Mentoring for Founders

With Mentoring for Founders, the Start-up-Manufaktur sponsors access to the mentoring programme of our partner WoMentor for up to five students, alumni or employees. Your mentor will accompany you over a period of 12 months in your start-up project and support you in strengthening your start-up personality. Mentoring is not start-up consultation, but a personal exchange at eye level, where you benefit and learn from your mentor's wealth of experience. Register now!

Mentoring for Founders is right for you if ...

you want to learn from the experience of your mentor
you plan to develop or realise your business idea in the next year
you need support with the next steps in your start-up project
you want to expand your network, also internationally

Mentoring for Founders helps you...

to strengthen your start-up personality and your entrepreneurial mindset
to further develop your start-up project
to successfully build and expand your (start-up) network through an intensive exchange of experience with others
to work together with your mentor on your individual goals.

The mentors are experienced founders, experts in the field in which you want to set up a business, or professionals in the area of entrepreneurship and business development. With their experience and expertise, they will help you sort out your next steps and answer your individual questions.

Your mentoring match can come from Germany, Austria or from the other side of the world - more important than physical proximity is that you fit together both personally and professionally!

Sign up and become part of Mentoring for Founders!

Does a mentoring partnership sound interesting to you? We give away up to five places in the mentoring programme of the provider WoMentor. The mentees receive all the benefits of the programme (see below) and also have direct contact persons in the Start-up-Manufaktur of the H-BRS.

Applications are open from now until 31 March 2022.

Terms of participation

With mentoring and coaching programs, WoMentor offers access to knowhow, network and guidance for everyone, regardless of the gender & background, to live their full potential and contribute at their best to a more sustainable & equal society. WoMentor also supports companies and organizations in creating an innovative culture for equality and diversity. WoMentor's offers are explicitly also aimed at male participants. WoMentor founder Desiree Jonek was already a guest at the "Start-up live" event in October 2021 for a keynote speech.

What‘s included

one year mentoring programm
individual mentor match with founding experience
hybrid Kick-Off Event on 10.05.2022
Mentoring Manual: 100 pages of content for mentors and mentees on how to get the most out of a mentoring relationship.
Mentoring Content (in-app): accompanying content for the individual sessions between mentor and mentee
Founders Content: 50+ pages of special content for founders according to the Lean Start-up Methodology.
Accompanying events in the WoMentor community

**How does Mentoring for Founders work?**

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1. application

Apply directly to us to get one of the places. If you meet the conditions of participation and your letter of motivation convinces us, you will be accepted.

2. it's a match

In order to be matched with the right person for you, you fill out a detailed questionnaire in which you answer questions about yourself and your start-up project and specify your wishes for your future mentor.

3. Kick-off

The programme starts on 10 May 2022 with a hybrid kick-off event. The Start-up-Manufaktur organises a parallel local kick-off at the university to watch the stream together. Here you can already get to know your other fellow mentees.

4. 1:1 mentoring

After the kick-off, the mentoring meetings begin - you will exchange ideas with your mentor on a regular basis. The exact dates and frequency are up to you to decide. We recommend at least one meeting per month. Depending on where your mentor lives, you will meet in person or virtually.

5. additional offers

Parallel to the 1:1 meetings, there are accompanying events in the WoMentor Community on various topics. The Start-up-Manufaktur also offers a casual get-together for all H-BRS mentees once a quarter.

Of course, we also invite you to take advantage of our free start-up consultation parallel to the mentoring in order to discuss further questions regarding the start-up project.

How can you participate in Mentoring for Founders?

In order to get one of the spots, you have to fulfil a few basic conditions and convince us why exactly you want to be part of the mentoring programme:

You are currently enrolled at H-BRS as a student, have graduated within the last five years, or are employed at the university.
You are in the process of founding a company or are already advanced in the development of your start-up idea, i.e. you have either already founded a company or can prove that you are actively pursuing your start-up project. Start-ups in the context of self-employment are also included here. (This can be proven by submitting documents such as a pitch deck, business plan or project outline, which show that you are specifically working on your project - the implementation status of your start-up project is irrelevant here).
If you participate in the programme, you agree to attend regular meetings with your mentor (regularly once a month). You are responsible for arranging the frequency and duration of the individual appointments and contacts with your mentor.
You submit a letter of motivation in which you explain why you would like to take up one of the mentoring positions (length: 1-2 pages). For example, answer the following questions:
- Introduce yourself and your start-up project: Who are you? At what point in your project do you stand, and what are the next steps? What milestones have you already reached? What are your stumbling blocks or challenges?
- What do you expect from the programme? In what area do you want your mentor to support you?
- What do you hope to achieve by participating? What specific goals would you like to have achieved after the year?

You can either submit your application in German or English.

Send your documents (each in PDF format) with complete contact information (name, email address, telephone number, relationship to the university) by email to karoline.noth@h-brs.de by 31 March 2022.

Small print

All applications formally received in full by 31 March 2022 will be considered.

After reviewing the applications, the Start-up-Manufaktur team will award a maximum of five places. If no applications are received that meet the requirements, no award will be made. There is no legal claim to a prize.

The organiser reserves the right to change the conditions of participation or to terminate the competition at any time, even without prior notice.

Applicants shall indemnify the organiser against all conceivable claims by third parties which could be derived from the infringement of any copyrights, statutory property rights, trade secrets and other rights by the submitted documents.

The start-up projects and all materials submitted should be free of third-party rights, i.e. all necessary rights should be held by the applicants themselves.

All personal data and information on the start-up projects will only be used to check the application. No data will be passed on to third parties without prior consent.

Applicants who take up a place in the programme give their express consent that they may be published in direct connection with the Mentoring for Founders offer on the university's homepage, in newsletters, as well as in the context of university press releases and on the social media accounts of the university and the Start-up-Manufaktur.