Mentor Quality Audit: A Framework for Choosing the Right Cohort

Mentor quality is often the most-overpromised and under-delivered element of accelerator programmes. A mentor quality audit framework: Domain Relevance — do the mentors have direct experience in your specific industry, or are they generalist entrepreneurs whose advice may not translate? Engagement Model — are mentors compensated (equity or cash), and does that compensation create genuine accountability, or are they volunteering their time and predictably deprioritising it? Time Commitment — how many hours per week do mentors commit, and is there a mechanism to replace mentors who fail to meet that commitment? Structured vs Unstructured — does the programme provide structured mentor sessions with prepared agendas, or is it ‘office hours, drop in anytime’ (the latter favours assertive founders and disadvantages those less comfortable with self-advocacy)? The most reliable predictor of mentor quality: talk to alumni about specific, concrete ways a mentor helped their company — not ‘she was really insightful’ but ‘she introduced us to our lead investor and helped us restructure our pricing model’.