Introduction
Two pilot mentorship programs have been run to date with two types of structure:-
- LSE Generate Accelerator Program (GAP 1.0): Founders had access to a 30+ pool of mentors and experts with which they were able to book appointments.
- ASAP 2020-21: Founders and mentors had also been paired in an individual matched mentorship initiative.
LSE Generate Accelerator Program (GAP) 1.0
The GAP 1.0 program took place over 6 months for 15 companies with at least one founder that was an LSE student or alum. The mentorship program was put in place in the second half of the program. Over 30 mentors were sourced across sector, business expertise, race, gender and background to enable entrepreneurs to find the match that best suited them. The mentoring was structured as follows:-
- Mentors were given information on all the startups prior to the session and asked for emails/calendly links in order for founders to book sessions
- A webinar and ice-breaking session where 30 mentors had 2 minutes each to talk about their expertise as well as "one thing that would surprise people" to inject some humour into the session
- The mentor pool information and booking links were shared with all founders and the onus was on founders to get in touch with any of the mentors they chose
- Subsequently, specific matches were also made to each startup based on the teams knowledge of their gaps, indsutries and needs
Aspect Student Accelerator Program (ASAP)
Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP) was the Aspect network's flagship student and alumni business accelerator, for ventures rooted in the social sciences. Hosted by LSE, this four-month programme supported 19 student and alumni early-stage social start-ups in their processes of commercialisation and expansion. A bespoke 2-month mentorship programme was put in place which was structure as follows:
- A "speed dating" session to introduce founders to a pool of 20+ mentors with breakout rooms to meet each of them
- Mentors and founders were asked to rank their preferences and the team matched each of the cohort based on this information
- Each startup then received their dedicated mentor and brief guidance the mentoring relationship