Upcoming Mentoring Events
February 16th, 2012 (12:00 p.m.) - Elevator Pitch Practice (BizTech - Huntsville)
February 2012 TBA - IP Protection and Managing Risk (EDPA - Webinar)
February 23rd, 2012 (6:00 p.m.) - Elevator Pitch Contest (BizTech - Huntsville)
March 2012 TBA - Seeking Venture Funds for Startups (EDPA - Webinar)
March 15th, 2012 (6:00 p.m.) - Your Business Plan on 1 page (BizTech - Huntsville)
April 10th, 2012 (6:00 p.m.) - Funding Pitch (BizTech - Huntsville)
To attend an event, you must register with the organization holding that event. The contact information for each is listed below.
BizTech - (256) 704-6000 or www.biztech.org
Alabama Launchpad - (205) 943-4700
Mentoring Coordinators
State Coordinator
Greg Sheek
Alabama Launchpad Coordinator
Economic Development Partnership of Alabama
205.943.4724
gsheek@edpa.org
Auburn Region
Phil Dunlap
Assistant Director
Auburn Research and Technology Foundation
334.844.7462
tpd0007@auburn.edu
Birmingham Region
Steve Ceulemans
Vice President, Innovation and Technology
Birmingham Business Alliance
205.241.8122
sceulemans@birminghambusinessalliance.com
Huntsville Region
Gary Tauss
Executive Director
BizTech Business Incubator
256.704.600
gary@biztech.org
Mobile Region
Steve Russell
Director of Business Retention and Expansion
Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
251.431.8654
srussell@mobilechamber.com
What is Mentoring?
Aspiring entrepreneurs developing a company from scratch have to learn business functions they’ve never done before, and apply themselves personally in new ways. Mentoring is the passing along of one person’s knowledge to another. It is person-to-person teaching that is job specific. The mentor has either greater experience in the same field or discipline as the mentee, or the mentor has experience in different fields than the mentee. In both cases, the mentor can fast-track the learning curve for the mentee by providing situation-specific advice and guidance that speeds up the progress of the plan toward the goal. Whether it is market development, sales strategies, operations, business planning or insider industry knowledge, the information comes from people who have “been there and done that”.
To the best of our ability we select mentors based on specific needs of each participating team. Mentors volunteer to “give back” by sharing their experience and providing valuable insights and perspectives. They know the predictable pitfalls, have access to higher level resources and professional services, and in general have a more sophisticated perspective to offer the entrepreneur or founding team.
What is Expected of a Mentor?
As a mentor you are expected to promptly contact the Launchpad team leader assigned to you and initiate your mentoring relationship. We expect you to begin with a personal reading of the latest version of the team’s plan, and then to hold a face-to-face visit with the team to discuss their plan and offer your guidance. Additional telephone calls, emails and face-to-face visits will be necessary as the team moves its plan along the track with your continued involvement and guidance. Geography, your schedule and the team members’ schedules will make this difficult at times. Remember that the teams face deadlines that are inflexible. A call is always better than a cancelled face-to-face meeting. At the very least, we hope for you to have two, one-hour meetings with your team during this time with at least one being in person.
In turn, Launchpad has set expectations of its teams for their involvement with you. We expect them to respond to your calls, to actively seek your guidance, to respect your time, and to travel to the necessary face-to-face meetings if that is best for you.
Growing a new company requires flexibility. The mentor’s job is not managing, leading, delegating, or doing. Rather, it is that of advising, persuading, counseling, and guiding. Most of all, it is recognizing that not all of the information you present will be well received by the team, and they may choose to ignore some or all of it.
Indeminification
The team has agreed to indemnify and hold harmless Alabama Launchpad and its individual mentors from any claim, action, liability, or suit arising from actions taken by the team as a result of mentoring provided by you.
Confidentiality
Mentors will use their best efforts to maintain confidentiality of the team’s proprietary information. The team will use its best efforts to keep mentors advised of information they consider proprietary. Keep in mind that, in many cases, the objective is to provide additional information to the mentee about things outside their field, which should require little disclosure of proprietary information to the mentor.
Mentor-Company Relationship
- Alabama LaunchPad maintains a high standard of ethics with respect to its teams, and expects the same from its volunteer mentors.
- A mentor will receive no cash payments, nor negotiate for future payments, for his/her mentoring services.
Mentors:
Greg Sheek
205.943.4724
gsheek@edpa.org
