organise a meeting with their mentors, online or in person, every six months. See the terms and conditions for the mentees to find out more.

I want to learn more, or participate

Please contact Florence Toffa (ftoffa@mobilewebghana.org), Max Froumentin (maxf@webfoundation.org) or Franco Papeschi (franco@webfoundation.org). We’ll be happy to provide more detail, or to get you started.

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