Mentorloop

IO Venture Path Mentorship Community

 

Welcome to Mentorloop – Invest Ottawa’s Mentorship Community.

Our goal is to enable folks within our ecosystem to solve challenges and grow while also giving successful founders the chance to give back to the community.

Why should I join Mentorloop?

This is your chance to connect and learn from seasoned veterans who have been there and done it well. Mentors within our program can offer insight, advice, and opportunities to help you progress in your career.

Been there, done that? This is your opportunity to give back to the community as little or as much as your heart desires.

What are you waiting for? Join the community now →

Confident tech startup founders

General Questions

What is Mentorloop?

Having the right support is critical to a founder or senior leader just learning the ropes on their startup journey. That’s why Invest Ottawa launched Mentorloop, a volunteer advisor platform to connect startups with experts in the field.

Founders and leaders from startups can use an intuitive search function to browse our network of Mentors (entrepreneurs, advisors, and experts) to find their perfect match for the challenge they are facing or the specific guidance they are seeking.

What is the goal of the mentorship program?

Mentorloop enables IO to match our Venture Network into effective mentorships at scale. This will allow founders and their executive teams to connect with experienced peers to solve challenges and grow. Mentorloop emphasizes the importance of Founders helping Founders, and successful founders giving back to the community. It also broadens our advisor pool with the Volunteer Advisor model.

Why is mentorship important?

Mentoring is a proven business strategy, with 71% of Fortune 500 companies running formalized programs. Some amazing stats:

  • Mentors report gaining more leadership identity and skills, as well as more confidence in leading projects the more they engage in mentoring.
  • Mentoring programs boost minority representation at the management level by 9% to 24% and improve promotion and retention rates for minorities and women by 15% to 38%
  • 87% of millennials say that they find professional development opportunities important to them in looking for a job.
  • 91% of employees who have a mentor are satisfied with their job.
What is the difference between Mentorloop mentors and Invest Ottawa’s Advisors?

Mentors on Mentorloop are volunteering their time, knowledge, and experience to give back to the tech startup community. They are a mix of serial entrepreneurs, seasoned executives, and industry experts from around the nation who want to make an impact on Ottawa’s next generation of leaders.

Mentees

What is the eligibility for becoming a mentee? 

You are a founder or an executive team member at an Ottawa tech startup part of Invest Ottawa’s ecosystem.

Why join the mentoring program as a mentee?

For mentees, this is a chance to connect and learn from seasoned veterans who have been there and done it well. Mentors can offer insight, advice, and opportunities to help you progress in your career. Studies have shown that professionals with a mentor are 5x more likely to get promoted!

Mentors

How to attract mentees with my profile?

Having a complete, up-to-date profile is the best way to attract the right mentees. This involves filling out the bio information, current position, and areas of expertise. The more detailed, the more likely mentees will be able to find your profile as they search key words on the platform. Adding a clear and professional profile picture and link to your LinkedIn profile will help ensure your profile is complete.

How do I add this mentor experience to a LinkedIn Profile?

Having a complete LinkedIn profile is beneficial in a multitude of ways. Here are a few steps to take to add your Volunteer Mentoring role to your LinkedIn profile:

  1. Add a “Volunteer Experience” section to your LinkedIn profile.
  2. Add a new role with this suggested language:
    • Organization: Invest Ottawa
    • Role: Volunteer Mentor
    • Description: Enthusiastic volunteer mentor with IO Venture Path clients. Committed to supporting aspiring entrepreneurs on their startup journey. Leveraging extensive industry experience and a deep understanding of the startup landscape, I provide tailored guidance and strategic insights to help startups navigate challenges, accelerate growth, and achieve their full potential. Passionate about fostering innovation and fostering the next generation of successful businesses in our vibrant entrepreneurial community.
What is the eligibility for becoming a mentor?

We’re looking for folks with previous or current experience at a technology company, ideally in a role with leadership responsibilities. You’re willing to share your experience, knowledge, and battle scars all while expanding your network and making a positive impact with Ottawa’s next generation of leaders. If this sounds like you, we invite you to learn more about the volunteer position and apply here.

Why become a mentor?

Within our ecosystem, we encourage founders helping founders. Mentorship is a great chance to give back while improving your own leadership and management skills by providing advice and feedback to someone who could really use it.

What are some tips on being a great mentor?

Being a great mentor is a culmination of leadership skills. Here are a few tips on areas to focus on to get you started: practice active listening, share your experiences and advice, recommend tasks and resources, respect their confidentiality, encourage independence, and inspire confidence.

Screw networking, this is better.