As the sixth session of Fledge nears completion, it’s time to remind the world that the program would not be as useful without all the visitors. In the world of accelerators, we call all these people “mentors”, whether they meet with the team every week or just stop by to share some advice.
Having that one single accolade keeps everything simple and egalitarian, but doesn’t quite spread the thanks as unevenly as is deserved.
Thank you to those mentors who come to every sessions. Who provide the backbone of service. Who jump right into week one, challenging the fledglings on their basic assumptions.
Thank you to those mentors who help with identity, from new company names to new logos, and tag lines, or simply new messaging to clarify the true purpose of the fledgling business.
Thank you to all the pitch coaches, whose collective opinions seem in conflict, but whose individual guidance is invaluable.
Thank you to the investors, who educate the fledgling in the rituals and processes of fundraising.
And most of all, thank you to the one-off, highly-specialized mentors, who provide advice that no fledgling ever expected to receive. Conscious compensation and profit sharing. Theater direction. Singing lessons.
One of our prides as Fledge is that our mentor network goes well beyond fellow startup CEOs and Angel investors, including deep knowledge and experience that comes in useful in the crazy world of starting startups.
[UPDATE: A special thank you to one amazing, humble mentor who was able to get to the key issue in any startup business model, able to provide guidance to coach a pitch in the right direction. We’ll miss you TedW.]