Mentoring Overview

Mentoring sessions allow you to help participants refine their ideas through one-on-one pitching and feedback in a timed rotation format spanning two hours. Each “idea” (either an individual participant or a team) will be assigned a number displayed on the table in front of them. Mentors select a table and number to start.

Each participant/team will briefly pitch their idea to the mentor and gather feedback through two-way questions and discussion. After 15 minutes, mentors will be notified to rotate to the next highest number. Since each mentoring engagement lasts approximately 15 minutes, and the mentoring session spans two hours, you can anticipate exploring ~6-8 business ideas in an evening.

Participant Responsibilities

Participants/teams will be at various stages in their idea development, but most have formulated their initial elevator pitch, an overview of their business concept, and some initial market and customer validation. 

• The elevator pitch – ideally, their one sentence description
• A lengthier description of their research technology and/or innovation
• Some questions that could lead to information that may help move the idea forward

Mentor Responsibilities

Mentors help participants learn more about the commercialization process and the tools they need to validate potential ideas and technologies they come across every day in the lab and in their work.

During the mentoring session, the mentor’s job is to provide support, enthusiasm, business acumen and questions that will help them get excited about continuing to work on their idea. When speaking with participants, you may consider:

• Is their Elevator Pitch concise and to the point?
• Did they answer the key questions around who, what, why and how?
• Did they define a market, customers and competition for the new venture?
• Did they identify a business model?
• What suggestions can you provide them on their model?
• What feedback can you provide them to help them refine their market and business model?

Questions

For questions or more information about being a mentor, please contact:

Niki Peterson
Senior Program Manager
ndpeterson@ucdavis.edu
(530) 400-9531