Become a Mentor

The CIE mentor program activities are managed by three committees:

1. Pipeline Committee identifies and recruits new entrepreneurs and reviews applications for mentor teams. Members include: Lisa Brandkamp, Charles Daniels, KT Goldthorpe, and Heather McWhorter.
2. Mentor Orientation Committee develops and provides the training and information materials for new mentor orientation, and is also responsible for developing guidelines and operating procedures. Members include: Barry Buzogany, Bill Knowles, Deb Mosca, and Heather McWhorter.
3. Mentor Madness Committee develops interactive events for all entrepreneurs. Members include: Krista Curtiss, Mary MacPherson, Heather McWhorter, Tracey Smith, and Cheryl Young

The CIE Mentor Program is funded in part by membership dues. Entrepreneurs and mentors are requested to join the CIE and participate as members.

Most of the ventures working with CIE Mentor Teams are ‘early stage startups’. Defining the stages of a startup is tricky. Not all startups follow the same steps and not everyone shares the same definition for ‘startup’. Depending on who you ask, early stage startups can include founders that have sent an e-mail about a great business idea – to ventures that have raised their first rounds of institutional funding.

Here’s a checklist of typical steps involved in the startup stages of a business:

1. Refine initial ideas
2. Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
3. Conduct alpha testing/customer discovery
4. Get useful data from alpha testing and customer feedback
5. (Potentially) pivot the idea and repeat steps 1 through 4
6. Validate scalable product
7. Create a pitch and demo in order to secure investment
8. Secure investment and/or start selling
9. Go!

According to Startups.co, every venture that is pre-funding is Early Stage, and once funding is received, they advance to Seed Stage.

Bestselling author and professor of entrepreneurship at Northwestern University, Mike Moyer, has this definition: “An early-stage company is one in which participants are putting their personal contributions of time, money, ideas, facilities, relationships, supplies or equipment at-risk,” Mike tells Startups.co. “In most cases, companies who have enough money from, revenues or investment, to provide market-rate compensation to participants are not considered early-stage.”

When you indicate your interest in the mentor program, you’ll be added to the distribution list for mentor communications. You’ll be invited to attend the next regularly scheduled mentor meeting (typically the 3rd Wednesday of each month) to introduce yourself, meet other mentors, and learn about the program. Prior to the meeting, you’ll receive a meeting reminder, agenda, and information on ventures that will be presenting.

After the presentations, mentors meet in a private session to decide whether to assemble mentor teams. When teams are formed, a team leader is selected and team members are introduced to the entrepreneur at the conclusion of the meeting.

Mentors are not required to volunteer for teams. It is important that team assignments be a good fit for your expertise, interests, and availability. Mentors often attend meetings for several months before volunteering. Others offer their specialized (financial, legal, industry-specific) expertise to teams on an as-needed basis.

Mentor Team Engagements

The team leader will convene the first meeting. At that meeting, the objectives of the engagement will be determined and key milestones and goals will be set with the entrepreneur. Typically, mentor teams work with an entrepreneur for six months and have six to eight in-person meetings.

Mentors are strongly discouraged from meeting individually with entrepreneurs. Every meeting should include all available members of the team to keep communications and advice consistent. Separate meetings reduce the effectiveness of the team. Mentor teams are advisory; entrepreneurs make all final decisions.

Paid Consultants & Professional Service Providers

At the invitation of the entrepreneur, you are welcome to attend mentor team meetings as part of the venture team if you are a paid consultant or service professional (attorney, accountant, etc.). Paid professionals are not included on mentor teams. CIE mentors, regardless of their professional credentials and areas of expertise, are volunteers offering good faith services without compensation when on a mentor team.

During the course of volunteer assignments, you’ll see and hear information that entrepreneurs consider ‘confidential’. Prior to your first meeting, you’ll be requested to sign a Confidentiality Pledge. It is a reminder of our commitment to serve entrepreneurs and our promise to keep all data, materials, conversations and the like in strict confidence.

You may be requested to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) prepared by the entrepreneur. You may recuse yourself from the team if you feel uncomfortable signing a requested agreement.

Guidelines for CIE Mentors

The success of the CIE mentor program depends on a high level of trust and confidence in our mentors. To support successful outcomes for our entrepreneurs, we adhere to the following guidelines for individual mentors and mentoring teams.

First and foremost, we generate trust by remaining arms-length in our relationships with entrepreneurs and their ventures. Avoiding even the appearance of impropriety or conflict of interest is critical. Otherwise, our reputation and ability to attract the best entrepreneurs and mentors will suffer.

It is our policy that mentors are volunteers and do not take any form of compensation from, or equity in, ventures while 1) that venture is in the CIE program and 2) that mentor is actively on that mentor team. If a paid position or engagement, investment opportunity, or other relationship develops, the mentor must resign from the mentor team and notify the team of the change in his or her relationship with the venture.

Key elements of our policy are communication and transparency of information. It is essential that entrepreneurs never feel compelled, pressured, or required to purchase services from a mentor.

A brief summary of the policy

(a) Investor in a CIE Mentored Venture

• You cannot be an investor, whether directly or indirectly, in a venture that you are mentoring.
• You must inform the CIE director immediately upon contemplating such an action and immediately recuse yourself from further CIE mentor activity related to that venture.
• At the discretion of the entrepreneur, you may continue to attend and participate in mentor team meetings as a member of the venture team.

(b) Operational Role as an Employee or Consultant to a CIE Mentored Venture

• You cannot receive any compensation from a venture you are mentoring.
• You must NEVER approach any venture where you are involved as a mentor to propose your services outside of the CIE program. If you believe that your services as an employee or consultant would benefit them, discuss this with the CIE director to determine possible next steps.
• If a venture approaches you, and if you have a possible interest, you must immediately notify the CIE director and recuse yourself from further mentor activities with the venture.
• At the discretion of the entrepreneur, you may continue to attend and participate in mentor team meetings as a member of the venture team.

Avoiding conflicts of interest

All mentors should be alert to the potential for real or perceived conflicts of interest to arise at any stage of a venture’s development.

• If you know you have a conflict, alert the CIE director immediately and recuse yourself from any dealings with the venture in question.
• If you think you may have a conflict, discuss it with the CIE director immediately to arrive at the proper course of action.

UNCW offers an opportunity for experienced business professionals to mentor business majors through the Cameron Executive Network (CEN). If your interest in mentoring leans towards helping individual students with their career goals, please consider volunteering as a CEN mentor. 

Learn about CEN Mentoring

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