Slides presented during the first pre-workshop webinar for the Rwanda 2016 cohort.

1. Pre-workshop Session 1:
Overview of Xcelerator Training
Program and Mentoring
January 27, 2106

2. VentureWell supports early-stage, socially beneficial science and
technology innovators, their ventures, and the innovation and
entrepreneurship ecosystems that are critical to their success.

3. Xcelerator-to-date
Saving Lives at Birth (USAID)
• 4 Cohorts (53 Teams)
– Arusha, January 2014 (Round 1) – 11 Teams
– DC, July 2013 (Rounds 1 and 2) – 12 Teams
– DC, August 2014 (Round 3) – 16 Teams
– Blantyre, January 2015 (Round 4) – 14 Teams
Grand Challenges Explorations (BMGF)
• 5 Cohorts (77 Teams)*
– February 2014 (Phase I) – 20 Teams
– April 2014 (late Phase I) – 14 Teams
– May 2014 (Phase II) – 13 Teams
– June 2015 (Phase I) – 19 Teams
– September 2015 (Phase II) – 11 Teams
* All workshops for the GCE awardees conducted in Seattle

4. Xcelerator team
DatLaura
CaraKD

5. Xcelerator role
XceleratorKnowledge
Skills
Community
Credit: noun project

6. Xcelerator goals
Transform SL@B/GCE project into
validated global health innovation
Introduce & sustain global health
innovation in target market
1
2

7. Xcelerator framework

8. Program phases
Orientation Workshop Coaching &
Mentorship
I II III
6 weeks 4 days 4-6 months
• Getting to know each other
• Self-assessment
• Role of mentorship
• Overview of global health market

9. Program phases
Orientation Workshop Coaching &
Mentorship
I II III
6 weeks 4 days 4-6 months

10. Key outputs
• Initial strategy map targeting 3 goals:
– Validating innovation
– Generating interest & demand
– Introducing & sustaining innovation
• Action plan for post-workshop coaching
& mentorship
– Own mentors or VentureWell-facilitated
mentors
– Xcelerator community peer-mentors

11. Our hope & expectation
?
?
? ?

12. Mentoring – It Works!

13. If this is mentoring . . .
• A process and a relationship, whereby more
experienced colleagues provide educational
and/or professional development support.
• When, in your past, have you experienced
mentoring?

14. Mentoring: A quick overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=6uwCuR5sazU

15. To clarify further . . .
Mentoring IS:
– Building a relationship, over
time (trusting enough to be fully
honest and candid)
– Seeking a sounding board to
help you identify and access
appropriate outside resources
and information
– Following up on connections
suggested to broaden your
viewpoint
– Like any start-up: sometimes it
works and sometimes it doesn’t
Mentoring IS NOT having
someone:
– Giving instructions, or telling
you what to do (your mentor is
neither your boss nor your god)
– Taking over your good ideas,
co-opting or your joining your
team
– Available to you, 24/7, to walk
you through every issue
(including breaking up with
your girlfriend)

16. Mentoring is a proven way to enhance the
possibility of success in start-ups.
This graph is from the Startup Genome Report (University of Michigan’s CENTER
FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP), a study based on data from 650+ startups. It shows
the amount of funding startups have raised, based on whether they have helpful
Mentors or not. And the result is, not surprisingly, that startups with no helpful
mentors raise very little money.

17. Get yourself ready to be mentored.
Are you . . .
– willing to be honest and authentic?
– able to turn down the volume on your reactive
responses?
– willing to stretch out of your comfort zone?
– well-prepared and respectful of the value of time?
– able to trust confidentiality – in both directions?
– able to make decisions for yourself?

18. What are you seeking from a
mentor?
• On-going, professional mentoring can
address a variety of needs:
v Strategic Guidance: identifying and correcting gaps in your team’s
business knowledge and understanding
v Tactical Guidance: Connecting you to other people; pushing you to
aggressively validate your assumptions; challenging your conclusions
and assumptions
v “Spot” or issue-oriented mentoring: Referral to specific content and/or
connections; often shorter-term and direct skill-building
– ALL mentoring is a two-way, mutual relationship
– Benefits flow in BOTH directions

19. So what does mentoring look like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9PJ-
W_Luao

20. Starting your mentoring
relationship
• BRIEFLY introduce yourself and your team;
• Have a short ‘pitch speech’ ready to deliver
• Describe, concisely, where you are in the process
• Ask about her/his experience but recognize that
you may need to go in a different direction
• Keep from being defensive – take in what is
being said
• Set mutually agreed-upon norms for your
relationship
• Follow through, report back, and express
appreciation

21. Building your mentoring
relationship, over time
• Always go into a conversation with a question or
roadblock on which you are seeking perspective
• Be prepared for your conversations to take a U-turn
• Don’t fixate on outcomes, but if you’re concerned that
a priority you wanted to address is not being covered,
respectfully ask about it
• At the end of each conversation, review your action
items and confirm plans for your next contact
• After a pre-established period of time, check in to see
how the relationship is working for all parties
involved

22. Use your resources
In addition to a wide range of resources available online, here
are items you may find helpful:
• “Establishing a Mentoring Relationship” – how to get started”
• “Mentoring – Evaluating the Relationship” – a template for
checking in to see how the relationship is functioning
• “So You’ve Been Asked To Be a Mentor . . .” – some basic
information for a potential mentor, including references to
helpful articles on the web
• “Expert Advice for Mentors” – Do’s and Don’ts directed at
mentors, but also useful for mentees
– For a robust understanding, watch Michael Skok’s “Startup
Secrets: Mastering the Gift of Mutual Mentorship”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWVCWP16iVo

23. HAVE FUN!
and ask lots of good questions

24. VentureWell Xcelerator
Community
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/846196