Look at any competitive sports movie, be it Boxing, Basket Ball the most important role is not played by the protagonist or the Villain but their coach. Here is how a general sports based movie unfolds, the hero is a champion player, the hero suffers a crushing defeat and is left in ruins and finally his fate depends on an old wise coach who resurrects him again to victory.
The same story is replicated when we talk about the start up sphere, you get the funding you get a team the projects start to flock into your to do list and suddenly one fine day you meet a crushing defeat and this is exactly where you wish you had someone to train you back to your feet.
Mentors are not only important in supporting and picking you up in the testing times but to push you to do better, here is what Steve Jobs had to say in one of his iconic interviews.
“My job is not being easy on people my job is to take these people make them great and push them further so that they can be greater”.
Mentorship is not just a word that is associated with an old wise figure that guides you in your tough times, in today’s start up bubble companies look for employees are self motivated to act as mentors to their respective teams and to the company when required.
The question is who qualifies to mentor you?
Well someone who belongs to the same target audience your service serves or someone who has been in your shoes and had succeeded. Hatching Lab made a baffling released a baffling research where they revealed that 95% startups fail after getting their first major funding because of lack of a mentor.
No matter how pivotal your role as a CEO is and no matter how strong the protagonist is the company always needs a “Coach Carter” to steer their way out of testing times and to push your company to become a million dollar baby.