apply-to-first-rounds-fast-track-mentorship-program-ec2c361b872a

jmmggg11·Jul 20, 2020

Posted in:Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Personal Growth Career Growth

Hey Everyone! I'm Julia and I'm First Round Capital’s Community Manager. We just launched our next Fast Track Program, a 90-day mentorship experience. We are pairing seasoned tech leaders with startup founders and employees for an experience running from Labor Day to Thanksgiving. And for the first time, we're publicly opening up Mentee spots for Black and Latinx founders & employees. Please reach out if you have any questions. You can read more here if you or anyone you know is interested in being a Mentor/Mentee: https://medium.com/@firstround/apply-to-first-rounds-fast-track-mentorship-program-ec2c361b872a

teresaman·Jul 20, 2020

Thanks so much Julia for sharing this opportunity!I've been a part of First Round's mentorship program as a mentee few cohorts ago and could not speak more highly of the experience, towards both the coaching but also friendship I've made with my mentor. There was a wonderful community of founders and operators within the mentorship program itself, and then also a whole host of other amazing "mini-tracks" programs where people in similar functions or interests got together and discussed their expertise and experiences.I highly recommend any Black and Latinx founders & employees to apply for this as it's a program previously available only to those at their portfolio companies.

khanesiahw·Jul 20, 2020

Hi @teresaman! Can you share your 1 highlight of your experience?

teresaman·Jul 21, 2020

Absolutely! My mentor and I had a very adaptive structure throughout our weeks of mentorship. We started with being very agenda-focused, with items, questions and takeaways after meeting and it worked incredibly well (I'm pretty OCD when it comes to organization), but as the weeks went on we realized that I ended up just talking to her and mostly going "off" schedule for when we are supposed to meet, and it transformed into something super organic and I think that's where the support and relationship really deepened.TLDR: the conversations are very fluid and were shaped depending on my needs at all times!

khanesiahw·Jul 21, 2020

Thank you.

jmmggg11·Jul 22, 2020

Here is some past feedback that we also have received from former participants as well: - "My mentor deeply listened to my expressed career desires and gave gentle nudges to go after my goals. I felt fully supported and encouraged throughout the 12-week journey and am grateful for the pairing." - Adaobi Kanu, Mentee in Cohort 8- "I'm so grateful for the time and wisdom that my mentor shared with me and I'm walking away feeling more confident in myself and what I want for my future." - Maggie Lanham, Mentee in Cohort 8- “Each sync-up we talked about my progress towards my goals and we were able to cover some amazing anecdotes from my mentor's career that helped me hone in on what I care about most as I look towards my next career steps. We talked about so many different topics beyond product and careers that I can truly say I'm in a much better place than before we met.” - Sean Paul Echevarria, Mentee in Cohort 8