Karla says effective mentors give honest, critical feedback as an act of caring and draw on real experience with both wins and failures. A thriving startup ecosystem needs mentors who spot opportunities beyond their region and help founders see national and international markets.
What are your experiences with mentoring? Why is it important? Why do you do it, Karla?
Well, I mean, I think it's really understanding— what's important about mentoring is really bringing on the person to take an entrepreneurial mindset. And the mindset I mean is problem solving. That's what you do on a day-to-day basis. Understanding that is a lot easier said than done. You need to really have people who accept the fact that when you're giving them some critical feedback, that means that it's because you care and you're not doing it just to be a bad person. I think mentoring is the key focus for a good ecosystem. We need real mentors, we need real people who have tried it, who have done it, who have failed, who understand what's going on, who understand the opportunities not only on a national level but on an international level, what's going on in other places, understand also where they could find opportunities in other markets. They might have a good idea that might not be for one region, but it could well be for another region. But you need people who are able to understand.
