Relationships with Mentors
Since I was a kid, I’ve been an entrepreneur. Growing up very poor in small town Montana, we lived in a shack, raised our own animals and grew our own food. To many it’s an unlikely beginning for a technology founder and while I hope to never repeat those days, I would never change them.
The process of creating starts with learning how to get up when the world knocks you down. Whether that is falling out of a tree, losing your first love or pouring your heart and soul into an idea, failure occurs. And when it does, you have to get up quickly because the world will not wait until your ready to knock you down again.
Four years ago, I discovered the “startup” community. Being in Montana and unique in my profession, I didn’t have an ecosystem to plug into but I knew in order to fulfill my vision I needed help.
It often felt like jump rope, seeking the opportunity to somehow insert myself, to learn and grow. So I watched.
What I witnessed fascinated me but it also made me think twice about joining the community. What particularly stood out was a vivid sense of entitlement from entrepreneurs, who seemingly felt it was their right to be heard by respected and accomplished individuals. Asking for everything and anything because they were on the brink of social revolution.
I learned that my personal values would not allow me to act so recklessly. I questioned whether or not I fit the mold. For the first time, I embraced the term entrepreneur because as an entrepreneur, it’s your duty to play by your own rules within the context of the larger game.
Relationships have always been important and I didn’t want to be someone that asked for opportunities I didn’t work for.
The first piece of advice I received was to build my human network and I began to engage on Twitter.
I listened, read and watched influential people to identify who fit my value system and could provide things I cared about. Then I started asking simple questions. It’s shocking how available the respected and accomplished individuals of the world are, when the relationship is treated with care and humility.
I learned that the most important part of asking questions is not the response, rather what you do with that response.
The willingness to mentor grows when people see how you use their advice and it opens the door to future opportunities.
Over time, I learned the value of personal and emotional investment people gave me. I learned just how much I valued respect and my own reputation with those I admire.
I am incredibly grateful for the people who think I am worth it. There are so many others I’d love to meet and look forward to the day when those occasions arise. Being a disruptive founder means you attack a problem at its source.
Finally, what I have learned is something I have known since I was a kid, relationships matter.
Plandree was created to help people rediscover the reasons we care about our loved ones. To write new chapters in this book we call life and to fill those pages with memories that increase our quality of life and endure the test of time. The human experience begins and ends with people…building a sustainable statup begins and ends with people…so care for those people you value with dignity. In return they will give you things you never knew you needed and the answers to questions you never thought to ask.
