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Mentor sessions

Do you have a business idea, but no idea how to progress it? Are you a founder with a problem, or are you looking for some suggestions on how to grow your business? CIE’s Mentor sessions are for you!

Free and open to all current students and staff of the University of Auckland.


What will you gain from a session?

Why would you need to talk to a mentor? A free 30-minute session with one of CIE’s Mentors helps you get a different perspective, stretch your thinking and together brainstorm next best steps to move your venture forward. Being a founder is challenging and can sometimes even be a lonely experience. So sharing your thoughts and questions with a mentor will help you accelerate growth, both personally and for your venture.

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How it works

1). Book a conversation with our friendly Programmes team
In this first conversation you’ll be asked to share your story, answer some questions and have a bit of a dialogue. Getting to know you and the support you need will help us connect you with the mentor best placed to support you

2). Set-up Miro board
After your intake conversation, you’ll receive a link to Miro, an online whiteboard platform. You’ll upload basic information, such as who’s in the team, your idea, and what support you are looking for. Miro makes it easy to collaborate online, and most importantly, track progress.

3). Meet the mentor
You will receive an invite to meet the mentor, via Zoom, for a 30-minute conversation. The mentor will also have access to your Miroboard, so they can prepare and know something about you ahead of time. Use your board to make notes/add comments and record your agreed next steps

4). Do it all again
We’ve got a range of mentors, all with different skills and expertise. So you’re free to ask for another conversation with the same or a different mentor. Don’t be shy to use their expertise and life skills to get different points of view, grow your network, and your start-up.

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Mentors

Christopher Bean

Christopher Bean

Advises on idea and concept creation and validation, capital raising strategy, pitch deck creation, start-up development, brand development and marketing strategies, sales and distribution strategies.

Marco Fabio Borges

Marco Fabio Borges

Advises on entrepreneurship, commercial applications through the RPAS, Aero photogrammetry and 3D modelling (Pix4D; Metashape), Automotive industry (Production, Quality and Product Development Process), Applied statistics (Six Sigma Black Belt and Minitab), Problem solving methodologies.

 

Vishal Chaddha

Vishal Chaddha

Advises on product market fit, Go To Market strategy and building scale profitably.

Warner Cowin

Warner Cowin

Advises on developing clear business strategies, planning and implementing organisational change, driving innovation, and improving operational performance. He also has strong skills in Tikanga Maori and Iwi facilitation.

Warner Cowin

Scott Fenton

Advises on market validation, market entry, product market fit, and strategy development.

Warner Cowin

Sam Fielden

Advises on value-proposition development and communication, partnering, development of business models, intellectual property management, licensing frameworks, and developing your hustle.

Ajit Joshi

Ajit Joshi

Advises on initiating start-up ideas, validation, international operations, and strategy (for growth, operations, product, pricing, and marketing).

Ajit Joshi

Bhuvana Kannan

Advises on up-scaling tech research, research & development, commercialisation & innovation activities, pilot-scale testing and operations, market validation, tech sales strategy, IP strategies, funding, mitigating risk, navigating failures, start-up values, culture, and management.

Ajit Joshi

Sasha Lockley

Advises on customer vision and experience, team dynamics, leadership and storytelling.  As an accountant, she can also act as a kind of ‘translator’ between the numbers, risk, opportunity, impact and the story.

Mahesh Muralidhar

Mahesh Muralidhar

Advises on getting 0-1 (revenue positive), identifying where to focus, building high performance teams, inclusivity, goal setting systems, product/market fit, setting up the right acquisition engine and setting up operations (HR and Finance) to scale.

Eoghan Neligan

Eoghan Neligan

Advises on early stage product development, market validation, product growth and product lifecycle management.

Eoghan Neligan

Aaron Small

Advises on capital raising, go-to-market strategies, pitch deck creation, start-up development and technology commercialisation.

Eoghan Neligan

Fasiha Subhan

Advises on social entrepreneurship, business strategies, and innovation approaches with socio-economic and environmental impact.

Grant Young

Bruce Randolph Tizes

Advises early founders and companies on general business strategy, management, innovation, science, operations, and risk.

 

Grant Young

Nan Yang

Advises on accelerating deep-tech start-up businesses to find their product/market fit.

Grant Young

Grant Young

Advises on ideation, strategy, start-up development and marketing.

 

Christopher Bean

Christopher Bean

Advises on idea and concept creation and validation, capital raising strategy, pitch deck creation, start-up development, brand development and marketing strategies, sales and distribution strategies.

Marco Fabio Borges

Marco Fabio Borges

Advises on entrepreneurship, commercial applications through the RPAS, Aero photogrammetry and 3D modelling (Pix4D; Metashape), Automotive industry (Production, Quality and Product Development Process), Applied statistics (Six Sigma Black Belt and Minitab), Problem solving methodologies.

 

Vishal Chaddha

Vishal Chaddha

Advises on product market fit, Go To Market strategy and building scale profitably.

Warner Cowin

Warner Cowin

Advises on developing clear business strategies, planning and implementing organisational change, driving innovation, and improving operational performance. He also has strong skills in Tikanga Maori and Iwi facilitation.

Warner Cowin

Scott Fenton

Advises on market validation, market entry, product market fit, and strategy development.

Warner Cowin

Sam Fielden

Advises on value-proposition development and communication, partnering, development of business models, intellectual property management, licensing frameworks, and developing your hustle.

Ajit Joshi

Ajit Joshi

Advises on initiating start-up ideas, validation, international operations, and strategy (for growth, operations, product, pricing, and marketing).

Tim Moor

Bhuvana Kannan

Advises on up-scaling tech research, research & development, commercialisation & innovation activities, pilot-scale testing and operations, market validation, tech sales strategy, IP strategies, funding, mitigating risk, navigating failures, start-up values, culture, and management.

 

Tim Moor

Sasha Lockley

Advises on customer vision and experience, team dynamics, leadership and storytelling.  As an accountant, she can also act as a kind of ‘translator’ between the numbers, risk, opportunity, impact and the story.

Mahesh Muralidhar

Mahesh Muralidhar

Advises on getting 0-1 (revenue positive), identifying where to focus, building high performance teams, inclusivity, goal setting systems, product/market fit, setting up the right acquisition engine and setting up operations (HR and Finance) to scale.

Eoghan Neligan

Eoghan Neligan

Advises on early stage product development, market validation, product growth and product lifecycle management.

Eoghan Neligan

Aaron Small

Advises on capital raising, go-to-market strategies, pitch deck creation, start-up development and technology commercialisation.

Grant Young

Fasiha Subhan

Advises on social entrepreneurship, business strategies, and innovation approaches with socio-economic and environmental impact.

 

Grant Young

Bruce Randolph Tizes

Advises early founders and companies on general business strategy, management, innovation, science, operations, and risk.

 

Grant Young

Nan Yang

Advises on accelerating deep-tech startup businesses to find their product/market fit.

Grant Young

Grant Young

Advises on ideation, strategy, start-up development and marketing.

 

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PHONE
09 923 4526

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