Hi everyone,
I’d like to start today’s talk with a quick activity. You can do this at home, alone or in a group, in person, or however you prefer.
Please raise your hand if someone has ever believed in you more than you believed in yourself.
Fantastic, I can sense that most of you raised your hands, and for those who didn’t or are still thinking about it, I hope that by the end of this talk, you’ll be able to identify the mentors in your life who believe in you.
I started my journey as a mentor over eight years ago when I was 28. I applied to be a mentor at Startup Weekend IoT in Florianópolis, an event where entrepreneurs have 54 hours to come up with an idea, validate it, and present it to a panel of judges. I thought I could offer some extra help, whether in business, innovation, engineering, or any other area.
I applied just like I would for any other job, filling out an application form and answering an extensive questionnaire that highlighted my skills and strengths. After being accepted, I mentored more than ten groups. I don’t remember all the participants, but I’ll try to give a broader view.
One group had significant needs, and I knew that, in my first mentoring experience, I had not yet developed the necessary skills to help them. The second group was very similar to me. At first, I thought that was great, but then I questioned how I could really help them—they needed someone who would complement their abilities. The third group was described as very shy, lacking confidence, and coming from a prestigious engineering university. I knew that this group would benefit from some one-on-one time over the weekend.
Later, we met with other mentors, and our first meetings weren’t very structured. But we eventually created our own plans, which mainly involved snacking, going to the creative workspace, and chatting with each team member to discover their skills and what they needed to develop. Gradually, they started to open up, laugh, joke, talk more, and share their dreams with me.
As challenges arose, we began setting goals at each meeting. We met regularly, and when we couldn’t, we stayed in touch through messages. Even when I visited other groups, they made sure to check in. They always stayed in contact with me, which wasn’t always easy since they were spread across different streets and squares. Still, they had my number and messaged me about their ideas, progress, and new goals. As a result of this consistent contact, they became the first academic/scientific/engineering entrepreneurs in their families to participate in a Startup Weekend.
That’s something I’m incredibly proud of, especially since they are now studying engineering. This experience showed them that most entrepreneurs struggle to stay grounded in reality. Mentorship, when done right, completes a cycle: the people you help want to help others and improve their lives as well.
I haven’t always been a mentor; sometimes, I’ve been on the other side of the table as a mentee. One of my favorite instances of this was two years after I graduated when I joined the Young Entrepreneurs Chamber of the Federation of Industries of São Paulo. Some of you may be familiar with this.
Before even starting my entrepreneurial journey, one of the events sent an email saying they would hold a talk with successful businesspeople and entrepreneurs I admired. I went, waited until the end, introduced myself, and said I was willing to work on any project. But they told me there were no volunteer positions in their companies, only in the federation itself.
I thought, “That’s it, they’ll probably think I’m too eager and delete my email.”
The following week, I opened my email and saw my name next to other young entrepreneurs. It must have been a mistake. I went to the federation’s headquarters and walked into an auditorium where people were reading newspapers and using fancy phones. I observed for a while, mostly because I didn’t feel like part of the group. But then, they asked me to introduce myself properly. Embarrassed, I said I didn’t know what to say.
I had never been in the spotlight before, and I didn’t want to speak in public. At that moment, one of them looked up and said, “I’m not exactly sure what you’ve done before, but I think you should say your name and challenge yourself to share something interesting about yourself. If you want to be part of the group, you can’t hide too much of who you are. I think you could probably talk about anything.”
I was a little frustrated but accepted the challenge. I stood up, said, “I’m Vitor, an environmental engineer who has seen the Northern Lights,” and sat back down.
Determined to do my best, I can happily say that after more than ten years of volunteering in many groups, introducing myself and hearing others’ introductions are some of my favorite things to do. I encourage each of you to see situations like the one I had with that group as learning opportunities, just like many mentorship sessions.
I could have taken that conversation in a completely different direction. Instead, I saw that they believed in me. I realized that even if I failed, they would be there to help me pick up the pieces—just as I had done many times with that Startup Weekend group. And as a result, I fell in love with entrepreneurship and innovation.
The third point I want to address is matching and its importance. When I became a mentor, I filled out an extensive questionnaire. Some questions seemed tedious and repetitive, but they were essential to ensuring the right fit between mentors and mentees.
Now, many programs are available beyond Startup Weekend. There are also events called Hackathons, which connect people who want to create startups with mentors looking to develop their skills. Several of my friends applied this year, and they gained so many skills that, by the end, they became talented partners in their companies.
One of them said that mentorship was essential because she probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to move forward without her mentor’s guidance, which gave her the necessary skills and practical applications.
Finally, matching doesn’t always happen through a formal program like Startup Weekends or Hackathons—sometimes, it happens organically.
I have friends passionate about writing business plans. One of them loved it and wanted to become a proposal writer. He told everyone in our group, “I’d love to write business plans.” Unfortunately, there wasn’t space for him to do that.
He started looking for jobs elsewhere but faced that common dilemma: companies told him he couldn’t get a job without experience, and he replied, “I can’t get experience without a job.” Frustrating, right?
I asked if he wanted to connect with some entrepreneurs who could help him develop these skills. He told me he had won some business writing competitions in the past and was excited to meet them.
I introduced him to an entrepreneur named Lucas, who made money writing blogs and travel posts for various websites. I also introduced him to another mentor, Cris, an experienced entrepreneur doing incredible work for years. After meeting them, he started building a set of tools and a writing portfolio.
One day, while he was away from his laptop, I left a small post-it note for him. It was a phrase he had told me before, about being proud of winning a business plan contest. On the note, I simply wrote that I hoped he would keep writing.
Each of us kept following up with him, checking on his writing, business progress, and portfolio. A few months later, he contacted me again with a huge smile—he had finally landed his dream job in business development.
I close by saying that mentorship boils down to three key elements:
Because when you believe in them, they will keep chasing their dreams.
I know everyone here has skills and talents waiting to be developed. All you need to do is find the right match.
Thank you.