Last year around this time I ran an article on the mentors that people should get to know if they are working in the startup space. Mentors are critical to the success of building our eco-system and if you talk to any startup founder, they play a very integrated role in the growth and journey within a new business owner’s life. This year we have decided to break these people down in a series over the next week that covers each city, we feel this is the fairest way to do things to make sure that we provide adequate coverage across the whole of the country.
This series will focus on 10 mentors (and duo’s from same organisations) in each capital city, there are literally hundreds
We should also note that in this series we have also left out all official mentors to our own company to negate bias. We have also focused specifically on the tech space.
Mentors Sydney startups should get to know:
Pratibha Rai
If you are part of the Sydney startup eco system and you are not yet familiar with who Pratibha is, I suggest you put it on your list of things to do by the end of the month. With a strong background in product management Rai has been working with startups in the city for a very long time, mentoring and coaching them both one on one and through programs such as Pushstart.
Rai is also founder of the Sydney Product Co-op, and has worked with startups as a Lean Product Manager at Pollenizer.
Most recently Rai has been working in a mentoring and product management capacity with startups through the New Agency. Many startups under estimate the importance of product management and the role it plays in a growing business, Rai get’s people focused and back on track.
Ian Gardiner
The CEO of Viocorp and cofounder of Innovation Bay, Ian Gardiner is a long term supporter and fixture of the Australian startup eco system. He is an official Startmate mentor and has a keen interest in high growth tech startups in Australia.
He is a specialist when it comes to online video, the business side of things and of course technology. From the perspective on the community he has created via Innovation Bay, Gardiner is connected with and understands what Angel Investors look for in a startup when it comes to funding.
Billy Tucker | AFR photo Tamara Voninski.
When it comes to straight shooting advice from mentors you definitely would describe Billy Tucker as one of the most frank. I was fortunate last year to see a mini mentoring meeting that Tucker was having with a startup business and it kind of blew me away.
Tucker is ex Microsoft and founded group buying site CUDO which he sold out of to ninemsn. Tucker plays well in the world of both high tech, high growth startups and well established corporates, working with many top tier brands through his company 57signals. Tucker is the ultimate turn around guy that provokes a startup to really stop and consider what it is they are trying to achieve.
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