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Ask HN: How much would you charge to mentor an aspiring entrepreneur?

2 points by jessehorne ↗ HN
If you've seen success in your entrepreneurial endeavors, would you be willing to spend some spare time mentoring an aspiring entrepreneur? By "mentoring" I mostly mean having email conversations when you have time to respond to any questions asked. For example, imagine a young web developer who's attempting to start another business, but wants to avoid mistakes he may not even know he could make.

What factors would influence your decision?

How much would you charge for your time? What would be expected of the "apprentice"? What would make it worth it to you?

17 comments

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100100010001
You need to do some research! Apprentices don’t pay. You pay them! You teach and offload boring work to them. That’s how it has worked for hundereds of years. Stop being a selfish greedy mortal.
jessehorne
I appreciate your response. It was fairly entertaining to read. I wanted to note a few things, which I've done in a convenient and aesthetically pleasing, numbered list, below.

1. I do need to do a LOT of research

2. I thought I would specify that payment could be offloading boring work.

3. I am willing to go against tradition if it's necessary to succeed.

4. I'm not as selfish as you may think!

100100010001
Ahh, so eliminate poor people with amazing skills and focus on mediocre apprentices who can pay? How is that not selfish?
jessehorne
Who said I could pay? I didn't say I could pay at this time. I would figure out if it would be worth it and how I could potentially pay for it after we agreed on something.

This is me, by the way. https://blog.usejournal.com/my-story-as-a-homeless-developer...

100100010001
First off, you shouldn’t change subjects. We were talking about how your request for an apprentice is unfair. However, I’ll allow it since it’s another bad point. YOU are the entrepreneur! If you can’t pay then you shouldn’t be paid to teach. Also, if you can’t pay for work then don’t ask for workers. You are trying to get paying labor (people who work for you and pay for the work) which is horrible and greedy. Who you are doesn’t change you’re greedy and selfish.
jessehorne
I don't think you understand. I am the aspiring entrepreneur looking for a mentor.
100100010001
LMAO!!! I’m so sorry!!! I thought you were offering your services as a mentor and asking apprentices to pay. Please, don’t pay for a mentor. There are so many enthusiastic people in this industry that I am 100% positive you’ll be able to find someone to help you out for free. Once again, I’m very sorry!
jessehorne
No problem! It took me so long to realize what was going on in this conversation. I apologize for not being more clear. I ended up just posting a more blunt Ask HN here if you'd like to follow along. I appreciate your time and response!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20340953

ipqhctbvvccf
I do this. It's called being an advisor to your business.

I charge US$325/hour or take a % in equity (mostly standard vesting terms with a cliff).

I work with 3-5 startups at a time. What I do depends entirely on the startup. For some I just end up being a sort of confessor or therapist. For others I participate in strategy meetings, give feedback on products or services.

And while I charge, I don't do it particularly for the money. I found that if I didn't charge something, if there wasn't some cost, then my time got treated as an unlimited resource, which it isn't

And no, I'm not looking for additional mentees at this time.

vikramkr
None? Usually if someone asks you to pay them to mentor you that's a complete scam. I think anyone willing to pay for that from some self proclaimed expert has already failed. Advisory shares tied to specific deliverables are different- if a world renowned researcher is willing to help you out and connect you to industry leaders and all then a few advisory aharea to bring them on as a board member makes sense, but that's tied to helping the company.
jessehorne
It's not a scam, I guess I'm just desperate. I asked this simply out of curiosity and was hoping something would come from it. I am overwhelmed with information that I think is useless and a lack of direction. Sure, I don't need a mentor! I just am in the early stages of finding one. Because that is what I think could really help me to stop running in circles.
vikramkr
Are you running a company? If so your mentor is your customer. Ask them what they want and build it for them. Otherwise, I went through startup school, that was pretty good. A good investor can be a great advisor as well.
jessehorne
Both of these responses are great and I appreciate the time you're taking to help me. Perhaps the reason I'm offering to pay is that I know the type of mentor I need is someone who wouldn't ask me to, and those people are more likely to respond if I am able to convey the type of person I am. That's a big IF, on top of biggers IFs. But it's worth a shot, even in the dark.
vikramkr
Another way of thinking about it is that if someone asks you to pay, they are not a good mentor, so however much you are willing to pay, it's irrelevant because the person that accepts the money is not worth it.
jessehorne
For example, I spent everything I had to get into my own apartment so that I could stop couch surfing (which turned out to be a lot more expensive than having my own place to live). So here I am offering money that I don't have. That sounds like a scam but really it's saying that I am struggling financially but still would give you money to help me accomplish my goals, even if it meant I had to forgo luxury and even necessity in the meantime.