MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS

The Venture Asheville mentorship program supports Asheville startups across multiple industries including mobile & web technologies, IT, digital media, advanced manufacturing, and biotechnology.

WHY MENTORING?

We believe mentorship programs are a key resource to develop entrepreneurs and scale companies. Mentors provide expertise and guidance in numerous areas including:

  • General business coaching
  • Customer development & value proposition
  • Sales/business development/marketing
  • Technology/product validation
  • Business model
  • Go-To-Market
  • Financial planning & funding
  • Recruiting & building the team
  • Completing and refining investor presentation
  • Elevator pitch coaching

Typically, great mentors are those who enjoy making connections to new, exciting start-ups, keep up with current industry trends, maintain their own broad networks of contacts, and believe in the concept of paying it forward, which specifically means they believe in volunteering their time and expertise to help the next generation of entrepreneurs succeed. Mentorship programs are designed to efficiently utilize mentors’ time and effectively match mentors with startups that fit their interests and expertise. Mentors meet with entrepreneurs once every three weeks for up to two hours. Initial commitments run for three months, at which time, both the mentor and the entrepreneurs can determine whether they wish to continue the mentorship program together. If not, reassignments can be made that optimize the program for both mentors and entrepreneurs.

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS

We look for experienced entrepreneurs and executives. Mentors have experience in creating and/or building companies and often have deep functional experience. They typically fall into one of several categories:

  • Entrepreneurs with experience in multiple startups
  • Individuals with a wealth of industry-specific experience
  • Knowledge experts with deep functional experience in areas such Accounting, Finance, Marketing, IT, Infrastructure, Operations, Legal, etc.
  • Launch experts with experience investing funds in and/or raising funds for startup companies.

If you’re interested in becoming involved in our mentorship programs, please contact us to learn more. The program is managed by Josh Dorfman. Contact him via email or call (828) 258-6137.

 

 

 

Mentors are committed to Asheville’s future. They play a key role in growing the local economy and positioning Asheville as a dynamic, world class destination for high- growth companies.

Interested in Mentoring? Get in touch!

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