Inside a Mizzou Venture Mentoring Service Meeting
This article appeared in print as part of “Mentor & Mentee”
Olivia Vann, co-founder and chief marketing officer for the 2BuyAg mobile application, had some instant feedback for fellow co-founder and CEO Kim Harrison after a recent meeting with the company’s mentors from the Mizzou Venture Mentoring Service — mainly the observation that Harrison got a little heated when one of the mentors questioned an aspect of their business.
“Olivia says to me, ‘Wow, that was a little bit of a defensive answer. You need to chill out,’” Harrison says, with a laugh. “We’re learning how to not take it personally.”
Entrepreneurs have very definite ideas about how they want to structure their businesses. Mentors have very definite ideas about what has worked for them in the past, and, sometimes, that can run counter to deeply held beliefs on the part of the entrepreneurs.
Hence, friction.
“We have some baby boomer mentors who’ve been successful in life, then this 23-year-old college junior coming out challenging — it’s a different mindset,” VMS co-director Greg Tucker says. “Sometimes there are chemistry issues that we work out and handle. We may give them information or advice they don’t agree with. They don’t have to listen.”
The VMS counters monolithic viewpoints on the part of its mentors by striving for diversity in age, gender, and background. It also makes sure to match each project with multiple mentors so that entrepreneurs are fielding questions and hearing solutions from more than one source.
“It’s good for the entrepreneurs to actually hear that they’re discussing between themselves on issues, so they know there isn’t just one right or wrong answer,” says Bill Turpin, director of the Missouri Innovation Center. “The tendency is, when you only have one mentor, that when the mentor suggests something, you kind of feel like you have to do it.”
Jonathan Cisco, who created the Cisco Consulting academic consulting firm with his wife, Jayme, says he has never felt as if he was being talked down to in a session. It was more of a give-and-take than a lecture, with both sides respecting each other’s opinions.
“Everybody walks out smiling, so it’s good,” Vann says.