

The Mentor Manifesto - dshah
http://www.davidgcohen.com/2011/08/28/the-mentor-manifesto/

======
riffraff
for a moment I've been wondering why "The Conscience of a Hacker"[0] had
become popular again.

[0]
[http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=...](http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=7&id=3&mode=txt)

~~~
olalonde
I was thinking exactly the same. For those who haven't heard of it before:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto>

------
jseliger
I'd add a "mentee manifesto" too, since mentorship is a proverbial two-way
street. I actually wrote an essay on that topic from an education perspective:
"How to get your Professors’ Attention — along with Coaching or Mentoring"
([http://jseliger.com/2010/10/02/how-to-get-your-
professors%E2...](http://jseliger.com/2010/10/02/how-to-get-your-
professors%E2%80%99-attention-or-how-to-get-the-coaching-and-mentorship-you-
need/)) because I noticed that some students systematically make mistakes they
may not be aware of when it comes to seeking mentors or advice.

------
cek

       Be socratic.
       Listen too.
    

In my mind these two are basically the same and I'd summarize them as "Use the
70/30 rule. Listen 70% of the time and talk only 30%".

    
    
       Expect nothing in return (you’ll be delighted with what you do get back).
    

To me this is what differentiates great mentors from others more than
anything.

~~~
nl
_Be socratic_

This specifically refers to the idea of questioning in order to find the
underlying truth: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method>

That is different to just listening, or even the 70/30 rule. Being Socratic
means actively questioning the assumptions and model of the mentee, rather
than trying to build on their assumptions with your ideas.

~~~
cek
I totally understand that. I was implying that to be Socratic you need to
listen a lot more than you talk. Ask a question and then _listen_.

------
hollerith
>I’ve been running TechStars for six years now. . . . we’ve seen those
companies go on to raise about $100M in funding (averaging about $1M each post
TechStars)

I would have been more interested to read about valuations than about amounts
raised.

~~~
chrismanfrank
me too. but it's possible a lot of these startups raised with convertible
notes, and so would not have valuations yet.

