Having said this, I went through a phase were all I did was look for one and had little luck. You will find that the more networking events you go to, the more contacts you’ll pick up and so on.

I’ve had a couple of mentors (not officially though…) that I’ve kept in contact with. I find that not actually asking them to “be my mentor” and just talking on the same level as them works quite well. Trust me, if you show them or tell them something that will impress them other then your idea, they will see you as one of their contacts and not some young “kid”. Mention a deal that you’ve done or a ruthless decision that you had to made. Make the person you want help from think that they can trust you if they have a questions one day.

Since entrepreneurs aren’t limited to just one idea, it’s useful to have several key contacts in different sectors that will help you. So over the years I’ve worked pretty hard at maintaining the relationships I’ve built with people since I worked so hard looking for them. I’ve got this one friend who seems to know everything. His idea to get into the “in” crowd was to start up a charity and it worked really well.

If you’ve got an idea or concept find a person you want advice from and bring them into the deal. Bring something to the table before you speak to them though because otherwise, you’ll just be a pain to them and they will feel as though they need to do all the work. It worked for me. Know I’ve doing a JV with someone in the media business. Its not what they can do for you, rather what you can do for them.

Another thing and I think that Pete Williams at the Hive on February 3, 2009 said it best “if you like someone’s thinking or idea, just pick up the phone and call them”. That’s someone I adhere quite rigorously. I just call them, touch base and say “lets get a coffee and chat”. Can’t hurt.

Yes you are correct, not everyone is clear about what they want, even established companies change their goals along the way, which is perfectly natural. As for contacts, you don’t need a mentor for that, I know 18 year old kids who go to networking events and get a lot of business cards. So, as you see, with the internet, more networking events and the decreased harm of little failures, the importance of mentors is slowly fading away.

By the way, good luck during your journey, I’m sure it’ll be fun.

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