I’ve mentored many young entrepreneurs and executives. I do that for the fun and rewarding experience more than anything.
My approach
I don’t provide answers or conclusions.I tend to give the individual the toolbox to reach the conclusions himself. My objective is not to mentor that individual forever, but rather to build the confidence and the ability to analyze situations in a critical manner and reach conclusions independently.
I think the process is more important than getting to the right answers, and, in my experience, not always there’s a right answer. I’m good at asking the questions that facilitate the process and share some of my own experience.
The value i bring – Early Stage
Having met many entrepreneurs and startups, i usually bring value in validating the idea, thinking about its execution, strengths and weaknesses and the ability to execute. I help the entrepreneurs figure out what’s important and focus.
It is very easy to get caught-up in the things you like and are good at: design, building a website, coding, adding product features etc. Are these things most important for you to test your idea ?
I’ve mentioned here that a startup is a bunch of assumptions that need to be proven. I tend to help entrepreneurs figure out how to prove/dis-prove their assumptions.
Having seen many pitches, and being a good communicator, i then help entrepreneurs get the most out of their pitch and build a concise and compelling pitch.
Recent startups i’ve worked with include an e-commerce platform, a B2B SaaS company, reviews and recommendations platform etc.
Some of the incubators i’m currently mentoring at include Startup Monthly and the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid.
The Value I bring – Established corporations
Having identified and built new businesses for companies previously, i bring a good combination of strategy and execution: Analyzing customers, competitors and core strengths and finding potential strategies as well as go-to-market channels to execute on these opportunities.
Having been a corporate entrepreneur, i’ frequently advise companies on corporate innovation.
Some of my recent consulting projects:
- Establishment of an innovation center of a US mobile operator
- Turnaround of a $200M acquisition
- Mobile strategy & monetization of a gaming company
- Identification of new market opportunities and streamline operations of a VoIP company
- Identification of growth engines to increase the enterprise value of a $4B public company
Shani's Business Review (SBR) 