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Mentorship is the real unicorn in the tech industry. Everybody seeks it out; is convinced it exists, and many of us struggle to find it. We've been ill-served by unrealistic images of what it looks like in the wild. Here are some forms of mentorship I've benefited from: [1/11]
This piece @msquinn wrote years ago, after the death of Andy Grove, has been somewhat life-changing. "In this era of frequent, transparent public communication...anyone can act as a mentor. You just have to pay close attention. You have to observe" [2/11] https://medium.com/@msquinn/learning-by-observing-24af8f50ca24
Knowing that to learn from someone, you don't need quarterly standing lunches with them, or even for them to know you was so novel to me. Asking for someone's time is hard, and sort of worse when they can't give it to you. My mentors don't know they're my mentors. [3/11]
"Stop waiting for a magical, accomplished older woman to take you under her Eileen Fisher–clad wing. Start looking to the people on your level." - what an underrated idea! This @annfriedman piece gave me so much solace when I moved industries. [4/11] https://www.thecut.com/2016/10/cant-find-a-mentor-look-to-your-peers.html
In the last few years, I've learnt a ton from my peers. Not just when they/I succeeded, but also through making mistakes, in building community, in building trust. By calling me out when I've slipped. And offering one space to learn from one's mistakes. [5/11]
Some of us learn to take support, to trust and accept help very late. It's such a privilege to have mentors who push you to be better and achieve those goals -- for me, they've been great humans like @MaddieCallander @anutopiaa @nikitadoval and others not on Twitter. [6/11]
I call out men in the tech industry frequently BECAUSE the men I've worked with have set such incredibly high standards. For eg, ~5 years ago @jengelberg took me under his wing and taught me so much. [7/11]
On my first day at FundersClub, he had a 2 year plan for what I had to learn to do. He taught me all about a new industry when I had to work remote for 6 months due to visa issues. He patiently took time to equip me with what I needed to succeed even beyond the day2day. [8/11]
Not a fan of public-brown nosing re bosses, but, each time I've come away from a negotiation thinking I was too harsh, @TimDraper says to me: "you can't come across as weak." After a lifetime of trying to not be "abrasive", to be unconditionally supported is super fuel [9/11]
I can't fit into a thread what I've learned from working with Tim but he makes space for his team to challenge him, to think critically and to loudly voice dissent, without fear of blowback. He's taught me how to approach a conversation from a position of power. [10/11]
Women, even when told to lean in, are pushed way back when we do so. Tim has not only rewarded us for succeeding but has made it clear that playing on the backfoot is not an option. You've no idea what that has done for one's confidence/ability to be effective [11/11]
