01
Founders
Mentor a founder
Vipra Innovation Forum founders are raising, hiring and shipping for the first time. Most of what they need is someone who has already made the mistake they are about to make.
MENTORSHIP
Give an hour to someone twenty years behind you.
The Federation matches people who have done a thing with people about to attempt it. It costs you hours rather than money, and it is the contribution members say they value most.
Where mentors are needed
Four places where an hour goes a long way.
Choose where you would like to help and the form arrives already knowing it.
02
Business
Mentor a business owner
Brahmin Business Network members run established firms and hit the problems that come with scale — succession, credit, entering a new market, professionalising a family business.
03
Students
Mentor a student
Course choices, entrance exams, first jobs, moving abroad to study. Often a single honest conversation is the whole intervention.
04
Youth
Youth leadership
Work with the chapter youth programmes: public speaking, organising, and carrying responsibility in a community body for the first time.
How it works
What it actually asks of you.
Being honest about the commitment is the only way to keep mentors for more than one season.
01
You tell us your ground
Your field, how long you have been in it, and the kinds of questions you are the right person to answer.
02
We introduce, you decide
We send you a short brief on one person. If it is not a fit, you say so and nothing further happens. No one is assigned to you.
03
An hour a month, usually
Most pairs settle on a call a month for six months. Some meet once and that is enough. You set the pace and you can stop.
What a mentor is not asked for
Not money, not introductions you are uncomfortable making, and not a commitment measured in years. If a mentee asks for investment or a job, tell us and we will handle it — that conversation does not belong in a mentoring pair.
Put your name forward as a mentor
A short form. What we mostly need to know is your field and how much time is realistic — that is what a good match is built on.
You are mentoring in
Vipra Innovation Forum founders
Mentor founders in the Vipra Innovation Forum
You arrived here from Vipra Innovation Forum founders, so that is already recorded and we have not asked you to choose it again.
You are mentoring in
Brahmin Business Network members
Mentor business owners in the Brahmin Business Network
You arrived here from Brahmin Business Network members, so that is already recorded and we have not asked you to choose it again.
You are mentoring in
Students and early careers
Mentor students and people early in their careers
You arrived here from Students and early careers, so that is already recorded and we have not asked you to choose it again.
You are mentoring in
Youth leadership
Mentor the youth leadership programme
You arrived here from Youth leadership, so that is already recorded and we have not asked you to choose it again.
Looking for a mentor rather than offering to be one?
The same form works — say so in the message box and we will route it to the programme that fits. Members of the Vipra Innovation Forum and the Brahmin Business Network are matched through their own programmes.